On Tuesday, November 12, 2013, the first non-human rang the closing bell on the NASDAQ stock market. A robotic arm was selected to ring the bell to mark the launch of a new robotics stock index, ROBO-STOX, which is the first index to benchmark the value of robotics, automation and related technologies. Click here to watch the robotic arm in action at NASDAQ.

Forbes.com announced the milestone event and additional details about the robotic arm equipped with a three-fingered gripper. They also included thoughts on the future of the robotics industry.

The debate over the state of the robotics industry and its future continues – sell to academic labs or push into commercial environments. In terms of fast food funding or long term funding, currently the larger investments in robotics tend to get tracked. In 2012, Hizook reported that $189.7 million in venture capital was raised for robotics companies.

The CCC has supported several initiatives that provide research roadmaps to advance the future of robotics. A CCC-sponsored roadmap was published and presented to the Congressional Caucus on Robotics on May 21, 2009. That roadmap subsequently led to the creation of the National Robotics Initiative (NRI) in 2011, which is jointly sponsored by NSF, USDA, NASA, and NIH. In March 2013, an updated report was presented to Congress.