Collaborative Robotics: Benefits and New Trends in the Industry

Robotics and the automated technologies industry advance every day, offering increasingly advantageous benefits. Collaborative robots, or cobots, are machines designed to physically interact and perform alongside humans in a working environment, such as a manufacturing plant because of their ability to share a collaborative space.

Cobots allow for collaboration with workers, reducing their workload and mitigating any risks of injury. This is because they can handle the most demanding tasks and their design can guarantee this safety. Additionally, they are extremely versatile and the space they need to occupy is reduced considerably. 

 

Cobot characteristics

As mentioned, cobots ensure the safety of workers when working together with each other. This is facilitated by sensors that measure and control their force and speed. Where manual workers offer to problem-solve and provide dexterity to the tasks they perform, cobots offer strength and precision in them. So together, they work harmoniously.

 

Other characteristics include:

• Humans and cobots work in the same workspace and so allow them to coexist in the same area without protection fences. 

• The two can also cooperate in the same field of work, with different tasks happening in the same process without interacting with each other.

• Humans and cobots are also able to collaborate by interacting with each other, while both working on the same process.

• And finally, cobots can be perfectly integrated with other software, equipment, and systems involved in a custom production process. 

 

Since cobots allow for the automation of tasks without making major alterations to the production line, they offer great opportunities for small and medium industries, eliminating the idea that this type of technology is reserved for large-scale processes. This is a great advantage over traditional robotics, reducing the need for expensive fences to ensure people’s safety. They are also easy to program and integration is relatively simple.

 

Benefits 

The main and most obvious advantage of cobots is the capability of working together with humans without the need for additional safety systems and protocols, or a large workspace. In addition, both the installation and the programming of cobots and their software is straightforward with intuitive interfaces that are easy to use.

 

Other advantages include:

Guaranteed precision

Cobots can reduce manual errors and increase the precision of different processes.

 

Increased safety

Cobots can perform heavy-duty or dangerous tasks, avoiding the possibility of injury to manual laborers. 

 

Increased productivity

Cobots, unlike humans who require resting periods, operate continuously without any interruption. They also support workers by taking over repetitive tasks and with increased physical effort, optimizing performance.

 

Flexibility

Cobots can adapt to and perform multiple tasks and due to their easy integration, they can be moved from one application to another.

 

Applications

Cobots are especially useful for performing repetitive tasks, handling small loads and assembling. Some of the applications include:

 

Pick and place

Pick and place tasks are a type of repetitive task that can be alleviated from humans. Know that for us, computer vision and collaborative robotics are the perfect couple!

 

Assembly lines

Cobots can reduce assembly time, increasing fabrication speed and improving quality.

 

Plating

Gluing or chrome plating tasks are delicate and require a very specific skill, accuracy, and delicacy. Cobots' built-in sensors means that this can be carried out with great precision.

 

Welding

Welding work can be performed with greater precision and avoids the risk of injury as a result ofthis task such as burns or cuts.

 

CNC feeder and other machines

Feeding tasks, like pick and place tasks, are repetitive and can be carried out by a cobot that is able to adapt to its work environment.
 

The integration of collaborative robots in manufacturing and other applications has been instrumental in the improvement of processes, productivity, and output. Their greatest advantage is the fact that they can be integrated into many different sectors and companies of all sizes.

 

Yaskawa 

We are a trusted partner and leader in the manufacturing of robotic solutions for palletizing and depalletizing. Our offering involves flexibility through 2D and 3D vision software as well as specialized software and tooling to enable customization for speed, safety, accuracy, and maximum productivity. We can also provide you with the necessary training to use your robot to its full potential. Contact us for more info.