How cobots can encourage automation uptake

WHAT ARE collaborative robots and how can they help manufacturers?

Today’s manufacturers are under growing pressure to become more flexible to keep pace with the market. As manufacturing processes become more complex and dispersed, conventional automation solutions lack the flexibility to keep up. The drive towards personalised products and the expectation of fast delivery of high-quality products especially are requiring new production methods that can keep pace.

Experience has proved that the best results occur when the consistency, accuracy, speed and dexterity of robots are combined with the intelligence, creativity and adaptability of human workers. We see ourselves at the start of the age of collaborative automation, where entirely new solutions are being developed that enable people and robots to work together.

Collaborative automation means different things to different people. It can include everything from sharing the same workspace without planned interaction to intermittent shared cooperation of the same task.

One aspect of collaborative automation is ‘cobots’. These are robots that are designed to work safely with people through a variety of safety measures including force sensors and power and speed limits, often with no need for safety fencing or barriers.

Collaborative automation enables a greater range of products to be produced in smaller lots; because of their lightweight design, they can easily be relocated to wherever they are needed.

This ease of deployment allows companies to get more from their human workers by enabling them to contribute their unique problem solving and improvisation skills, further increasing flexibility.

Furthermore, whilst traditional industrial robots are often programmed with complex software, cobots can be programmed by anyone, without specialized training.

What are the key benefits of cobots?

A major benefit of cobots is the freedom they provide to experiment without impacting on the factory floor. As such, they can help to remove a key entry barrier to many new users, particularly small and medium businesses.

A major attraction of cobots is that they are non-disruptive. They’re simple to integrate into an assembly line without disruption because they’re mostly quite small, lightweight and easy to move across the shop floor. They can work with high precision and consistency. They can also be equipped with 2D and 3D vision systems to identify changes in their workspace that might require intervention. This technology allows the robots to recognise individual parts, so that when different parts are introduced, it can assemble them in the right order. The vision technology also enables collaborative robots to perform testing and packaging processes.

Another key benefit is their ability to release people to tackle more rewarding cognitive challenges by handling repetitive and delicate tasks, with workers able to add value in the form of creativity, supervision and further flexibility by collaborating with the robot.

How will cobots enable the factories of the future?

The factories of the future are not about throwing away what you’ve already got and replacing it with the newest and shiniest equipment. Instead, it’s about finding ways to use technology to make your existing production assets – including your people – more efficient.

The best performing factories of the future will combine the benefits of robotic and human workers to achieve enhanced levels of productivity, efficiency and innovation. Achieving a smart factory is not just about using the latest technologies – instead, it is about using those technologies to make human workers as productive and creative as they can be. Furthermore, robotic automation opens new possibilities by enabling development of new products that may previously have been too difficult or costly to manufacture. Even at the larger end of robotic automation, the use of safety technologies that prevent contact with human workers are providing new opportunities for greater collaboration and enhanced manufacturing performance.

Why should manufacturers embrace collaborative robots?

While the collaborative robot market is still a small one compared to the overall robotics market, cobot sales are gaining momentum. In 2019, more than 22,000 new collaborative robots were deployed globally, up 19% compared to the previous year. The demand for collaborative robots is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 17% between 2020 and 2025 while the value of global cobot sales is expected to increase from an estimated USD ~0.7 billion in 2019 to USD ~1.4 bn by 2025.

Given this likely uptake in collaborative robots, it pays to start contemplating a switch to robots if you want your organisation to stay competitive.

Nigel Platt is general manager – Robotics and Automation UK and Ireland of ABB Robotics in the UK

https://cobots.robotics.abb.com/en/