Understanding Collaborative Robots and Their Uses

“The only thing that never stops changing is change.” This ideology holds more true in no other sector than in the manufacturing and production industry. Since the advent of the first industrial revolution, manufacturers have used a combination of machines and manpower to maximize their productivity. The technological advancements in robots have enabled manufacturing processes to continuously refine ways of working faster, more efficiently, and in safer ways for workers on the production floor.

With rapid advancements in AI, precision automation, and more, manufacturers are seeing the benefits of equipping their workforce with the right tools to boost their ability to delegate menial, dangerous, or repetitive tasks to a robotic partner. Enter: collaborative robots, often referred to as cobots. 

What is a Collaborative Robot?

A collaborative robot is a type of robot designed to work alongside humans in a shared workspace. Unlike traditional industrial robots that require a safety cage or other physical barriers to keep humans out of harm's way, cobots are designed to be inherently safe and to interact with humans cooperatively and flexibly. 

They are typically equipped with sensors and other advanced technologies that enable them to detect the presence of humans nearby and adjust their behavior accordingly. They move at a safer speed than their heavy-duty industrial robot counterparts and stop completely when they come into contact with human resistance. 

Another reason cobots are seeing an increase in adaptation is their simplicity to set up. Cobots are compact and simple to operate, with minimal or no programming experience needed to get them up and running. Here are a few ways that various industries are making use of cobots: 

Making a Difference in Manufacturing

Bringing the versatility of a cobot to the production floor opens up a veritable treasure chest of functionality for manufacturers. These include:

• Quality Control - Much like palletizers, cobots can be equipped with sensors and cameras to identify defective parts of a product. Above this, they can also be used to inspect the measurements of a specific component, then sort them into the appropriate assembly line.

• Precision Handling - Thanks to the pinpoint accuracy of cobot arms, they can be used to handle dexterous tasks like soldering, welding, and screwing. And the best part? There’s no need for a break. These tasks can be performed after hours, ensuring a reliable job done with consistent quality, leaving more specialized tasks to their human partners. 

• Pressure-perfect - Cobots can also be equipped with a force sensor, a type of transducer that converts input mechanical load, tension, weight, pressure, or compression into an electrical signal. Being able to measure the force that a bot exerts on an item allows for precision painting, grinding, and sanding with appropriate attachments. Cobots can therefore provide a consistent finish to various products. 

Since cobots were created with consistency in mind, these tasks can easily be transferred to other cobots as well, without the need to adjust or rewrite lines of code. 

Uplifting Logistics 

Cobots play a vital role in logistical support by helping deliveries move out much quicker, and the increase in adoption across various businesses influences cobot manufacturers to continue developing new features. Global e-commerce giant, Amazon, uses cobots in its warehouses not only to move items from one place to another but also to use its sensors to determine an item’s fragility and then adjust its grip appropriately.

Here are a couple of other ways that cobots are used in logistics. 

• The Heavy Lifters - Cobots can be designed with added mobility to carry loads through a pre-programmed route. These reduce the need for a company’s human workforce to move heavy items manually or operate heavy machinery like forklifts.

• Sealed and Secured - Taking the power of part inspection up a level, the addition of cameras and sensors to a bot can transform it into an accurate packing machine. With the addition of suction or gripper cups, cobots can form cartons, load items into them, and then seal the boxes. Packing products automatically means that order fulfillment is more efficient and accurate. 

Cobot manufacturers are constantly adapting their operational efficiency and versatility depending on industry needs. The essence of cobots will always be to work collaboratively alongside humans to streamline their work, not to replace them. Cobots are very smart tools that humans can use to improve their experience on the production floor and push their industries further while they focus on developing specialized skills. 

When cobots take on repetitive tasks, they free up time for workers to take up the opportunity to do work that requires more creativity than raw power. This also dramatically lowers the chances of workplace-related injuries.  

Conclusion

Cobots are the evolving tool that manufacturing and logistics companies can utilize to help their employees grow into specialized positions while improving their safety and increasing overall productivity and efficiency. Their adaptive nature and ability to equip various sensors and grippers make them the perfect assistant for repetitive tasks that require precision and high-volume actions. And because of their simple setup, even smaller-to-medium-sized operations are investing in cobots to help them compete in the same arena as bigger operations. 
 

Yaskawa 

We are a trusted partner and leader in the manufacturing of collaborative robot solutions for businesses. Our offering involves flexibility through various attachments and customized setups for speed, safety, accuracy, and maximum productivity. We can also provide you with the necessary training to use your cobot to its full potential. Contact us for more info.