What Is a Cobot? New Age of Automation and Collaboration

Job-stealing robots are the worst nightmare for most workers. But not all robots are out to steal your job.

Some make your life easier by collaborating and working alongside you. These collaborative robots help workforces reduce human errors, boost productivity, and perform efficiently. For example, these robots can transport heavy materials in a building or automate assembly operations.

Companies using cobots often combine them with robotic process automation (RPA) software or industrial IoT (IIoT) solutions to ensure smooth operations.

Collaborative robots can barely operate independently or outright replace workers. Instead, they help humans perform better with precision, strength, and data capabilities. Many consider cobots the hardware version of augmented intelligence because of their assistive role in aiding human employees.

These smart robots co-exist in the same facility as humans because they can mimic human actions without compromising safety or performance. Because of their human-like intelligence, companies using cobots experience faster reaction time and accurate automation.

Today, some companies even use a brain-computer interface (BCI) — a direct communication pathway — to read and transfer human brain signals to robots. The result is improved collaboration between robots and humans. Many industries are also moving toward cobot technology integration, thanks to Industry 4.0.

Collaborative robots vs. industrial robots

The main difference is that cobots or collaborative robots feature built-in skills to work together with humans, whereas traditional industrial robots work in place of humans.

Cobots are fixed robotic arms that you can reprogram for different jobs. They also adjust well to changes because of their learning abilities. The pre-engineered designs and algorithms of cobots are great for producing customized outputs in minimum time. Built-in force controls and sensors allow them to work with humans without the need for safety fencing.

Cobots are also lighter and smaller, making them the perfect candidate for introducing automation at your facility. But you shouldn't neglect safety and risk assessments before using them. Industries leverage cobots with multi-axis manipulators to automate industrial processes and operations.

Industrial robots perform high-payload and high-speed jobs while maintaining the same quality level. They remain stationary and are ideal for processes unlikely to change in the long run. Manufacturing industry players use traditional industrial robots for heavy manufacturing or production processes that require higher accuracy.

These robots lack force control capabilities. So, they may not be suitable for processes that need varying degrees of sensitivity, such as those involving human contact. Facilities with industrial robots use safety barriers like protective cages to provide a safe working environment for humans.

Creating these safety systems can be time-consuming and costly. Reprogramming industrial robots also involves dealing with complex codes and engineering to implement updates successfully.

Types of cobots

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), cobots can be of four types, depending on the collaboration between workers and robots.

• Co-existential cobots work alongside humans in the same workspace but with no direct overlap in the minutiae of their labor.
• Sequentially collaborative cobots work with humans but don't work on the same product simultaneously. These cobots generally come before or after the human worker in the production sequence.
• Responsively collaborative cobots respond directly to human employees' actions. They only operate insofar as a human executes more complicated tasks farther up the pipeline.
• Co-operative cobots operate alongside humans while working together towards the same task.

Different industries use each of these cobots for a wide range of applications in a way that supports humans meaningfully.

Cobot examples

Let's explore some notable examples of cobots that illustrate their diverse applications and benefits across different industries:

Singrow-Agriculture cobots

Based in Singapore, Singrow develops innovative agri-tech solutions aimed at ensuring premium quality fruits and vegetables while transforming urban farming. The company has collaborated with Universal Robots and Augmentus to create an AI-powered cobot specifically designed for harvesting and pollination tasks. This robot is programmed to identify both the flowers and ripe strawberries, enhancing pollination efficiency and ensuring timely fruit selection.

Source: Servo Dynamics

Nova-Retail cobots

In 2022, the China-based robotic arms company Dobot unveiled its Nova Series of collaborative robots designed specifically for the retail industry. This series includes models such as the Nova 2 and Nova 5. The Nova 2 is a versatile cobot capable of performing various tasks, including making coffee, cocktails, noodles, fried chicken, and scooping ice cream. On the other hand, the Nova 5 is tailored for physical therapy applications, demonstrating the broad potential of cobots to enhance customer experiences and support healthcare services in retail environments.

Source: Dobot

Industries that use cobots

As you know, cobots contain mechanical arms that can perform factory tasks with the right programming. Some examples include assembly, material handling, and quality inspection. While robots take care of these tasks, human co-workers can focus on jobs that require cognitive abilities, solution thinking, or creativity.

Letting cobots perform repetitive jobs also protects human workers from repetitive strain injury (RSI), a health condition caused by performing the same movement often. For these reasons, cobot applications are finding homes in different industries.

Automotive and industrial manufacturing

A traditional and fully autonomous industrial robot can be a death trap of swinging metal arms, moving parts, and numerous other life-threatening hazards. Cobots with built-in safety features modulate actions and movements depending on their tasks. The manufacturing industry uses cobots for machine tending, quality inspection, assembly, and dispensing.

For example, a cobot arm in an automobile factory might move more slowly when transporting or manipulating a heavy piece of metal to avoid injuring one of the nearby human workers. Cobots also feature sensors to adjust for the safety of humans around them.

Cobots don't require an all-or-nothing approach like traditional robots. They can automate specific production processes and offer a faster return on investment (ROI). Plus, you can customize them to meet changing manufacturing needs.

Medicine

While cobotics as a field focuses on the industrial applications of cobots, the principles of these devices also impact different medical fields, including prosthetics and administration.

The life-and-death nature of hospital work means that a simple organizational mistake can result in lethal consequences for patients in critical conditions. That's why large hospitals use cobots for administrative tasks. They also use cobots to automate data entry, patient intake, and lab testing.

Hospitals also use information technology (IT) automation solutions for:

• E-prescriptions
• Automated billing
• Clinic management
• Inventory management
• Insurance claim automation
• Appointment scheduling and reminders

Robotic medical assistants can also help healthcare professionals track vital statistics and receive alerts for emergencies. They can also carry supplies or even help surgeons achieve higher precision during operations.

Gears and wires robots can administer physical therapy while helping people with paraplegia move. This human-robot collaboration offers clinics relief from heavy workloads and lets them attend to patients with critical illnesses better.

Electronics and technology

Tech companies use cobots for repetitive tasks that need high precision. Examples include dispensing, labeling, screwdriver, or insertion. Automating these processes lets your workers focus on more strategic tasks that need innovation or problem-solving skills.

Since cobot arms are lightweight and easily programmable, you can assign them to different processes per organizational needs. Small and mid-sized electronics manufacturers using collaborative robots often see the return on investment in under a year.

Even small and mid-sized electronics manufacturers can afford collaborative robots to drive productivity. Meet competitive demands for faster output and lower costs, and see ROI typically in less than a year.

Metals and machining

Companies dealing with metal use cobots to automate machine tending applications such as die-casting machines, computer numerical control (CNC), press brakes, and dial tables. Cobots help these companies automate collaborative welding while minimizing traditional system costs. Automating repetitive welding processes lets your workers focus on high-profit product lines, too.

Cobots aren't only affordable, but can also quickly adapt to changeovers with programming. This ease of implementing changes helps you reduce downtime. You don't have to turn away opportunities because of limited resources either.

Plastics and polymers

Companies dealing with plastics and polymers often struggle with the high workloads of injection and blow molding operations. Plus, the workforce faces challenges with the stressful and injury-prone work of loading and unloading machines. Cobots work alongside humans or traditional robots to tackle these jobs.

Plastic manufacturers use cobots for polishing, palletizing processes, or applying decals to plastic parts. Robots are capable of automating additive processes like 3D printing as well. Moreover, you can mount lightweight cobots on mobile carts to load and unload printer plates.

Education and science

Scientific and research communities use cobots to educate students in vocational and technical programs. These robots also help lab technicians run experiments without the risk of human contamination.

Food and beverage

Food and beverage supply chain players leverage collaborative robots for repetitive tasks in unfavorable environments such as refrigerated rooms or greenhouses. Plus, cobots can help you with packaging and machine tending.

The best part is that cobots supplement human workers by working around the clock during seasonal bursts. Besides helping you meet increasing production volumes, cobots make it easy for you to start new product lines.

Benefits of cobots

Collaborative robots work well for companies that want to prioritize safety and minimize deployment costs while scaling operations. Plus, these organizations must facilitate human-robot collaborations in a way where human workers guide robots and track processes. When done right, these companies can enjoy the following benefits with cobots.

• Safety: Cobots reduce accidents by performing injury-prone tasks that can harm human workers. Plus, they come with in-built sensors to avoid collisions, guarantee passive compliance, and limit forces in case of unplanned human contact.
• Flexible automation: Companies can assign collaborative robots to multiple processes without changing the production layout. This ease of conducting line change-overs makes your production facility agile and lowers automation costs.
• Low-cost deployment: Cobots come with in-built safety features. So, you don't need to integrate them with industrial safety equipment before deployment. You can start using collaborative robots much faster than industrial robots.
• Cost-effective: Cobots don't need a huge upfront investment, making them cheaper than their industrial counterparts. Plus, the number of tasks every robot automates gives you bottom-line returns in a few months.
• Mobility: You can easily move around cobots for different jobs in case of labor shortage. Plus, you can even mount them on mobile workbenches for performing jobs at hard-to-access locations.

Cobots are the go-to robot choice for companies looking to automate routine work and redirect the workforce to more strategic tasks.

Different cobot tools

Cobots can seamlessly perform complex jobs because of the tools they use. Check out the tools that enable cobots to collaborate with humans and do repetitive tasks.

• Grippers: Enable cobots to pick up things and put them down again.
• End-of-arm tooling (EOAT): Scale production capacity by letting you mount tools to cobots.
• Tool changers: Allow cobots to change tools autonomously per the needs of the operations they're performing.
• Vision systems: Rely on 2D/3D cameras and artificial intelligence to identify objects, spot patterns, or scan barcodes.
• Range extenders: Enable cobots to increase their range on the X or Y-axis.
• Feeding systems: Include devices that supply robots with objects like screws for assembly or other operations.

Ready to be a cobot-powered organization?

So, where do you start if you want to upgrade legacy systems with new technology and cobot solutions? The first step is to find processes suitable for cobots. Then, you can review production line constraints to come up with the best layout design for robotic solutions.

Some companies prefer to work with technology consultants or robot integrators to create a cobot implementation strategy. Also, evaluate the pros and cons before investing in cobots.

Discover how robotics and AI laws are shaping the future.

This article was originally published in 2021. It has been updated with new information.