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Common Robots supplies cobots for purposes together with palletizing, welding, machine tending, meeting, allotting, ending, and materials dealing with. | Supply: Common Robots
In 2017, solely 2.8% of all newly put in industrial robots had been collaborative robots or cobots, in accordance with Stanford College’s “Synthetic Intelligence Index Report 2023.” By 2021, that quantity had elevated to 7.5%.
Robots working with people to assist a spread of versatile purposes has been a worldwide pattern. The cobot trade has grown as a part of the digital transformation of the manufacturing trade.
A part of this development will be attributed to ongoing workforce challenges within the North American manufacturing. Attracting and retaining staff, notably expert labor, has remained a major enterprise problem since earlier than the pandemic, reported the “2024 Expertise Examine” from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute.
Collaborative robots promise a number of advantages
Whereas conventional industrial robots require advanced set up and devoted, restricted cells separated from staff, cobots provide many flexibility advantages, stated trade analysts. These make them extra engaging to manufacturing leaders seeking to make smaller, extra manageable investments in automation.
Some flexibility options of cobots embody:
- Person-friendly, no-code programming and management interfaces
- Constructed-in security options that enable people to work contained in the robotic envelope throughout operation
- Designed to be redeployable, resembling being mounted on a cart and moved to completely different process areas
- Constructed-in drive sensing, guaranteeing duties easier with out the necessity to configure third-party sensors
- As cobots sometimes don’t substitute staff, cobots can have a optimistic impact on workers’ notion of automation and the modifications automation might carry within the office
With so many advantages for versatile, bite-sized automation, cobots will be a great entry level to the world of automation for producers addressing abilities hole challenges, analysts stated. Additionally they provide an answer for extremely automated, good factories searching for the following value-add in area of interest purposes resembling screw meeting or buffing and grinding, they famous.
Newest cobot product bulletins
1. Schneider Electrical Lexium
The Lexium collaborative robotic line debuted in March. | Supply: Schneider Electrical
Unveiled at MODEX 2024, the 2 new Lexium cobots provide payloads of three to 18 kg (6.6 to 39.6 lb.), with positioning accuracy of +/- 0.02 mm (+/- 0.00079 in.) and working radius as much as 1,073 mm (42.2 in.).
The robots use Schneider Electrical’s EcoStruxure structure, which connects good units, controls, software program and providers for collaborative knowledge circulate and shop-floor to top-floor machine management.
2. Doosan Robotics Prime-Sequence cobots
Doosan’s P-Sequence robots are its longest cobots but. | Supply: Doosan Robotics
The Doosan P-Sequence has a attain of two,030 mm (79.9 in.) making the longest-reaching cobot out there, claimed the firm. The P-series has a payload of 30 kg (66.1 lb.). Doosan stated it’s primarily designed for palletizing purposes.
Options of the P-Sequence robotic embody a built-in gravity-compensation mechanism that reduces energy consumption compared with comparable payload cobots, the corporate stated. It’s also inherent wrist-singularity free, and has 5 levels of freedom, with the fourth axis eliminated and sixth axis velocity elevated to 360 levels/second. The P-Sequence additionally contains PL (e) and Cat 4 security rankings.
3. Kawasaki Robotics CL Sequence cobots
The CL Sequence cobot. | Supply: Kawasaki Robotics
Kawasaki Robotics’ CL Sequence are powered with NEURA Robotics’ robotic help expertise and have velocity of 200°/s.
The cobots have repeatability of ± 0.02 mm with payloads and reaches of three kg/590 mm (6.6 lb./23.2 in.), 5 kg/800 mm (11 lb./31.4 in.), 8 kg/1,300 mm (17.6 lb./51.1 in.), and 10 kg/1,000 mm (22 lb./39.3 in.). They provide free mounting orientations, extraordinarily small footprints and IP66 classification.
Functions for the CL Sequence robots embody ending, parcel sorting, and palletizing/depalletizing, stated Kawasaki.
4. FANUC CRX-10ia/L Paint
FANUC’s 10ia/L cobot. | Supply: FANUC
The newest addition to FANUC’s CRX line of cobots, the 10ia/L, has a payload of 10 kg (22 lb.) and a attain of 1,418 mm (55.8 in.). The firm claimed that it’s the first collaborative paint robotic to adjust to explosion-proof security requirements together with IECEx, ATEX, U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Brazil.
Meant for high-mix, low-volume paint purposes, in addition to for operators with little to no robotics expertise. Its “easy-teach” options together with drag-and-drop programming and lead-to-teach. (Imitation studying is a standard characteristic for cobots.)
Along with portray, the robotic will also be deployed for powder and liquid coating purposes, stated FANUC.
5. Common Robots UR30
UR’s UR30 cobot. | Supply: Common Robots
Common Robots is a pioneer in collaborative robotics and continues to develop its product line with the UR30, providing a 30 kg (66.1 lb.) payload and 1,300 mm (51.1 in.) attain. The firm stated it designed the UR30 is smaller and extra compact than comparable robots due to the significance of flexibility in cobot purposes.
The UR30 is a part of the Common Robots’ rising portfolio of merchandise, becoming a member of the UR3e, UR5e, UR10e, UR16 and UR20
6. Techman Robotic TM30
The TM30 cobot is meant for palletizing and semiconductor manufacturing. | Supply: Techman Robotic
Techman Robotic’s TM30 cobot has a payload of 35 kg (77.1 lb.) and a attain of 1,702 mm (67 in.). With this excessive reach-to-weight ratio, the TM30 is appropriate for palletizing purposes.
The firm additionally famous that the TM30 is helpful for the semiconductor back-end course of, which generally contains handbook labor for lifting and loading wafer packing containers weighing as much as 35 kg.
Techman has built-in proprietary AI imaginative and prescient expertise into its robots. It additionally supplies a collection of add-on software program instruments for security, incoming half positioning, barcode studying, dimension measurement, and visible inspection.
7. Delta D-Bot Sequence
Delta’s D-Bot collection of cobots. | Souce: Delta
At Hanover Messe 2024, Delta Electronics Inc., a pacesetter in energy administration and a supplier of IoT-based good inexperienced programs, introduced a brand new line of six collaborative robots. Their payloads vary from 6 to 30 kg (13.2 to 66.1 lb.), and their attain ranges from 800 to 1800 mm (31.4 to 70.8 in.).
These six-axis robots provide speeds as much as 200 levels per second and accuracy inside ±0.02 mm. The brand new cobots provide “plug-and-play” set up and a user-friendly interface designed for non-technical personnel.
Functions embody palletizing, decide and place, and welding, stated the firm.
What’s subsequent for cobots?
Robotics-as-a-service (RaaS), which mimics the favored subscription mannequin reworking the software program and cloud service industries, ought to proceed to develop as extra small firms dive into automation.
One other key expertise poised to have an effect on industrial robotics is AI immediate engineering. As robotic management software program continues to pattern away from code and towards user-friendly interfaces, the concept of prompting an AI to show or program the robotic to carry out an operation just isn’t far off.
It doesn’t matter what the long run holds, collaborative robots stay an choice for producers seeking to automate uninteresting, soiled, and harmful duties, with out taking up a big conventional robotic automation mission.
In regards to the writer
Isaac Maw is a proposal author at D2L, a worldwide studying innovation firm serving to organizations reshape the way forward for schooling and work. He was beforehand an editor at Engineering.com.
Editor’s word: This text was syndicated from The Robotic Report sibling website Engineering.com.
