Collaborative Robots & Automation: Everything You Need to Know

February 2020

Collaborative Robots & Automation: Everything You Need to Know

There are major changes in store for the manufacturing industry. Artificial intelligence and automation are advancing to the point where they can be used in any industry, from automotive to food and beverage.

Collaborative robots are also changing manufacturing. This allows manufacturers to reduce downtime, increase quality, and save costs.

Read on to find out what collaborative robots are and how they can make a difference in manufacturing.

What Are Collaborative Robots?

Collaborative robots, or cobots, are robots that are designed to work in collaboration with humans. They differ from Industrial Robots in that they can perform certain tasks alongside a person instead of working on repetitive tasks in isolation.

Advantages of Collaborative Robots

What can cobots do at your manufacturing facility? These are a few of the main benefits that this technology can add to your facility.

Easy to Implement

An operator will guide a collaborative robot through the task, and then the robot will remember the task and perform it on its own.

Since an employee can easily program a collaborative robot, the robot is able to do more than one task.

Improved Safety Conditions

Robots have historically been large machines that have little understanding of what’s around them. That’s why they would be behind large cages. Without those barriers, robots would be a danger to those around them.

Cobots are programmed to know what is around them at all times and are programmed to stop safely if a person comes too close and poses a danger.

They Make Economic Sense

Overall, collaborative robots make economic sense for several reasons. They can be deployed in a variety of instances. The level of flexibility and scalability can add value throughout production.

The alternative is to invest in one industrial robot to perform one specific task. You would then have to invest in barriers to protect the workforce.

The quality of output is improved, as is worker safety.

How Collaborative Robots Work in Manufacturing

The most impressive thing about collaborative robots is how they operate in a manufacturing environment.

You have human intelligence and artificial intelligence working side-by-side to maximise output. Cobots will work on low-value, repetitive tasks. They can also be deployed to handle higher payloads or work on tasks that pose a risk to humans.

Humans can then focus attention on high-level tasks that require thought and context to the work. This arrangement gets the most out of your employees and improves quality all around, as well as employee well-being.

The Future is Here

Manufacturing today is nowhere near what it was 100 years ago when the first assembly line facility was built.

Today, humans work together with collaborative robots. These robots are safer to use, and they can allow your employees to focus on the most important tasks. This results in not only improved efficiencies, productivity and the reduction of RSI but also the upskilling for employees, which in turn enhances employee morale and well-being.

Would you like to know more about how you can incorporate cobots at your facility? Contact our team today.

Collaborative Robots perform many repetitive tasks that can be seen in the video below:

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Read more about our automation here…

• Benefits of Automation
• The Benefits of Machine Vision Technology
• Robots & Cobots – What is the Difference?
• Robotic Automation
• What is a URS? Why is it Important?
• Cost of Industrial Automation
• Advantages & Disadvantages of Robotic Automation

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