How Collaborative Robots (Cobots) Are Revolutionizing the Robotics Industry

Why Cobots are Gaining Popularity in the Robotics Industry

Industrial Robots have been used in the manufacturing world for decades. They have been a symbol of power and efficiency and have always been substitutes for tasks which humans either cannot perform or are too slow to perform. However the past few years have seen a growth in the demand for Collaborative Robots which are capable of performing tasks similar to that of humans and a similar rate of speed. So where is the edge?

The main difference lies in the efficiency and precision of these robots. These robots just like any other robot can run 24 hours a day. Some of these robots like the Rethink Sawyer has a repeatability of 0.1mm which makes as accurate as one can get!

Unlike industrial robots, these cobots can work alongside humans and are smart enough to detect the presence of anyone around their workspace to stop their function in order to protect humans. This ability though comes with a downside where cobots are much slower than traditional industrial robots. People however don’t understand that these robots are not made to replace or compete with traditional industrial robots, but are in fact meant to perform repetitive tiresome tasks that humans are currently performing in manufacturing, packaging and quality testing applications.

The capability of a flexible and smart robot which can work alongside humans efficiently and continuously with great precession and repeatability is what makes the collaborative robots a great addition to today’s manufacturing companies.