What are cobots?
Cobots or collaborative robots are computer-controlled robotic devices. They work side-by-side with
human employees in a shared workspace to enhance human abilities in a safe way. Unlike traditional
industrial robots, they have sensors to guarantee safe behavior during human-robot interactions.
There are four types of cobots.
Types of cobots
According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), cobots can be of four types, depending on
the degree of collaboration between workers and robots.
the 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 they don't work on the same
product at the same time. These cobots generally come before or after the human worker in
the sequence of production.
Responsively collaborative cobots respond directly to human employees' actions. They only
operate insofar as they have a human executing more complicated tasks farther up the
pipeline.
Co-operative cobots operate alongside humans at the same time while working together
towards the same task.
How to program cobots?
You can easily program cobots using software and mobile applications provided by cobot manufacturers.
Some cobots don't need programming at all. These latest generations of cobots learn as you manually
move them through different job steps. Once the cobot software records these positions, you can have
cobots performing different tasks in no time.
Benefits of using 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.
o Flexible automation: Companies can assign collaborative robots to multiple processes
without changing the production layout. This ease of conducting line changeovers 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.
Challenges of deploying cobots
Cobot deployment isn't free from challenges. Here's what you should keep in mind before delegating
tasks to collaborative robots.
Cobots don't replace human workers. Using cobots may enhance your production capacity,
but not without human employees. For example, cobots can't flag production abnormalities
unless you program them to do so. You still need human workers for complex inspection
processes and implementing strict product quality control.
Choose cobots with behavioral designs. Cobots interact more with humans and the
environment every day. So, it's important to choose cobots that know how to behave
appropriately around bystanders or co-workers. Also, consider training and educating your
staff about human-robot collaboration.
Consider safety devices for fenceless operations. Cobots can both coexist and collaborate
with humans. But you should always consider integrating safety gear for fenceless robotics
operations.
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
