Traditionally, robots and humans work in separate environments, not letting both do the same task at the same time. But now new standards and devices make it easier and legally possible for robots to work with humans. These robots are known as collaborative robots or cobots.
Collaborative robots are built with safety features and mechanical compliance (or force-feedback detection) to stop the robot when it makes contact with a person or object. It allows cobots to operate in the same workspace as humans safely.
Since a cobot cannot hurt people working nearby, extensive safeguarding and safety control interlocks are no longer required, resulting in several notable advantages such as:
- Humans (operators) and cobots can work side-by-side, reducing floor-space requirements.
- Increased efficiency since the cobot does not rest or needs to be shut down.
- Since no safety zone is necessary, companies can use existing factory layouts.
- Cobots can move between stations without reinstalling barriers or huge effort.
- The capital cost of a cobot, including installation time and cost, is low compared to traditional industrial robots.
- Cobots require minimal software controls for the coordination and operation of the cell environment.
In this article, we will look at some of the top collaborative robot companies to watch out in 2021.
1. ABB Inc
ABB is a Switzerland-based robot maker who builds the world’s first collaborative robot, YuMi. YuMi is a two-arm robot that uses a wide variety of tools: cameras, a two-finger parallel gripper, and a suction cup to assemble small electronic devices and detect flaws that a human eye fails to identify.
YuMi is designed to automate tasks within the consumer electronics industry primarily, and it leverages IBM Watson and its computing capabilities, specifically its Cognitive Visual Inspection tools (image recognition capabilities). The robot is easy to program and has a very niche market.
2. Epson Robots
Epson Robots is a world leader in PC controlled precision factory automation, with a product line of Cartesian, SCARA, and 6-Axis robots based on a common PC based platform. Its new entry-level VT6L All-in-One 6-Axis robot comes with a built-in controller for simple pick-and-place operations.
T-Series robots provide the perfect way to automate and streamline factories without wasting time or money on expensive, complicated, slide-based solutions. With a 35-year heritage, Epson Robots delivers robots for precision assembly and material handling applications in the aerospace, appliance, biotechnology, automotive, consumer product, electronics, food processing, medical device, pharmaceutical, plastics, semiconductor, and telecommunication industries.
Fanuc is a robotic automation company that ventured into a collaborative robotics business in 2015 with the release of a 6-axis collaborative robot, CR-35iA. This 35-kg payload, force-limited robot was designed to work alongside humans without the need for a cage or fencing, capable of handling repetitive tasks or tasks too difficult or dangerous for humans. If it ever runs into a human worker, CR-35iA can come to a gentle halt. As an added layer of protection and safety, Fanuc has a green foam material coated on the robot. According to the company, the robot maintains contact for less than 150 N.
Traditionally, Festo is a pneumatic and electromechanical system manufacturer, but in the last ten years, it has been active in developing products in collaborative robotics space. Festo has developed three cobots: BionicCobot, BionicMotionRobot, and OctopusGripper. BionicCobot, a lightweight pneumatic robot, was inspired by the human arm, while BionicMotionRobot took inspiration by the movement of an elephant’s trunk. OctopusGripper is a bionic gripper based on the octopus’s tentacles.
5. Locus Robotics
An e-commerce fulfillment robotics company, Locus Robotics, focuses on improving labor productivity in warehouses through the use of cobots. The company recently unveiled its Locus Robotics Advanced Navigation (LRAN) software for coordinating multiple robots in a factory environment, where deploying multiple robots and coordinating their movements without creating traffic jams or safety hazards pause a big challenge. With its cloud-distributed LRAN software, Locus aims to optimize their robots’ navigation accuracy and performance.
Omron is a global automation technology company that delivers mobile robotics solutions, enabling robots to navigate around a factory as quickly as a human worker. Its Lynx robot can easily move materials in environments such as warehouses, factory floors, and hospitals, where humans find it difficult to move things. By using machine learning capabilities, this self-navigating robot builds maps of its work area and determines the best routes from point A to B. A human worker can also train the robot by simply walking it through a layout.
7. Rethink Robotics
Rethink Robotics is one of the most well-known names in collaborative robotics. Its flagship products are Baxter, a friendly-looking robot targeted at automating monotonous or dangerous shop floor tasks, and Sawyer. Both robots use force-sensing to maintain safety while working alongside workers.
Both depend on the company’s proprietary software Intera for training. A worker simply needs to walk Baxter or Sawyer through a task, and the robots will be able to learn to repeat the task in real-time. Rethink is currently expanding its product offerings to robotic grippers with its new ClickSmart toolkit, which uses smart sensing to adjust to a variety of delicate or broad handling tasks.
Instead of creating a line of robots, Robotiq creates cobotics tools for robots to use. Their most famous tool is UR used by the Universal Robots. Robotiq also makes a series of add-ons that make it easy to augment the robot’s arm functionality, just by simply plugging the products in.
The company has four different flagship products: a robotic hand with three fingers, adaptive grippers with two fingers, a sensor with force touch that gives touch-sense capabilities to the robots, and a camera vision system for that needed object recognition. Robotiq also offers custom program templates for many typical applications for companies looking for faster implementation of cobots.
9. Universal Robots
Universal Robots builds a series of collaborative robot arms, namely UR3, UR5, and UR10, for an array of applications including pick and place, quality inspection, injection molding, assembly, and packaging and palletizing. Like Rethink’s Baxter and Sawyer, the UR series can be trained by manually moving the arm to specific waypoints.
The UR series have been deployed worldwide by companies like Nissan and Yokohama, where they offload tasks to the robots. It allows more time for the training of new workers and avoids bringing in extra relief workers to handle repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Universal Robots uses its own UR series robots to manufacture its robots.
Vecna is an end-to-end product solutions company with a focus on robotics automation for applications in manufacturing, warehousing, and omnichannel order fulfillment. It doesn’t focus on any robot platform but takes an AI-based overarching approach to optimize workflows. Its robots feature proprietary computer vision technology for object recognition as well as navigation. The sensor-fusion technology of the robots employs simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), the same technology behind many autonomous automobiles, to understand and navigate its workspace in three dimensions.
Kwa kawaida, roboti na wanadamu hufanya kazi katika mazingira tofauti, bila kuruhusu wote wawili wafanye kazi ileile kwa wakati mmoja. Lakini sasa viwango na vifaa vipya hufanya iwe rahisi na iwezekane kisheria kwa roboti kufanya kazi pamoja na wanadamu. Roboti hizi zinajulikana kama roboti za ushirikiano au cobots. Roboti za ushirikiano zimejengwa na vipengele vya usalama na kufuata mitambo (au kugundua athari ya nguvu) ili kuacha robot wakati inawasiliana na mtu au kitu. Inaruhusu cobots kufanya kazi katika nafasi hiyo ya kazi kama wanadamu kwa usalama. Kwa kuwa cobots haiwezi kuumiza watu wanaofanya kazi karibu, ulinzi mkubwa na usalama wa kudhibiti interlocks hauhitajiki tena, na kusababisha faida kadhaa muhimu kama vile: - Wanadamu (waendeshaji) na cobots wanaweza kufanya kazi kando-kando, kupunguza mahitaji ya nafasi ya sakafu. - Kuongezeka kwa ufanisi tangu cobot haina kupumzika au inahitaji kuzimwa. - Kwa kuwa hakuna eneo la usalama ni muhimu, makampuni inaweza kutumia mipangilio ya kiwanda zilizopo. - Cobots wanaweza kusonga kati ya vituo bila reinstalling vizuizi au juhudi kubwa. - Gharama ya mtaji wa cobot, ikiwa ni pamoja na muda wa ufungaji na gharama, ni ya chini ikilinganishwa na roboti za jadi za viwanda. - Cobots zinahitaji udhibiti wa programu ya chini kwa ajili ya uratibu na uendeshaji wa mazingira ya seli. Katika makala hii, tutaangalia baadhi ya makampuni ya juu ya roboti ya ushirikiano ya kuangalia nje katika 2021. 1. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli ABB ni kampuni ya kipekee ya roboti ya Uswisi ambayo inajenga roboti ya kwanza ya ushirikiano duniani, Yumi. Yu-Mi ni roboti yenye mikono miwili ambayo hutumia vifaa mbalimbali: kamera, kifaa cha kushikilia vidole viwili, na kikombe cha kunyonya ili kukusanya vifaa vidogo vya elektroniki na kugundua kasoro ambazo jicho la binadamu haliwezi kutambua. IBM imeweka msingi wa teknolojia ya kompyuta ya kompyuta ya IBM Watson na vifaa vyake vya uchunguzi wa kuona (Cognitive Visual Inspection). Robot ni rahisi programu na ina soko niche sana. 2. Uwezekano wa kupata Epson Robots ni kampuni ya kwanza ulimwenguni inayoongoza katika utengenezaji wa mitambo ya kiwanda inayoongozwa na PC, na mstari wa bidhaa ya Cartesian, SCARA, na roboti za mhimili wa 6 kulingana na jukwaa la kawaida la PC. VT6L All-in-One 6 Axis Robot inakuja na kiungo cha kuongoza cha kuongoza na kuendesha. T-Series roboti hutoa njia kamili ya automatiska na streamline viwanda bila kupoteza muda au fedha juu ya gharama kubwa, ngumu, slide-msingi ufumbuzi. Kwa historia ya miaka 35, Epson Robots hutoa roboti kwa ajili ya kusanyiko la usahihi na maombi ya utunzaji wa vifaa katika anga, vifaa, bioteknolojia, magari, bidhaa za watumiaji, umeme, usindikaji wa chakula, vifaa vya matibabu, dawa, plastiki, semiconductor, na sekta za mawasiliano. Fanuc ni kampuni ya roboti ambayo iliingia katika biashara ya roboti ya ushirikiano mnamo 2015 na kutolewa kwa roboti ya ushirikiano ya mhimili wa 6, CR-35iA. Roboti hiyo yenye uzito wa kilo 35 imebuniwa ili kufanya kazi pamoja na wanadamu bila kutumia ngome au uzio, na inaweza kufanya kazi za mara kwa mara au kazi ngumu sana au hatari kwa wanadamu. Ikiwa utapata mteja wa kawaida, CR-35A inaweza kugeuka kuwa ngumu. Kama safu ya ziada ya ulinzi na usalama, Fanuc ina nyenzo ya povu ya kijani iliyopakwa kwenye roboti. Festo ni mtengenezaji wa mfumo wa pneumatic na electromechanical, lakini katika miaka kumi iliyopita imekuwa hai katika kuendeleza bidhaa katika nafasi ya robotics ya ushirikiano. Festo imebuni cobots tatu: BionicCobot, BionicMotionRobot, na OctopusGripper. BionicCobot, roboti nyepesi ya hewa, iliongozwa na mkono wa binadamu, wakati BionicMotionRobot iliongozwa na harakati ya mdomo wa tembo. OctopusGripper ni bionic gripper kulingana na tentacles ya octopus. 5. Uwe na mtazamo mzuri. Locus Robotics ni kampuni ya e-commerce ya robotics, ambayo inazingatia kuboresha uzalishaji wa kazi katika maghala kupitia matumizi ya cobots. Kampuni hiyo imewasilisha programu ya Locus Robotics Advanced Navigation (LRAN) kwa ajili ya kuratibu roboti nyingi katika mazingira ya kiwanda, ambapo kupeleka roboti nyingi na kuratibu harakati zao bila kuunda msongamano wa trafiki au hatari za usalama ni changamoto kubwa. Kwa programu yake ya LRAN iliyosambazwa kwenye wingu, Locus inakusudia kuboresha usahihi na utendaji wa urambazaji wa roboti zao. Omron ni kampuni ya teknolojia ya automatisering ya kimataifa ambayo hutoa ufumbuzi wa roboti ya simu, kuwezesha roboti kusafiri karibu na kiwanda haraka kama mfanyakazi wa binadamu. Roboti ya Lynx inaweza kusafirisha vifaa kwa urahisi katika mazingira kama vile maghala, viwanda, na hospitali, ambapo wanadamu hupata ugumu wa kusafirisha vitu. Kwa kutumia uwezo wa kujifunza mashine, roboti hii ya kujipanga inajenga ramani ya eneo lake la kazi na kuamua njia bora kutoka hatua A hadi B. Mfanyakazi wa kibinadamu aweza pia kumzoeza roboti kwa kuiongoza tu kupitia mpangilio. 7. Uwe na mtazamo gani? Rethink Robotics ni moja ya majina maarufu zaidi katika roboti ya ushirikiano. Bidhaa zake kuu ni Baxter, roboti ya kuonekana ya kirafiki inayolenga automatisering kazi za gorofa ya duka, na Sawyer. Roboti zote mbili hutumia uwezo wa kuhisi nguvu ili kudumisha usalama zinapofanya kazi pamoja na wafanyakazi. Wote wanategemea programu ya kampuni ya Intera kwa ajili ya mafunzo. Mfanyakazi anaweza kumsaidia Baxter au Sawyer kupitia kazi, na roboti zinaweza kujifunza kurudia kazi hiyo kwa wakati halisi. Rethink sasa inaongeza bidhaa zake kwa grippers roboti na mpya yake ClickSmart Toolkit, ambayo hutumia smart sensing kurekebisha kwa aina ya kazi nyeti au pana utunzaji. Badala ya kuunda mstari wa roboti, Robotiq inajenga zana za cobotics kwa roboti kutumia. Chombo chao maarufu zaidi ni UR inayotumiwa na Universal Robots. Robotiq pia hufanya mfululizo wa nyongeza ambazo hufanya iwe rahisi kuongeza utendaji wa mkono wa roboti, kwa kuunganisha tu bidhaa. Kampuni hiyo ina bidhaa nne za kipaji: mkono wa roboti na vidole vitatu, grippers adaptive na vidole viwili, sensorer na nguvu ya kugusa ambayo inatoa uwezo wa kugusa kwa roboti, na mfumo wa maono ya kamera kwa utambuzi wa kitu. Robotiq pia inatoa templates desturi programu kwa ajili ya maombi mengi ya kawaida kwa ajili ya makampuni kuangalia kwa ajili ya utekelezaji wa haraka wa cobots. 9. (a) Kwa nini? Universal Robots inajenga mfululizo wa mikono ya roboti ya ushirikiano, yaani UR3, UR5 na UR10, kwa safu ya maombi ikiwa ni pamoja na kuchagua na mahali, ukaguzi wa ubora, kutengeneza sindano, kusanyiko, na kufunga na palletizing. Kama Rethink's Baxter na Sawyer, mfululizo wa UR unaweza kufundishwa kwa kuhamisha mkono kwa mikono kwa njia maalum. Mfululizo wa UR umepelekwa ulimwenguni kote na kampuni kama Nissan na Yokohama, ambapo wao hupeleka kazi kwa roboti. Inatoa muda zaidi kwa ajili ya mafunzo ya wafanyakazi wapya na kuepuka kuleta wafanyakazi wa ziada wa misaada kushughulikia kazi za kurudia-rudia na zinazotumia wakati. Universal Robots hutumia roboti zake za mfululizo wa UR kutengeneza roboti zake. Vecna ni kampuni ya mwisho-kwa-mwisho bidhaa ufumbuzi na lengo juu ya roboti automatisering kwa ajili ya maombi katika utengenezaji, kuhifadhi, na omnichannel amri kutimiza. Haizingatii jukwaa lolote la roboti lakini inachukua mbinu ya jumla inayotegemea AI kuboresha mtiririko wa kazi. Roboti zake zina teknolojia ya maono ya kompyuta ya wamiliki kwa ajili ya utambuzi wa kitu pamoja na urambazaji. Teknolojia ya sensorer-fusion ya roboti hutumia eneo la wakati mmoja na ramani (SLAM), teknolojia sawa nyuma ya magari mengi ya kujitegemea, kuelewa na kusafiri katika nafasi yake ya kazi katika vipimo vitatu.