Finishing tasksĪctivities such as polishing, grinding, and deburring require a force across the product’s surface to remove a certain amount of material. When cobots are equipped with end-effector tools, they are able to perform tasks such as gluing, drilling, and welding. A cobot can help load machines such as computer numerical control (CNC), injection molding, press brakes, metal stamping presses.
This is the loading and/or unloading of a given machine with parts or material. This involves tasks where an object needs to be displaced or re-oriented. The comprehensive cobot application list is as follows: Pick & place Collaborative robots can handle many tasks in the production process, such as packing commodities, assembly, machine tending, and palletizing. Source: ResearchGate What are some examples/use cases/applications of collaborative robots?Ĭobots can perform many roles across various industries. An industrial robot literally being kept in a cage. Therefore, they are kept in cages in industrial environments to protect human workers. They work fast in pre-defined patterns and lack awareness about humans. Industrial robots lack the intelligence to work alongside humans. The critical difference is that cobots can safely collaborate with humans. What are the differences between cobots and industrial robots? The flexibility and re-programmability of cobots make them more investment-worthy since they can be programmed to have various applications in different sectors, ranging from manufacturing to healthcare. They also do not need enclosures, reducing the need for manufacturing space. Cobots rely on a smaller number of cheap hardware components and embedded sensors. Economical efficiencyĬobots are cheaper than industrial robots. Unlike humans, robots don’t get tired and can work 24/7 without making careless errors. Most complex processes involve repetitive, object-oriented tasks that are suitable for cobots. Reasons for this are: Round-the-clock functionality Though collaborative robots only make up about 3% of all robot sales, this number is expected to jump to 34% in 2025. While interest in cobots is increasing, they are still a small percentage of the entire robotics industry.Īccording to Loup Ventures, global robotics spending will reach $13 billion in 2025.