Collaborative robots are robots designed for direct interaction with humans; that is, robots designed to interact closely with humans in shared workspaces. In recent years, collaborative robots have begun to receive widespread attention.
Traditional industrial robots perform high-precision, high-speed operations such as welding, painting, handling and palletizing, and polishing, all within the framework of safety fences or other protective measures. Collaborative robots, on the other hand, break away from the traditional fully manual and fully automated production models, enabling them to work directly alongside operators on the same production line without the need for safety fences to separate them from people.
The main characteristics of collaborative robots are:
(1) Lightweight: Makes robots easier to control and improves safety.
(2) User-friendliness: Ensure that the robot's surface and joints are smooth and flat, without sharp corners or gaps that could pinch the operator.
(3) Flexible deployment: The body can be reduced to a size that can be placed on a workbench and can be installed anywhere.
(4) Perception ability: can perceive the surrounding environment and change its own behavior according to the changes in the environment.
(5) Human-robot collaboration: It has sensitive force feedback characteristics and will stop immediately when the set force is reached. After risk assessment, there is no need to install protective railings, enabling humans and robots to work together.
(6) Easy to program: It is very easy to program and debug for ordinary operators and people without technical background.
(7) Low operating cost: There is basically no need for maintenance costs, and the robot itself consumes less power.
Collaborative robots, as a new type of industrial robot, have eliminated obstacles to human-robot collaboration, allowing robots to completely break free from the constraints of fences or cages. Their groundbreaking product performance and wide range of applications have ushered in a new era for the development of industrial robots.
