The smart factories of the future are created through the harmonious coexistence of humans and machines. This requires robots to collaborate with humans and work together to complete various tasks. These include tasks that humans cannot do, do not want to do, or do poorly, as well as complex tasks that can reduce human labor intensity and improve human quality of life. Therefore, human-machine collaboration can be seen as an essential attribute of new industrial robots.
Collaborative robots, as a new type of industrial robot, have eliminated barriers to human-robot collaboration, freeing robots from the constraints of fences or cages. Their groundbreaking performance and wide range of applications have ushered in a new era for the development of industrial robots. So, what are the main characteristics and advantages of collaborative robots?
Key characteristics of collaborative robots
1. Lightweight design: 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 or injure operators.
3. Perception ability: to perceive the surrounding environment and change one's own actions and behaviors according to changes in the environment.
4. Human-robot collaboration: It has sensitive force feedback characteristics and will stop immediately when the preset force is reached. After risk assessment, there is no need to install protective railings, enabling humans and robots to work together.
5. Easy to program: Programming and debugging are very easy for ordinary operators and people without technical backgrounds.
Key advantages of collaborative robots
1. It offers the greatest flexibility in the production process.
2. To take over manual processes that were previously impossible to automate and did not conform to ergonomics, thereby reducing the burden on employees.
3. Reduce the risk of injury and infection, for example, by using specialized human-machine collaborative grippers.
4. Complete repeatable processes with high quality without investing in different types or workpieces.
5. Employ a built-in sensing system to improve productivity and reduce equipment complexity.
Based on the advantages of human-robot collaboration and in response to market demand, more flexible collaborative robots have become a feasible solution for undertaking assembly and extraction tasks. They can maximize the strengths of both humans and robots, allowing robots to better cooperate with workers and adapt to a wider range of work challenges.
