The Symbiotic Relationship of Cobots and Us

Gone are the days of manual labor filling up factories and warehouses, especially with the advent of robotics and cobots. It’s no surprise that these efficient machines have taken over many tedious, repetitive tasks – freeing up workers to focus on more complex jobs. But what if there was a way for robots and humans to work together to bring out the best of both sides? The age-old question of robot versus human is now being transformed into one about robot + human collaboration: how can we create an environment where cobots and workers coexist harmoniously? This blog post dives into the symbiotic relationship between cobots and workers.

What Exactly is a Cobot?

The word itself derives from two others: COllaborative roBOT. Whether that’s cheesy or genius is up to the readers’ interpretation of course. These robots are designed to work alongside their human counterpart to handle the monotonous, tedious, or strenuous tasks that one could be exposed to in a warehouse or factory-type environment. Unlike the bulky yet hulking autonomous robots that are currently deployed, these cobots are slimmed down and weaker by design. This allows them to be able to be attached to many different work areas when needed. The best part? Programming these robots is a breeze. Well, that does depend on the manufacturer, but there does seem to be an unwritten rule when designing these machines that programming has to be extremely user-friendly and easy. After all, no one would choose your product over one that is significantly easier to operate.

What Makes Cobots So Special?

Well, it’s the simple fact that they are the first industrial machines designed to work directly beside/with people. Unlike standard machines and equipment or autonomous robots, cobots can work safely alongside humans without the need for cages or other protective barriers. This makes them ideal for tasks such as assembly lines, automated packing and sorting operations, quality assurance testing and inspection, etc., where human-machine collaboration is key to efficiency and productivity. In terms of their design, cobots feature advanced sensors that allow them to measure the force they use while manipulating objects to prevent injury or damage to both people and products. Another advantage of cobots is their flexibility; with the ability to be reprogrammed quickly through simple programming tools as well as being able to lift heavy loads without sacrificing speed or accuracy, cobots are perfect for environments with tight deadlines yet varying tasks. Finally, these specialized machines also benefit from cost savings due to their extreme precision and straightforward installation process which eliminates costly downtime associated with conventional automation options. All in all, cobots offer benefits not seen in other robotic systems making them a great choice when it comes to automating tasks requiring human-machine collaboration.

No Safety Cages? No Problem.

One of the best-selling features of these robots is the ability to work beside them without a safety fence. While this is the short answer to the classic question ‘if they’re safe or not’, there is more to it than that. There is one main international standard for cobots dating back to 2016 called the ISO/TS 15066:2016 which is 33 pages long. It goes over different specific features that collaborative robots must be equipped with, such as speed limits, force limits, and integrated safety sensors. Do keep in mind that this document, if you are interested in reading it, does not apply to non-industrial robotics or any robot designed before its publication. If all the requirements are met according to standards, workers may do their job beside these robots with exercised caution, as with anything that moves on its own.

Here is a general breakdown of the safety standards that regulate our favorite collaborative machines:

Speed Limits and Force

Here in the lovely world of physics, we have a little something called Newton’s second law of motion:  force = mass x acceleration. A robot slapping you upside the head going the same speed would hurt significantly more if it was holding a feather vs a lead bowling ball. So, to mitigate this probability of injury, the speed limit of the Tool Centerpoint (TCP) is governed at 250 mm/sec during operations where an operator may interact with it.  This is why cobots seem so slow during presentations at trade shows. It also does make sense, as in a situation where you need to be working beside the cobot, you want to be able to keep up with it, whereas a regular automation robot, its goal is to do its job as fast as possible.

Force Feedback and External Sensing

It’s probably common knowledge at this point that automation robots are designed to stop whenever they hit something, right? This is due to the controller reading expected current inputs and comparing them to the calculated required input for every motor movement. If there is an amount that exceeds that expected current, the controller assumes that the robot must have hit something it shouldn’t have. This is also the case for cobots, except with much tighter and more precise parameters. The cobot is expected to know what tool is attached to its arm, its expected payload, as well as the mass and center of gravity of each item so that the robot can determine if it hit something, even if the force is minimal. Thankfully this is all calculated by the controller itself, so there’s no need to dig out the calculus you learned in college oh so long ago.

External sensing also plays a large role in keeping you safe from your new robot buddy. Some of these external inputs can come from sensors placed around the work area that can detect if humans are close by to limit their speed. Another form of sensing is by physical touch-based sensors located on the outside of the robot itself. These are designed to stop the robot before the stock collision detection is even triggered so that the robot isn’t required to physically hit you to stop.

To Cage or Not to Cage, That is the Question.

While these machines were built to work beside their fleshy counterparts (you), there needs to be a risk assessment before deploying these robots into the work environment, as no two applications are quite the same. For instance, setting up your brand new cobot to place a standard cardboard box down vs setting down a live hand grenade would have two very different safety procedures.  Because of this, it is always a good idea to take a step back and plan. Taking the safety standards explained up above, we can get a general idea of what would work without a cage, but as always, a proper risk assessment is key to avoiding injury.

What Exactly Can Cobots Do?

I’m glad you asked! It all depends on what contraption you decide to stick onto its end piece. Slap a chainsaw to it and let it cut some logs. Put a throwing arm so it could launch clay pigeons for you to shoot at. A paintbrush so you won’t have to be lonely painting a Bob Ross tutorial. Make coffee because your intern is sick for the day. Of course, these are all jokes (mostly), and there are many applications where these robots would be useful in industrial settings, such as:

Material Handling

Whether it is objects that are too heavy, sharp, hot, corrosive, or anything in between, the cobot can handle them for the operator and if attached to a mobile station, may move it along the factory floor.

Material Removal

This one goes out to all of you who loathe the idea of sanding objects. A cobot can take care of it for you, given the right attachment. They are also able to use grinders to take the burrs off freshly cut metal or even trim excess pieces off injection molded parts.

Assembly and Quality Assurance

Another extremely tedious job. These helpful robots could put together small boards, welding pieces, drill holes or screws, and other various activities that involve mind-numbing labor. They can then pass what they had just assembled to another robot so that they may inspect it for imperfections or errors. All while you sit back and watch as you sip your freshly brewed coffee made by your third cobot.

Pick and Place

A mundane task (starting to see the trend?) that is often carried out by humans. These robots can fill such a position, with the help of a gripper or pneumatic suction cup, and go right to town. Of course, they will also need to be equipped with some sort of visual sensor to see which objects need to be sorted. After all, it is much more accurate than the worker who had been standing there for their seventh hour.

Packaging and Palletizing

This takes pick and place to another notch as they can then sort the items into a pallet and even shrink-wrap small loads. While other technology would have to be used in conjunction, this will save quite a bit of time and increase productivity.

Process Tasks

Cobots with specialty arms can precisely weld parts together or even use adhesive dispensers and applicators. This saves any worker from having to learn the right skills of welding and perform this task over and over while keeping a precise weld. Universal Robots has a list of cobots made specifically for this application and even makes programming them a breeze.

How Do They Do It?

Depending on the manufacturer, cobots have a wide range of tools that can be installed on the working end of it, such as:

Grippers

This allows the robot to pick something up and put it right back down. There are many variations of this, some fancier than others, such as pneumatic grippers, finger grippers, magnet grippers, and so on.

Vision Systems

Given the right camera, this allows cobots to locate objects, scan objects to form a 3d file for prototypes, or even allow cobots to move objects around and sort them without having those objects first be strategically fed to them in a structure, as the camera can sense what the object is and how far it is.

Tool Changers

When you need one robot to do it all, an automatic tool changer is your best bet. They allow the cobot to swap between different tool heads automatically to complete a complex task, saving the operator time by not having them wait and replace the tool head every time. This makes the cobot extremely versatile in its operation.

Feeding Systems

This tool can feed the cobot, let’s say screws, while it is assembling a task that requires it to be screwed together. This once more eliminates the need for human supervision and constant interference.  

What Industries Can a Cobot Fit In?

Pretty much all of them! They are present in the food industry to sort, cut, and package. In the plastics industry, they are often seen learning new low-volume production tasks. Within the electronics industries, cobots are found soldering circuit boards and assembling sensitive products. Automotive puts these robots to work by having them assemble customized parts for cars and the pharmaceutical industry could have them work where large quantities of goods with precise inspection are needed to minimize the margin of error. The beauty of these robots is that they can fit any role that the operator is willing to program them to. With the ease of teaching these robots and the simplicity of programming them, these helpful robots have a small limit on what they can accomplish.

Are Cobots Worth It?

Of course, this is a question only you can decide, as I am simply here to bring you the facts. Every workspace is different, led by different managers, and governed by different CEOs. Robotics is not cheap by any means, though, that cost can be offset by its Return on Investment over time. If your work process is plagued with many tedious and mundane tasks that could be a hazard for a worker to be at for so long, it may be time to consider this option. If you and your company’s outlook is futurism, then embracing robotic companions is the next step forward to future-proofing your work environment with the latest technology. Cobots can be especially helpful when the talent pool is small for specialized workers where they may be able to fill in the gap, or even cover when one is sick. Now, ill leave you to decide if you want to pull the trigger on one while I go and gather up a list of parts to build my own for my office.

This entry was posted on April 3rd, 2023 and is filed under Uncategorized. Both comments and pings are currently closed.