Meet Cobots; New Generation Robots That Work Side By Side With Humans
Read this article to know how the next-gen Cobots (Collaborative robots) are changing the floor of a manufacturing unit. Know about the benefits they offer and in which all industries are they suited.
The modern-day factory floor is characterized by the presence of both human and robots working side by side. At times, the two will be too close that you will actually wonder how that happens safely. For instance, in an assembling industry, human workers may be repeating a set of less monotonous tasks as the robots take up the very repetitive and tedious ones.
The sight of robots and humans working alongside each other causes awe because previously, robots have been associated with working from secluded places like cages and to make a series of heavy and fast movements that were dangerous and risky for the human worker. In addition to this complexity, traditional robots required professional expertise in order to install or run programs. All these conditions made the robots not only demanding but also expensive to run and maintain. Collaborative Robots
To fix nearly all the concerns raised by owning and operating a traditional robot is the new and light collaboration robots also known as cobots. They have an all-round design that allows them to 'collaborate' or work safely with human workers. The design of cobots employs a sensor and vision technology and an auto-computing power which makes them easy to operate and run. Benefits of Using Collaborative Robots over Traditional Robots
Easy Programming
Modern-day cobots have easy to use robot software which is easy to install, plug and play. The robot software can be run on a normal computer or tablet without any special coding. Some can follow simple prompts like moving the arms in the desired pattern and so on. Thanks to this, operating a cobot becomes so easy even for a person with basic computer skills.
Traditional robots require a professional programmer to run the machine. As such, acquiring a machine needs hiring the services of a professional programmer to run the machine whenever need be. Many professional programmers tend to charge high fees for their services and this increases the cost of production.Ease of Mobility
Unlike traditional robots which are heavy and huge in size, collaborative robots are small and can be easily be moved from one place to the other. The small size allows them to share the same working space with humans without posing any integration danger. Due to their size, traditional robots require huge spaces and additional measurements like caging to ensure human safety. Affordability
Collaborative robots are cheaper to obtain as compared to traditional robots. Many retail at an average cost of about $24,000 making them affordable for many companies irrespective of their sizes.
Despite their low prices, collaborative robots are able to revolutionalise the way things are done on many factory floors making them an important investment for firms who are keen on boosting their production levels.Flexibility
As mentioned earlier, collaborative robots run on specially designed software. This means that the functioning of the machine is guided by a set of instruction it receives from the installed software. Robot software can be changed or upgraded to change the manner in which the robot performs its work. This way, the same robot can be used to complete a number of tasks and all that is needed is a change in the installed software.
Traditional robots are monotonous in nature; they can only be used for the purpose they are designed for. As such, if you need to automate two or three processes using a traditional robot, you will be required to buy as many robots in order to achieve this. The same results can be achieved using a single collaborative robot using different robot software. Ability to Work Side By Side With Human Workers
Traditional robots have always elicited a fear to replace human workers. Their inability to contain human employees within the same working environment is one of the reasons. Unlike these robots, collaborative robots have sensors which detect human presence and respond accordingly. They, therefore, have very slim chances of causing bodily harm or making the human worker feel uncomfortable. These machines only seek to make things easier for the human worker and not to render the employee jobless.
Collaborative robots seek to bring a solution to repetitive and tedious tasks without endangering the life or the job of the human employee.
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