Bergur Thormundsson
Research expert covering technology in the Nordics, AI and smart cities
Get in touch with us nowIndustrial robot behemoths vs. flexible cobots
While industrial robots are mainly intended to work separately from humans, cobots are designed to directly interact with human employees in a shared workspace. Industrial robots tend to be big, heavy, and strong enough to lift objects weighing several hundred kilograms. This makes their usage a potential danger to humans, and are, thus, often operated behind a physical barrier, such as a fence or a cage. Cobots, on the other hand, are specifically designed to perform tasks alongside or in cooperation with humans. Cobots rely on precision and flexibility, rather than on strength and force, and are typically smaller in size with a low payload capacity. Moreover, cobots tend to have rounded edges, which further minimizes any risk of human injury.European and Asian companies reign supreme
Unsurprisingly, some of the biggest cobot manufacturers are producing industrial robots as well. Companies such as Japan-based FANUC, Switzerland’s ABB, and the Germany-based KUKA are all major players in the field of robot manufacturing, developing both cobots and industrial robots. Specialized cobot producers include Taiwan-based Techman Robot, British-based Automata, Germany’s Franka Emika, and Denmark’s Universal RobotsRobots not going anywhere
It is highly unlikely that the robotics market will see a reduction in demand in the coming years. More advanced AI programs are likely to allow the collaborative robot market to grow considerably, as AI can improve the flexibility of these robots beyond their industrial robot counterparts. In that way they can maneuver and operate in even closer proximity to human workers, as well as take on more complex and nuanced tasks within a multitude of enterprises.
