February 2021

28 n ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING February 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com Cobots could make UK manufacturing more productive C ollaborative robots (or cobots) are fast becoming a benchmark in industrial automation for their ability to offer higher productivity while working safely alongside human workers. Compact and lightweight, cobots offer many benefits that can add value at every step of the production process. One example is their ability to work safely alongside humans without the need for guarding, greatly reducing their footprints. This makes them ideal for applications where they can maximise productivity without compromising safety. The collaboration can be either continuous or intermittent – as in the case of final trim and assembly in the automotive sector where some human involvement is still needed. Cobots also offer the flexibility to manage the shift to low- volume/high-mix production. They can add agility when changing between products and can allow new products to be introduced faster. While the people working on production lines contribute their problem- solving capabilities, insights and adaptability to change, robots bring tireless precision and endurance to repetitive tasks. According to the research firm Markets and Markets, the global market for collaborative robots will be worth $12.3bn by 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of more than 50%. One key driver for this growth is the development of cobots aimed at smaller workplaces. While robotic automation technology has evolved to meet the growing demands for high-volume industrial production, it has also led to the creation of compact collaborative robots – such as ABB’s YuMi – which are designed to fit easily into existing production lines to increase productivity while working safely alongside human colleagues. The inherent qualities of cobots, such as the ability to mount them on tables, walls and roofs, and their ease of installation and programming, make them ideal for smaller manufacturers. Cobots also cost much less to install, typically cutting the investment for a robotic cell to under £40,000. Filling the talent gap Many manufacturers complain about how difficult it is to find experienced workers. Young people often see manufacturing as involving dirty, dull, dangerous and repetitive tasks such as assembling parts, tending machines, or packaging goods. Also, with shorter product lifecycles, small manufacturers operating in high-labour-cost countries close to their end- customers cannot simply outsource to low-cost countries like large corporations do. In these conditions, cobots not only reduce the need for manual labour, but can work tirelessly and with higher quality, allowing their human co-workers to perform more stimulating work that can lead to higher job satisfaction. The plug-and-play qualities of modern cobots mean that they can be installed quickly, minimising disruption to production. Their small footprints and portability make them suitable not only for automating existing production lines, but also for more diverse applications. Technological advances have made cobots far more intuitive than their conventional counterparts. Capabilities such as lead-through programming and user-friendly touchscreen interfaces allow operators with no programming experience to program them quickly. Offline tools allow operators to simulate applications on a PC without shutting down production. This helps to cut the time needed to get the robot running – ideal for organisations with short product cycles. Moreover, digital twin technologies can be used to develop virtual representations of robots on which diagnostics, prediction and simulation can help to optimise the machine before it is set up. With the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is likely that more companies will start to look at the possibilities offered by robotic automation in general, and cobots in particular, as a way of shoring up their businesses. Potential applications are likely to expand as robot manufacturers and their partners work to develop enhanced software functions such as cloud connections, artificial intelligence andmachine learning that increase their capabilities and make them safer, more adaptable and flexible and easier to use. n Although still a relatively small part of the robotics market, collaborative robots offer many attractions and they are being adopted rapidly, especially by smaller manufacturers. Nigel Platt, ABB’s lead business manager for robotics and discrete automation in the UK and Ireland, explains. Collaborative robots such as ABB’s YuMi offer tireless precision and endurance when performing repetitive tasks.