Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2022 - 20

Collaborative Robots
away from this technological leap. The
reasons are different: some fear high
investments - with comparatively little
added value due to too small fields
of application and possibilities. In
some cases, however, the inhibitions
also lie on the human side: Many associate
highly complex technical systems
with it and see hurdles in terms of new
competence requirements. Festo
makes collaborative robotics intuitively
controllable, flexibly applicable and -
above all - financially affordable and
thus economically worthwhile even in
smaller companies. Cobots are particularly
attractive for SMEs when they can
pragmatically and quickly take on a
new task and are not only intended for
permanent use. The price is a central
aspect for establishing cobots in SMEs
in large numbers. It is a decision criterion
when it comes to trying out the
added value simply and without great
financial risk.
Katja Butterweck: Yes, SMEs are ripe
for significant growth in the installation
of cobots due to production and
material cost pressures, labor shortages,
and increasing need for flexibility.
ABB is currently witnessing a growing
demand for automation not only in
large companies in industries like automotive
and electronics, where robotics
are already in place, but also in SMEs in
new segments like healthcare, consumer
goods, logistics and retail, which currently
have a low level of robotic automation.
No robot can replace a person.
But often, people are forced into robotic
jobs - dull, dangerous, or repetitive
tasks. The increasing capability, autonomy,
and intelligence of collaborative
robots to handle such tasks can free
employees up for more fulfilling work
and contribute toward a happier, safer,
and healthier society.
Tech Briefs: Interacting with humans
in a shared workspace comes with challenges
of safety. Are robot manufacturers
installing more safety features while
designing cobots?
Kristian Hulgard: From the outset,
cobots have been designed to operate
safely close to humans, so safety has always
been a feature of the technology.
This is not to say that traditional industrial
automation is unsafe, but it typically
requires extensive fencing and
guarding to protect human workers. In
20
contrast, following a risk assessment,
cobots can be deployed without all that
fencing and guarding.
Joe Campbell: Safety is central to the
cobot concept which includes the freedom,
following a risk assessment, to deploy
cobots in close proximity to human
workers without all the safety
fencing and guarding traditional industrial
robots require. To make this
possible, Universal Robots has incorporated
an extensive range of safety features
into our cobots. The e-Series, for
example, has 17 safety features built in
and are certified by TÜV Nord and in
compliance with the EN ISO 13849-1
and EN ISO 10218-1 safety standards.
While cobots provide levels of safety
beyond that of any other industrial robot,
it's important to counter the misconception
that cobots are inherently
safe. For any machine to be inherently
safe, it means that there is no risk of
injury in all situations. No such machine
exists. Cobots are incomplete
machines. As a standalone product
your cobot has no end-effector (gripper
or other peripheral), and there is
no way to know how it will be used and
what it will do. Only the application of
a cobot can be judged to be safe or not
and this is determined by performing a
simple risk assessment of the cobot application
in accordance with ISO/TS
15066 before deployment.
Gerhard Borho: The safety requirements
for collaboration are defined.
Our pneumatic robot meets these standards
and is also inherently more compliant
and softer because of the technology.
We owe this to the advantages
of pneumatic drive technology, which,
"
In order to establish
collaborative robotics
on a broad scale, two
aspects are indispensable:
flexibility and simplicity.
for example, does not require any gears
at all compared to electric drive solutions.
In case of a collision, a " hard
stop " is not always good: e.g. jammed
condition. Then it is important to push
the cobot aside again. This can be realized
pneumatically very easily and flexibly
in balancer mode.
Katja Butterweck: For a robot to be
considered collaborative, it must have
the necessary safety functions which
prevent injury to a human operator.
This means factoring in the robot's
speed, the combined mass of the robot,
its payload, and the ability of the
robot to quickly come to a halt. Built-in
safety features, therefore, are the primary
point of differentiation between
collaborative robots and standard industrial
robots. Leading collaborative
robots incorporate a range of features
that allow it to be used directly alongside
human workers without the space
and expense associated with physical
barriers or fences. Enabling a robot
and human to continuously share the
same workspace and cooperate on the
same tasks, without jeopardizing speed
and safety, allows for maximum flexibility
and efficiency. ABB's GoFa cobot,
for example, features intelligent
torque and position sensors in each
of its six joints to offer superior power
and force limiting performance. These
joints eliminate the risk of injury to human
workers by sensing any unexpected
contact between the cobot's arm
and a human to bring the robot arm to
a stop within milliseconds.
Tech Briefs: How will advancement in
technologies such as additive manufacturing
and artificial intelligence impact
the design and development of cobots?
"
Gerhard Borho
www.techbriefs.com
Kristian Hulgard: Additive manufacturing
offers exciting possibilities
when it comes to customizing automation
and testing prototypes on the
shopfloor. OnRobot Partner EMI, for
example, designs and builds in-stock
and custom solutions for OnRobot
products, from 3D-printed vacuum
tools to machined fingers for handling
grippers. The impact is immediate -
greater flexibility and faster deployment
times for custom applications.
Artificial intelligence is another exciting
prospect. Software is the brains of
any robot and if robots can learn from
experience and then share that inforTech
Briefs, September 2022
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2022

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