Shoulder to the Future: Collaborative Robots Boost Unlimited Possibilities

The growth in demand for robot solutions is mainly due to the ease of use of collaborative robots. According to our recent survey of 1650 industrial companies worldwide, nearly one-third of the surveyed companies consider ease of use and simple programming as key standards for investing in robot automation. YuMi from ABB ®、 GoFa ™ And SWIFTI ™ Collaborative robots are designed with ease of use in mind, allowing workers to program and operate without the need for professional robot or software knowledge. ABB’s intuitive Wizard simple programming software is easy to set up, allowing collaborative robots to learn their desired positions and actions within minutes by dragging and dropping graphic blocks. By reducing programming difficulty and eliminating the need for professional programming knowledge, this simple programming software enables collaborative robots to program quickly and is friendly to novice users.

These collaborative robots can also be used with ABB Robot Studio offline programming software. This programming software can test and improve everything from a single robot to a complete robot workstation in a virtual environment, and then perform actual installation based on the testing results. RobotStudio also offers a selection of AR applications and cloud based versions, allowing users from different sites to collaborate, providing a powerful tool for collaborative robots and industrial robots to fully leverage their advantages.

In addition to the advantages of simplicity and ease of use, collaborative robots have also added more functions. Both GoFa and SWIFTI have a range of different workloads and work ranges to choose from, enabling them to handle and execute new tasks with higher workloads, opening up new possibilities for collaborative automation for small and medium-sized enterprises and first-time users. Through ABB’s ecosystem plan, users can easily achieve a wider range of functions through reliable and qualified peripheral devices and software solutions.

Safety First: People and Robots Work Side by Side

Equally important, ABB’s collaborative robots are equipped with a series of safety features to ensure that they can collaborate side by side with workers on assembly lines or workbenches, sharing a workspace. If there is potential contact with workers, YuMi and GoFa’s actions will stop within a few milliseconds until their human colleagues confirm the safety of the situation before restarting. Taking ABB’s industrial grade collaborative robot SWIFTI as an example, its safety detection system combines a laser scanner and ABB’s SafeMove software, which can adjust the robot’s motion speed. If a worker is detected within its working range, the robot will stop working directly. The robot can only resume operation after the workers return to a safe distance.

YuMi and GoFa, on the other hand, have a soft curved surface and are designed to remove any pinch points that may grip clothing or body parts.

Helping humanity achieve more humane long-term goals

The future of collaborative robots is immeasurable. The agility, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness of today’s collaborative robots provide opportunities for small businesses to become more competitive and operational resilient in a world full of uncertainty and rapid change. Through robot automation, people can engage in more valuable things – collaborative robots enable companies to deploy employees more intelligently, providing new possibilities for improving employee performance.

With the progress of artificial intelligence and machine learning, collaborative robots have become more intelligent and have stronger adaptability. We will gradually unlock a wider range of applications and help humans achieve more humane long-term goals through robot automation.