The field of robotics, and in particular the usage of collaborative robots (cobots) in production environments, has enormous benefits for the manufacturing industry.

More and more businesses are now incorporating cobots in manufacturing and how they might alter their operations by increasing productivity.

With frequently contradictory results, too many manufacturers are only investing in cobots and hope for automatic returns on investment. 

What Should One Interpret of Cobots?

Cobots, which enable human-robot collaboration, are made to work safely next to human workers. Cobots in a manufacturing environment are mechanical arms that, like typical industrial robots, can be programmed to carry out a variety of activities, including material handling, assembly, process operations, quality inspection and packing.

Due to the cobot’s focus on repetitive duties, this enables its human coworker to concentrate on other jobs that call for more manual dexterity and cognitive skills.

By utilizing sensors and specific software algorithms, cobots work closely with human personnel, setting them apart from other robots.

Cobots automatically avoid running into things or people, and even if they do, the forces involved in the collision are minimal enough not to cause harm or injury.

Cobots in manufacturing processes are ideal, but far too many enterprises are making cobot investments without having a clear strategy in place.

As with any other intelligent technology, cobots should be used in a way that will maximize operational efficiency.

Because cobots have certain criteria and constraints that must be understood and respected, despite their great degree of versatility, targeting the incorrect cobots for operational purposes will not yield the ROI that was anticipated.

The secret to success is to carefully examine operations to determine the optimum places to integrate cobots alongside human workers.

Cobots, or collaborative robots, are made to safely operate with humans in tiresome, boring, and dangerous conditions.

Cobots in manufacturing function alongside human labor in a shared office, in contrast to traditional industrial robots that operate in walled facilities to avoid proximity to people.

A typical industrial robot welds a sharp cutting tool in restricted factory space, whereas a cobot assists humans in sorting foam chips in a lab.

Conventional industrial robots have long allowed enterprises to take advantage of automation and make up for a lack of labor.

However, they are normally made to carry out a single task. Additionally, they lack the cognitive capacity that humans possess to re-program their processes in response to changing conditions.

Cobots, on the other hand, don’t need big, pre-programmed actuators to propel them. Cobot motions are guided by computer-controlled manipulators and under human supervision, like robotic arms. Cobots enable productive human-machine collaboration at work as a result.

Cobots can be programmed to carry out a variety of tasks in a manufacturing environment, including handling supplies, putting things together, palletizing, packaging, and labelling, checking the quality of the finished product, welding, press-fitting, driving screws and nuts, and tending to machinery.

While cobots perform these monotonous activities, human workers can concentrate on duties that call for a great deal of creativity and logic.

Benefits of Cobots in Manufacturing

The benefits of cobots in manufacturing can be summed up in three words: dependability, security and trust.

When technology is deemed reliable, it naturally becomes popular too. People cover microphones or laptop cameras with tape, for example, when they don’t trust their tool or application.

When automakers are unsure of the reliability of the mobile network, they only perform crucial operations on the vehicle rather than on the cloud. Similar to this, we wouldn’t want to work with industrial robots if we didn’t trust them. One of the biggest difficulties with developing cobots is this.

Cobots also make a lot of decisions in real time, and the search area can be very big. This calls for the traversal of huge knowledge graphs, which in turn necessitates a robust network, new software architectures, and processing power.

But recent advances in technologies like linked data, parallel processing, edge computing, and distributed artificial intelligence enable cobots to make efficient decisions, resulting in execution that is reliable and effective.

So, do Cobots Carry a Reliable Factor?

We are long over the hype phase; for the past ten years, cobots in manufacturing have been significantly enhancing the manufacturing industry as a whole.

They are designed to do more than ever nowadays. Increased automation in manufacturing processes is now a must rather than a nice-to-have feature.

Companies that choose not to invest in cobots risk falling behind their rivals as well as losing out on adding value.

Cobots are the solution for manufacturers who wish to thrive and succeed in this fiercely competitive market.

In December 2019, the Swedish central bank departed from a negative-interest-rate policy that it had maintained for almost five years. The Riksbank’s repo rate (the rate at which it lends to commercial banks), which reached a low of -0.5% in February 2016, had risen to 0% by January. The latest rate hike comes despite signs […]

Africa’s premier fintech event, the Africa Fintech Summit, will be held for the first time in Lagos, Nigeria, on November 8-9, 2018. This event comes on the heels of the earlier edition in Washington D.C. which featured leading policy makers, c-suite business executives, start-ups, and investors. The Summit, organized by Dedalus Global, gathers innovators, investors, […]

Johnson & Johnson has launched the Champions of Science Africa Innovation Challenge 2.0 calling on African innovators to submit ideas for innovative technologies, products and solutions that have the potential to create positive impact for African communities. Challenge participants with the best solutions will receive up to US$50,000 in funding and mentorship from the global […]

Kampala – Uganda, September 5, 2022: The Stanbic Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has regained a positive outlook as the August data pointed to a renewed improvement in business conditions for Uganda’s private sector as both output and new orders returned to growth. Key findings Output and new orders return to growth Purchasing rises, but employment […]

Plot 722 Namuli Road, Bukoto Kampala, Uganda. Phone: +256 414 531345 +256 752 366881 Email: [email protected] [email protected]