Collaborative robots or cobots as they are popularly known have grown in use and popularity. Early adopters of cobots have helped to debunk the myth that robots cannot work alongside human workers.
Over the last few years, cobot sales have grown tremendously and are predicted to bypass and phase out the use of traditional robots by the year 2025.
Read on to discover a few of the stand out reasons that have led to the rise and rise of cobots.
1. Price
Cobots are fairly priced. This is one major reason that has their led. They can be easily acquired by both small and large organizations. Additionally, due to the enhanced efficiency they add to the production process, the investment in the cobot is recouped quite fast making it a highly attractive investment.
2. Ease of use
Cobots are simple to use. First, they are easy to program and start using. Programming the cobot is how you teach it how to perform the tasks that you assign to it. A cobot can be easily programmed by factory worker who undergoes a short training on how to program it. Programming it is similar to using a smart phone.
Secondly, the cobot is easily and quickly assembled. Unlike a traditional robot that could take many days and man hours to set up and get ready for use, cobots are assembled in as little as thirty minutes and is ready to get to work.
3. Multi-tasking capabilities
Universal Robots, the pioneer in the collaborative robot industry designed cobots to have the capacity to take on several tasks in the factory. Cobots can be assigned to tasks in one part of the factory and when done, it is reconfigured to suit a different task on a different part of the factory.
There are different end of arm effectors that cobot owners can buy to add capacity to their cobots. These effectors allow the cobots to capably handle different tasks.
4. Speed
Cobots are known for and loved for their speed. Cobots produce more and faster than any group of employees can. In addition, cobots can work continuously without the need for breaks.
With this speed also comes accuracy. This leads to high quality products and increased savings to the organization through the reducing of defective products and waste of raw materials.
5. Their effect on employees
Collaborative robots affect employee morale in the working place. First, robots are designed to take over the dirty, dangerous and boring tasks in the factory. With these tasks taken away from the employees they are free to engage in other tasks that require more of their brain power and creativity.
With increased morale in the employees, their productivity is increased and they look forward to go to work every day to be productive rather than just passing the hours for meager pay.
6. Can be leased
For those who organizations that do not want to buy the cobot upfront, they can acquire it in a different way. Cobot manufacturers have agents who can lease the cobot to organizations allowing them to pay for it by the hour.
This helps organizations experience the cobot before they finally acquire theirs. It helps organizations identify aspects of their production process that they can automate with a cobot to gain high levels of efficiency and effectiveness.
7. Easy to maintain and monitor
With the growth of IoT, cobots are easy to monitor. Through the internet and additional software, cobots can easily send text messages to those monitoring them when they encounter problems in their production process. In the same way, they can be easily repaired online remotely without having to be next to them.
In addition, they send out an analysis of their production process from time to time for easier and faster optimization.
Conclusion
Cobots are here to stay. With their nimbleness and ease of use and acquisition, they will be the main mode of automation in industry now and in the future.