Automation Canada Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 1 - 10

hazards without some mechanical or
electro-optical guarding.)

Installing the UR cobots at Alpha Corporation in Japan
improved productivity dramatically, resulting in a 20%
increase in production output in the molding process of
automobile keys.

THE COBOT ADVANTAGE
Use of cobots is exploding in the injection
molding market. While cobots deliver all the
six-axis benefits noted above, they also
deliver significant advantages not available
with traditional automation:
* MORE floorspace.
Collaborative robots were so named for their
ability to work safely in close proximity to
humans. When properly applied (after a risk
assessment), cobots often do not require the
heavy, expensive and space-intensive safety
fencing and access doors associated with
traditional automation. Their collaborative
nature frees up even more floorspace, even
for floor or pedestal-mounted installations,
and allows for quick access to the cobot's
work area without opening safety gates,
disabling alarms, etc. (Note, however, that
while the robots themselves may be
designed with sensors and speed and torque
limitations to make them safe around
humans, their end-of-arm tooling, or the
parts they are handling, could present
C A N A D I A N A U TO M AT I O N

* Operators engaged.
Cobots are designed to operate safely in
close proximity to operators, other cobots
and machinery. Maximizing the interaction
between skilled operators and cobots can
be more productive than using either robots
or human operators alone.

Cobots can easily be moved from press to press, as seen
here at Dynamic Group.

* Portability.
Lightweight and easy to set up and program,
cobots are often treated as a manufacturing
tool, moved from machine to machine as the
production mix and schedule demand.
Cobots have been successfully mounted on
rolling bases or carts and wheeled into
position for a short part run. Other
installations have utilized magnetic bases, or
a high-precision collet mounting to enable
cobots to be moved machine to machine.
* Easy to program -
Some cobots offer extremely intuitive
programming,
making
the
setup,
programming and interfacing to molding
machines and other peripherals very
VISIT UNIVERSAL ROBOTS

straightforward. With no special software
language to learn, even using lead-through
teaching, operating costs are low and even
small and medium-sized operations can
successfully implement robot automation.
* Low cost/fast ROI.
Cobots are changing how automation is
implemented. Simplified programming and
setup, pre-engineered peripherals like
grippers and even vision systems, and
reduced or no guarding, all add up to
automation at about half the cost of
traditional robots. Cobot systems are
routinely being installed in the $75,000
range, which means incredibly fast ROI,
typically within six to nine months.
Curious to find out more? Book a call with
one of our automation experts today:
www.universal-robots.com/ask-an-expert/
Joe Campbell is the
senior manager of
applications
development for
Universal Robots
North
America,
where
he
is
leveraging his 35+ years' experience in
robotics and factory automation. Prior to
joining Universal, Joe was v.p. of sales and
marketing for the Swiss based gantry-robot
and track manufacturer Gudel. Previously
he had executive roles in sales, marketing,
operations and customer service with
industry leaders including ABB, Kuka, AMT
and Adept.

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

10
http://www.universal-robots.com/ask-an-expert/ https://blog.universal-robots.com/
Automation Canada Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automation Canada Quarterly Volume 1 Issue 1
