Collaborative application of robotics facilitates the humans and robots to work side by side in an effective way without any risk of damages or injuries. The collaborative robots, commonly known as Cobots, are devised with numerous advanced sensors, EOATs, and software enabling them to detect as well as adapt to changing working conditions.

These robots are typically round, with no pinch points, internalized motors or wires. They can identify any abnormal force which is being applied to their joints when they are in motion. Cobots can be programmed in such a way that when these robots encounter any sort of contact from humans, they respond immediately by stopping or reversing positions.

Additionally, the programming is simplified, as these cobots can be hand guided. This implies that a user can show paths or positions and instructions will be replicated by robots.

Collaborative robotic movement helps to improve application functionality while reducing the space required for a robotic unit.

BENEFITS OF USING COLLABORATIVE ROBOTS

Cobots are progressively populating the factories, warehouses and other business places where they share daily tasks with human co-workers, in turn helping the smaller companies to compete with their larger rivals in terms of production, quality and efficacy.

Other factors attributing to the growing traction of collaborative robots in manufacturing industry include:

    1.    Low Initial Investment

Collaborative robots are less expensive as compared to industrial robots but provide comparable productivity gains. This is helping the startup companies to justify the cost of automation.

     2.    Short Integration Period

Reduction in downtime is always important for a manufacturer. A collaborative robotic solution is implemented in very less time, sometimes in less than 5 days, driving the collaborative robot market.

According to TechSci Research, Global Collaborative Robot Market, By Payload Capacity (Up to 5 Kg, Between 5 and 10 Kg and Above 10 Kg), By Industry (Automotive, Electronics, Metals & Machining, Plastics & Polymers and Others), By Application (Assembly, Pick & Place, Machine Tending and Others), By Company and By Geography, Forecast & Opportunities, 2014-2024, the global collaborative robot market is projected to grow at an impressive CAGR of around 45% during the forecast period. Factors, such as growing adoption of collaborative robots (Cobots) by the small & medium enterprises and rising investments in automation by industries, are propelling the global collaborative robot market. Based on the payload capacity, the Global Collaborative Robot market has been segmented into Up to 5 Kg, Between 5 and 10 Kg and Above 10 Kg. Owing to the demand for collaborative robots with medium payload capacity (Between 5 and 10 Kg) in industries such as automotive, furniture & equipment, and metals & machining, the medium payload capacity segment is poised to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

    3.    Easy to Use

There is no need of trained programmers on the floor for using a collaborative robot. The workers can be trained easily and quickly.

Shifting of more and more companies to automation and artificial intelligence, is resulting in growing utilization of collaborative robots in the manufacturing cycle. Along with that, heavy lifting is one section where the collaborative robots can improve the efficiency of production cycles without risking the life of the workers which in turn helps companies to cut costs on accidents at workplace. In August, 2018, ABB launched the IRB 14050 single-arm YuMi robot, which can be fitted into existing production lines in order to improve the manufacturing flexibility and safety.

YuMi is one of the most advanced robot families and is designed to work closely with humans. The single arm YuMi collaborative robot is very accurate and ideal for small assembly parts. The features of the robot are controlled through programming and are intended to minimize the requirement for specialized training for operators.

YuMi can work in assembly lines in companies. which allows counting the number of parts. Moreover, YuMi has a small payload and is created to take up the small parts and then placing them in a precise location.

IRB 14050 SINGLE-ARM YUMI - AN OVERVIEW

The IRB 14050 single arm YuMi is ABB’s most compact and agile collaborative robot which can be effortlessly incorporated into any production environment.

Single arm YuMi is light in weight (around 9.5 kg) and can be mounted in any direction, such as table, ceiling and wall mounting. The collaborative robot provides quick and flexible installation so that it can be fitted into existing production lines. In order to mimic human like actions, the ultra-light magnesium arm of the robot rotates on seven axes to provide greater dexterity than 6-axis robots. The cobot was explicitly designed to meet production requirements of small parts assembly processes in industries including consumer goods, and consumer electronics.

Just like dual-arm YuMi collaborative robot, single-arm YuMi also features the same intuitive, easy-to-use lead through programming. The positions and motions can be taught easily and quickly by the workers through simplified robot programming. Owing to robot’s deployment flexibility along with easy to use simplicity, the manufacturers in numerous industries are benefited, for instance, it helps in reducing entry barriers for new potential robot users, mainly SMEs and to offset the shortage of skilled workforces.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF YUMI COLLABORATIVE ROBOT

The YuMi family of robots is extremely versatile as they can be combined in several configurations. A single-arm YuMi can also be used as an extra arm to feed parts to dual-arm YuMi in situations where complex assembly tasks require more than 2 robot arms to enhance the flexibility and to speed up the cycle time.

Moreover, the single-arm YuMi’s external controller allows the arm of robot to have a smaller footprint so that it can be fitted into confined spaces.

Furthermore, YuMi is safely designed. No barriers, no zones, no cages, makes YuMi a truly collaborative robot solution.

ADVANTAGES OF YUMI ROBOT

    1.    YuMi can carry anything from a Swiss watch to tablet PC and have that level of accuracy needed to thread a needle.

    2.    The soft padded arm of IRB 14050 YuMi guarantees full safety of robot’s co-workers when any sort of contact occurs.

  3.  YuMi robot also has a dexterous gripper, vision system, flexible software, sensitive force control feedback, and built-in safety features  that jointly allow programming through teaching rather than coding.

   4.  YuMi has flexible hands, advanced robot control and camera-based part location allowing it to collaborate with humans in a normal manufacturing environment. This enables numerous companies to get out the best of humans and robots collectively.

   5.  The collaborative robot YuMi is known as job-creation machine, which is attributable to the fact that by working together people & robots becomes more productive. It is a much-anticipated addition to the ‘factory of the future, enabling the customers to grow in the age of mass customization’.

   6.  Also, YuMi collaborative robot links to Industrial Internet of devices which utilizes data-driven analytics in order to enhance the reliability, performance and lifetime of hardware and processes.

    7.   Collaborative robots add flexibility in assembly processes needed to make multiple highly individualized products.

    8.   The robot helps to obtain high mix, low volume production in short cycles.

    9.   Within milliseconds the robot stops doing work with just a simple human touch.

   10.  YuMi collaborative robot can work with many human-machine interface devices like smartphones and tablets.

   11.  YuMi is built on flexible new modular design platform permitting vast variety of robots and sizes.

TARGETED INDUSTRY

CUSTOMER BENEFITS

The global market for collaborative robots is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 40% due to surging adoption of automation in numerous end-use industries, reduction in labor cost and high precision work. The major global collaborative robot market players include Universal Robots A/S, AUBO Robotics, Denso Wave Incorporated, Fanuc Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Precise Automation Inc., ABB Group and Yaskawa Electric Corporation, among others. Due to increasing labor cost and market competition, coupled with benefits offered by industrial robotics, manufacturers are increasing moving towards process automation. Launch of cost effective, highly accurate, safe and energy efficient collaborative robots is expected to further stimulate demand from diverse industries such as food, healthcare, pharmaceutical, metal & machinery, among others, in the foreseeable future.