Collaborative robotics seems to be in the center of attention lately, as it represents a better way to tackle different tasks that are usually time-consuming and dangerous for human employees. Instead, collaborative robots (cobots, as specialists call them), are the safest alternative that people have in handling processes that may put their health in danger. In fact, the core definition of cobots is to allow collaboration between robots and humans, granting them the safety and rapidity they need in handling certain processes. What is great about collaborative robots is that they don’t raise any questions regarding interactions that were previously considered harmful.
Basically, the newest cobots on the market are risk-free and they can be used in any type of business, even in small to medium businesses. The major players in this field started to launch cobots that are accessible for smaller budgets and that don’t require so much tech knowledge from the people who want to make the transition from manual tasks to automated ones. Businesses that are interested in making this change will obtain all the support they need from these producers, including the required training to use the cobots. Here are some more details about this topic:
Hardware advancements
Most advancements that are related to collaborative robotics have to do with the hardware side. The software has been developing a lot in the past few years and the limitations that robotics companies encounter are exclusively related to hardware. The control systems of cobots were the main hardware part that raised problems among the users. Now that control systems are much more responsive and easier to use, cobots require little to no programming at all, which is very convenient for business owners that don’t know much about technology but would like to automate some processes. The reason behind the need of automating processes is that it reduces the long-term costs of production while increasing the ROI of the business and simplifying the tasks that employees have to deal with during work. Because safety at the workplace is increased and the difficulty of the job is overall reduced, employees are happier and retention is elevated.
Even though the advancements in terms of hardware may be expensive, the general price of cobots went down tremendously in the past year. The reason behind that choice is giving small to medium businesses the possibility to invest in automating their processes without worries. This way, the major players in collaborative robotics will also gain more profit than before, when business owners were too scared to try implementing something that involves many risks or simply couldn’t afford this type of technology by the time it was launched. Nowadays, a cobot offers great efficiency, ease of use and delivers a great ROI, all for an affordable price.
Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Connections
The future of collaborative robotics involves using Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Connections in developing them. There are companies that run researches in this sense and the purpose of these researches is to find the best method to reduce tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming and do not necessarily require human intervention. The cobots of the future are supposed to work and react just as human employees, which may mean that a lot of people will lose their jobs. Even though this is a downside of the advancements in technology, by 2030 this change will happen, and it is not necessarily related to collaborative robotics, but to technology in general. Yet there are a few years left until that change will happen, so people should focus on the capabilities that cobots have at the moment, that includes human interaction too. Artificial Intelligence and connecting robots in the Cloud will definitely revolutionize the collaborative robotics field, but machine learning is still under development and it is going to last a while until it becomes mainstream and – most importantly – affordable.
The benefits of cobots in small to medium businesses
Many business owners wonder how could collaborative robotics influence the way they run their companies. In fact, cobots have so many benefits that it would be difficult to include them all in one single article. The major reasons why cobots should be on your list of improvements are:
- You can program them to do different tasks
Once you buy cobots, they are not limited to one type of task only. They can do multiple tasks, depending on the way you program them. Because there are companies that have a versatile ecosystem, the cobots are easy to personalize based on the business’ purposes, needs and available resources. The main goal is to automate some of the processes in your business and see what results you obtain. Automating diverse manual tasks with the same robot is the best investment you can make.
- Programming is minimal and very easy to understand
Because of the major improvements in terms of technology, programming necessities are now reduced to a minimum. This gives people that are not that tech-savvy the chance to include such technology into their businesses and take advantage of their many benefits. Some cobots include a drag-and-drop control system which is very intuitive and easy to use, granting business owners the chance to run the exact processes they need. The flexible deployment is – maybe – the biggest benefit of purchasing and using cobots.
- Setting them up is as fast as ever
More than that, business owners seemed to fear the amount of time involved in the installation of devices that are supposed to automate tasks, so they were stuck with their old ways of handling tasks manually. Today, the installation of cobots is faster than ever and don’t require much of your attention, as you will get support from the producers of the robot. The typical deployment that business owners are used to is no longer present in the picture, and awareness should be raised about these advancements. This way, the use of cobots will be encouraged in all types of industries and various sized businesses.
