Robotics Special Report: Cobots Continue to Advance

One category of robots that continues to gain traction and generate enthusiasm is collaborative robots, or cobots. Compact, movable, and affordable, these robots are suitable for all size operations and can lower the cost of a workstation on lines with shorter runs or unusual package configurations. Because of this, they are predicted to see some of the most significant growth The M version of Sidel’s cobotic palletizing CoboAccess_Pal line features a Yaskawa cobot, the HC20, with a 14-kg payload and a ‘very significant’ reach of 1,700 mm.in robotics over the next five years, especially with slow-speed, niche applications. According to a 2019 business intelligence report, “Robotics, Innovation 2 Implementation,” from PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, cobots accounted for about 3% of all robot sales in North America in 2017; by 2025, that number is expected to increase to 34%.

In fall of 2019, a strategic alliance saw the combination of Columbia/Okura LLC’s palletizing technology with a Universal Robots cobot to develop the miniPAL™, a mobile palletizing cobot integrating Universal Robot’s UR10e. The cobot has a maximum payload of 10 kg and a 1,300-mm reach.