Corobots: the intelligent robot as a colleague
Corobots turn your factory into a smart factory. In 2014, KUKA developed the world’s first cobot: the LBR iiwa. It takes on production steps that can be strenuous, monotonous or dangerous for people. Thus, the collaborative robot optimises processes and increases productivity.
Human-robot collaboration: safety guaranteed
Today, a robot is a machine which humans can touch and interact with. Workers and cobots share the same workspace without any concerns. This saves companies expensive feed systems and production space. When people and robots work safely together, conventional safety precautions become superfluous. In the event of unexpected contact, collaborative robots will, for example, reduce their speed and thus their kinetic energy. Hence, additional costs for safety technology and protective fences can be dispensed with.
Without restricting fences, the way is paved for new, highly efficient and far more flexible tasks: be it as a work assistant in the industrial sector, as a service robot in public spaces, as a care robot in clinical settings or as a helper at home.
KUKA corobots: applications in industry
Dangerous overhead work, monotonous and repetitive processes or meticulously small tasks: corobots take on these steps, ease the employees’ workload and deliver consistently high quality. With their integrated sensors, collaborative robots make it possible to automate delicate assembly tasks – they assemble automotive gears, insert rubber plugs or process flexible parts.
Thus, their human colleagues can focus on other segments of their work. Whilst the corobot is working on one part, the worker already prepares the following production step. The robots react intelligently to their environment and move independently. This is called human-robot collaboration (HRC) or collaborative robotics. Intelligent cobots open up new areas of automation: they load machines or logistics systems, build robots themselves and much more.
KUKA’s LBR iiwa corobot: ai in production
Corobots in action: Ford’s body construction with four LBR iiwa
LBR Med: a collaborative robot for the medical sector
Precision is a must, particularly in medical technology. With the KUKA LBR Med corobot, doctors and medical staff have a reliable colleague by their side.
The sensitive seven-axis lightweight robot can be used from diagnostics to treatment and surgical procedures. It can be used wherever strenuous, repetitive and tiring activities or particular precision are required.
Corobots in action: doctors, nurses and robots work hand in hand
Industry of the future: how will humans and robots work together in the future?
People will be able to do their work more efficiently, more focused and, above all, more ergonomically. In an ever ageing society, this aspect becomes increasingly important. In the future, fewer and fewer employees will have to generate the entire productive output for the social systems. This is a challenge that can only be met by using the available labour more productively than in any previous generation.