What Are Cobots?

A cobot, or collaborative robot, is a robot designed to work alongside humans. As opposed to traditional industrial robots, which are typically kept away from humans because of potential hazards, a cobot creates a safe environment for both robots and humans. They often move more slowly, use sensors to remain aware of their surroundings and switch to a safety mode when their usual patterns or environments are disrupted.

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What Is a Cobot?

A cobot is a robot that can safely work in proximity to humans. Cobots are equipped with sensors that enable them to navigate their surroundings, and a safety mode is activated if a cobot’s movements are interrupted. In addition, cobots are often smaller than typical robots and move more slowly, adding to their convenience and safety.

Many consumers are already familiar with cobots, given millions of households have entrusted cleaning duties to robot vacuums. Now, robot vacuum cleaners have made their way into the world of work. Whiz, an autonomous vacuum cleaner introduced in North America in 2019 by the Japanese company SoftBank Robotics, is working in hotels, senior living facilities, schools, universities and hotels, with more than 20,000 units deployed globally, according to Kass Dawson, SoftBank Robotics’ vice president of brand strategy and communications.

Just like at home, these types of robots are freeing up their human coworkers to focus on more high-value tasks while improving employee satisfaction, Dawson told Built In.  

Collaborative vs. Industrial Robots

Industrial robots focus more on efficiency rather than safety, so they move at high speeds, carry heavier payloads and are typically larger than cobots. For these reasons, industrial robots are separated from human workers by cages or barriers. In addition to being smaller, carrying lighter loads and moving slower, cobots feature curves as opposed to sharp edges, emphasizing worker safety. 

And while cobots can be set up quickly, industrial robots are more complex to program and usually require knowledge of particular programming languages. Cobots are also easy to reconfigure for different tasks, making them more flexible. In contrast, industrial robots are built for specific tasks, and it can be time-consuming to retrain them.  

How Cobots Are Used Across Industries

For years, cobots have largely gone unseen in the world, working behind the scenes in manufacturing facilities as they load and unload parts into machines. While they still play an essential role in manufacturing, cobots have branched out into other industries and stepped more into the public consciousness.  

Logistics

In the logistics sector, cobots can pick and place items, package goods, organize pallets and sort products. With their sensors, cobots can navigate warehouse environments, moving and retrieving goods as needed. 

Food Service

Cobots have recently ventured into the service sector, where they make coffee or serve food and drinks.

As a part of the broader food industry, the restaurant sector has been heavily affected by labor shortages. Dawson sees this as an opportunity for greater adoption of cobots, stating: “The serving robots that are out there right now, I think are going to continue to showcase what automation can do for that industry.” 

In a number of its restaurants, Chili’s tested a cobot developed by Bear Robotics called Rita, which supports staff by seating customers, delivering meals and singing to diners on their birthday. Other restaurant chains have invited cobots into their kitchens and dining rooms too. Chipotle is experimenting with the use of two robots for preparing avocados and building bowls and salads as well.  

Healthcare

Cobots can handle a range of duties within hospitals and other healthcare facilities. These robots are adaptable enough to transport medical supplies through a hospital while avoiding objects and humans, freeing up nurses to focus on other needs. In addition, cobots can assist with surgeries, demonstrating a high degree of precision and accuracy. 

Automotive

Automotive manufacturers can automate many processes by introducing cobots into their workplaces. Cobots can assemble car parts and aid with painting and coating them. These robots are especially useful for welding since they can weld accurately and, unlike humans, aren’t susceptible to burns. During the production process, cobots can even analyze parts for defects, preventing costly recalls and repairs later on.  

Hospitality

For cleaning cobots like Whiz, the pandemic has been a boon to adoption — not only do they offer an automated, contactless cleaning solution, but customers or guests often see them in action so they can trust cleaning is actually happening. And in a tight labor market, these cobots free up workers to complete more high-value tasks that they may find even more enjoyable.

Benefits of Cobots

Cobots promise various benefits for the companies that embrace them, ranging from cost-efficient production to improved worker safety. 

Safety 

Cobots are small, carry light payloads and feature round curves, reducing the chance of workplace injuries or accidents. Equipped with sensors and safety features, cobots can also react to changes in their surroundings and cease operations if they detect an object in their path.    

Flexibility 

In contrast to their industrial counterparts, cobots are built to serve a broad range of functions. Teams can easily reconfigure cobots to address shifting priorities, making these robots ideal for completing a variety of smaller tasks.  

Convenience

Many cobots don’t require programming, instead relying on human trainers to physically move them through the desired motions. This means any team member can train a cobot, making it a more accessible option compared to robots that need to be programmed.    

Quality Control

Cobots often feature multiple arms, enabling them to operate with advanced precision and accuracy. Their sensors also allow them to assess parts and discover defects. With these abilities, cobots can improve product quality and assist with quality control.   

Cost-Efficiency

Because cobots can handle different types of manual tasks, they can free up workers to focus on more challenging needs. Cobots are also cheaper than industrial robots. Combine lower costs with increased worker production, and cobots can deliver returns for businesses. 

How Cobots Impact Workers

Cobots have largely been a boon for workers across many industries. In manufacturing, cobots often take on tasks that are repetitive, tedious or require tireless precision. Hospitality providers are also using cobots to handle manual labor, reducing the physical strain placed on workers. And restaurants are employing cobots to complete labor-intensive jobs, freeing up workers to take care of other needs and simplifying workflows. 

However, cobots can take some getting used to. A study conducted by Monash University found that cobots can make workers’ roles unclear and stoke fears of being replaced by robots, leading to stress and distrust. While cobots have the potential to enhance working conditions, organizations must implement them carefully to avoid these psychosocial risks and ensure their employees feel comfortable working alongside robots.  

The Future of Cobots

Giuseppe Loianno, an assistant professor of robotics at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering and director of the Agile Robotics and Perception Lab, and his colleagues are studying how algorithms used in a single robot or cobot can be scaled across a whole team of cobots. Their work focuses on small aerial robots, like drones, and ground-based robots that can work in hazardous settings such as search and rescue and environmental monitoring, where movement is often constrained.

For Loianno, the challenge lies in helping cobots share information efficiently so they can complete their task. “Sometimes you have a lack of communication, or you cannot communicate, so how do you make these algorithms fully distributed with minimum communication?” he said. “I think that’s one of the major challenges, and the challenges exponentially increase as soon as the robots are free to navigate with respect to each other.”

Dawson sees the future of cobots in the workplace shifting even more to a single task, forgoing a general-purpose approach that is ultimately inefficient and less likely to meet business needs. And there’s been a realization that the “true value” of automation rests in identifying one simple task that can alleviate “pain points” in our work environments, according to Dawson.

“Technology is getting better,” he said. “But I think the robotics community is also getting better at understanding how to build and deploy these things for the markets in which they’re doing business.”

But the future of cobots also relies on human acceptance and ultimately how we will treat our robot coworkers. Will we look at cobots simply as tools, or will we think of them as the sophisticated technological advances that they are?

“We need people to understand and appreciate it as a technology,” Dawson said of Whiz. “We should be treating it more like a computer than like a vacuum cleaner. And that’s an important evolution of how we’ve gone through our deployments and getting people to understand that the success of this and the continued adoption of it is tied to how it’s being treated.”

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