Cobots (2/2) – How cobots are going to revolutionize robotics

As we saw in the first part of this 2-post series, robots as we know them have some important limits. Those limits are not acceptable with current technology progresses and innovative use cases created by new needs.

Cobot is the new robot

Cobots are made to enhance the collaborative spirit developed over the past few years. A cobot is a robot which transforms some regular robots disadvantages into advantages :

• A cobot is produced to interact with its environment, with all kinds of sensors : camera, laser, accelerometers, joint force sensors,  and so on. It can easily correct its trajectory or take more higher level orders : instead of asking the robot to move its joints, you can ask it to grab something. The cobot will then calculate by itself the joint commands it needs to reach the object. And more : the cobot will adapt its trajectory for every move, to take into account the environment around !
• Security is no longer a big issue, the cobot will stop if someone or something is on its way. It will avoid hurting human and destroying things (maybe a new step to Isaac Asimov robotics laws…). You can now work with the robot and not being concerned about being out of range.
• Re-programming the cobot is now becoming so easy that anyone can do it ! No need for a engineer diploma and strong knowledge on robotics and programming, you can now ask the cobot to do the things you want from a smartphone or tablet, or even more, by moving it with your hands. All the commands are user-friendly and the robot will help you define the best moves to reach your goals.

The future of cobots

Cobots are going to take the place occupied by current robots. Cobots are part of a breakthrough innovation, which allows people to work directly with robots, to get more benefits, more productivity, and more fun !

In the future, cobots will become even more clever, until they can learn from their mistakes through artificial intelligence.

And there is something more in cobots that we covered in this post. Cobots are now becoming accessible, that means more user-friendly and more affordable.

Consequence is, not only groups and big companies can get robotics benefits. Small factories will be able to produce faster and take more risks without losing too much money. It will make more people want to create a startup due to the highest success rate and impact on the market they can have.

Cobots are also coming in everyone’s home. Having a “one-task” robot is not so fun and useful, especially if you need to take additional extra measures for security issues. But working and playing with a collaborative robot will bring you a lot of improvement in your daily life, as well as more ways to express your creativity !

Imagine all the things you can do with cobots integrated in your connected home. There’s no limit, possibilities are endless.