Cobots & Automated Robots
Innovation Alphabet
Cobots & Automated Robots
In a nutshell
Cobots (or collaborative robots) are robots designed specifically to interact closely with a human operator within a shared space. It was 2004 when Will Smith kicked and punched positronic robots designed to serve humans in the now cult movie I, Robot. Today they seem to be back, but in a supposedly peaceful way.
Application Fields
Cobots find their most important application in the industrial field. They are able to perform non-ergonomic operations, freeing operators from the risks associated with repetitive and dangerous movements and relieving excess stress on the workforce. In fact, cobots are able to repeat the same operation for hours while maintaining the same level of absolute precision.
Collaborative robots, in short, are perfect for heavy, monotonous jobs that do not require direct human intervention. So, they let “living” colleagues take care of more specific functions. Also, note that no enterprise is too small or too large for collaborative robotics! Application areas include assembly lines, packaging, food & beverage, all the way up to building islands for testing or inspecting products or machinery.
Industries
• Cobots in the industrial field
The company Mobile Industrial Robots has purchased cobots that travel about 100 kilometers per month to transport packaging materials from the warehouse to production lines. When an employee needs the cobot’s support, he/she “calls” it with a PDA device using a QR code in which there is all the information the robot needs to find the material on the warehouse shelves. The collaborative robot picks up the goods and transports them to the point of production. The process provides significant time savings and efficiency gains. Employees receive the exact amount of materials they need when they need them.
• Cobots in logistics
Novo Nordisk has chosen to replace forklifts for transporting packaging materials with five collaborative robots. The cobots, equipped with laser scanning, 3D cameras, and integrated sensors, inspect the environment and move around easily while avoiding obstacles. It is estimated that, thanks to the automated colleagues, employees save at least 35 hours of work per week on transporting materials. Thus, they can concentrate on other tasks directly in the warehouse.
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Business Functions
• Cobots in support of pick-and-place
Cobots designed by Advice & Technology, a company that operates in the Industrial Automation and Cobot sector, are equipped with an integrated vision system that facilitates pick-and-place (the picking and placing of an object) and a sophisticated inspection system. As a result, the need for additional cameras or lighting equipment is eliminated.
• Cobots in support of safety
Universal Robots’ robotic systems – unlike traditional systems that require them to be installed with protective barriers surrounding them – have 17 built-in safety measures that make them safe and easy to implement. Sensors installed on the robotic arm warn of obstacles in its path, allowing it to stop in the event of an impact.
• Cobots and multifunctionality
The cobot YuMI from ABB (the innovation leader in industrial and collaborative robots) has met world leaders such as Angela Merkel and Barack Obama, and even accompanied Andrea Bocelli to the center of a philharmonic orchestra. But in addition to peacocking among celebrities, it can have dozens of other functions: for example, in the service of food companies, it can label 1,200 containers per hour, without needing a break and without complaining.
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Check out more of the Innovation Alphabet:
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Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence
A smart business means efficiency: Business Intelligence represents the ability to collect up-to-date data, present it in easy-to-understand formats, and deliver it in a timely manner to employees. Making data-driven decision-making and management processes leads to competitive advantage, reduces inefficiencies, and improves productivity and service at all levels.
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Artificial Scarcity
Artificial Scarcity
We often tend to desire what we cannot have. Or what we are in danger of losing: Artificial Scarcity is a strategy that flaunts a limited number of items that do not correspond to actual availability. The goal is to stimulate the perception in consumers that the stock of items is about to run out and thus create a need based on the “fear of being cut off” or the intention to buy the item in order to resell it at a higher price.
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Subscription Model
Subscription Model
A subscription model is a business tool that generates revenue by charging customers a fee at regular intervals. The company provides products or services to subscribers on a subscription basis, usually monthly or annually. In this way, loyalty has become more important than acquiring new users.
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Holacracy & Flat Organization
Holacracy & Flat Organization
A “flat organization” breaks down the traditional hierarchy and removes its negative connotation, while “holacracy” is the business tool that facilitates its formation. Flat organizations place more emphasis on communication and collaboration, aspiring to a distributed decision-making process that gives each employee a voice. But this is a model that is difficult to implement.
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Mass Customization
Mass Customization
Mass customization is an initiative adopted by companies to embrace the increasingly diversified needs of customers. By offering customizable products and services, consumers feel engaged and can bring their creativity into play. Brands gain from this a boost in perceived value and the opportunity to fuel a positive word-of-mouth marketing.
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Coopetition
Coopetition
If you can’t beat them, join them. Coopetition is a business strategy that defines cooperative and competitive relationships between competing companies in the same young or high-growth market. The goal is to travel a stretch of road together to lower initial research and development costs. Once the desired results are achieved, the companies will return to being enemies as before.
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MVP
MVP
To the disappointment of all sports fans, this is not an article about Michael Jordan. In the language of business, MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product and indicates the version of a new product that has enough features to attract customers. In this way, a team can gather the most feedback with the least effort, improve the prototype, and validate its sale.
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Agile
Agile
Agile is an approach to software development designed to respond to change. Teams quickly analyze the context in which they operate, identify uncertainties faced, and figure out how to adapt to always move forward. Interaction between individuals comes before processes and tools; collaboration with the customer is more important than negotiating contracts.
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Bounded Rationality
Bounded Rationality
The best solutions always come to mind when it is too late. This is because human beings tend to make decisions on the basis of satisfaction rather than optimization. Bounded Rationality means that we are unable to think clearly and linearly, we proceed by trial and error and forget all the possible variables that affect the process. But we are also flawed.
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