March/April 2020

www.smartmachinesandfactories.com March/April 2020 | 13 | | FEATURES | Jonathan Wilkins, director of industrial automation parts supplier, EU Automation, discusses what manufacturers should consider when choosing which type of robot to invest in. T oday’s plant managers are faced with a dearth of automation technologies but it’s not always obvious what will work best. There is rarely, if ever, a one-size- fits-all approach. If it wasn’t already clear to manufacturers that the adoption of robots is on the rise, the numbers leave little doubt. According to The International Federation of Robotics, millions of new industrial robots are being installed in factories worldwide. Industrial robots have long been used to replace human workers in performing tasks that are dangerous, dirty or repetitive. These robots are often large and bulky, caged machines used to do the heavy lifting in applications such as packaging and palletising. Collaborative robots, otherwise known as cobots, have been designed to work safely alongside humans in a shared workspace. These robots, with their increased flexibility and dexterity, can complete more delicate tasks that conventional robots cannot, such as polishing fragile materials in the production process. Cobots Cobots were built to be smaller, lighter and safer than conventional industrial robots. Demand for this technology is Robots or cobots; Which to choose?