'Producing faster, smarter and more efficiently with cobots'

"The robotization and automation market is growing rapidly due to rising wages and an increasing shortage of technicians. Robots, and especially cobots, will play a larger role in the coming period. They can contribute to a faster, smarter and more efficient production process by automating routine, monotonous or risky tasks," stated Maarten Zijlstra, managing director and co-founder of Cobotx.

"Often automation leads to limitations in flexibility, but with cobots this is not the case at all. They are very easy to adjust and move so they can be used in multiple locations. Flexibility is an important driver for the cobot market today," Zijlstra said. Cobotx offers customized cobot solutions for various industries, taking companies' efficiency and productivity to the next level. Zijlstra gives some examples of applications. "A cobot can stack boxes coming off the conveyor belt on a pallet, but also perform actions in the production process itself, such as loading machines, performing pick and place operations or more specifically in the food sector, for example, applying a layer of fondant to cakes." In the food industry, cobots are ideally suited. "In this sector, recipes are changed regularly so the type of operations can change quickly. Cobots are very easy to reprogram while being able to perform their operations safely between people."

More weight

Cobots are getting bigger and bigger in recent years and can handle more and more weight. "Where four years ago the maximum load weight was 15 kilograms, it is now 25 kilograms or more. As a result, they can be used in more and more environments and it is also possible to move heavier boxes or multiple boxes at the same time. This leads to higher efficiency." Still, unlike traditional robots, shielding cobots is not necessary. "As a system integrator, our motto is: either it's done safely, or it's not. The important thing is that the cobots are equipped with sensors that can guarantee safety. Take the Doosan Robotics cobots from Dormac, an important partner of ours. These cobots are equipped with powerful torque sensors on each joint so they can immediately detect any force applied to the joints. As a result, these cobots are very sensitive to collision detection."

Force Torque sensors

Zijlstra gives a real-life example. "A producer of cheeses applies a cobot from Doosan Robotics to place cheeses in a machine to cut slices. The chosen cobot can handle the right weights and range and all joints are equipped with Force Torque sensors. They literally sense the presence of their human colleagues and adapt seamlessly to avoid collisions." To further ensure worker safety, the Collaboration Workspace setting allows the cobots to move more slowly than normal around the workspace.

Hygiene and food safety

Cobots are far from being finished developing. "A nice development are Doosan's food grade cobots. They are designed to work in clean environments and have National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certification. They have no problem working in the food sector and can withstand wet cleaning. Dormac also has three types of cobots (the E0509, A0509F and A0912F) in its product range through which we often work together."

Future

In the future, Zijlstra says the cobot will come into the picture even more often. "The role of technicians is changing because of increasing pressure on executive positions due to the tightening labor market. Technicians are fortunately showing increasing interest in cobots given the various challenges involved in designing and integrating cobots. Humanoid robots and cobots will increasingly collaborate with humans while developments such as artificial intelligence and digital twinning mean that it will become even easier to (re)program cobots."