Page 10 - Industrial Technology EXTRA - 10th August 2020

ROBOTICS...

Cobots maximise

return on investment

Cobots hold the promise of increasing the efficiency and quality of human
work, bringing greater reliability, consistency and precision to a variety of
manufacturing and assembly operations. However, do these potential benefits
hold true for all users? We asked the experts at Mitsubishi Electric

ntroduced only relatively recently, collaborative cobots purport to offer with the requirements for
robots (cobots) today represent the fastest precision that many applications demand?'
growing area of robotics. By eliminating the It was not unusual for end users to find that the
Ineed for protective fences, cobots offer space- answer to the questions was 'no'. This can limit the
saving installation alongside people – a key cobot's applicability to a narrow range of tasks,
consideration on many brownfield sites where floor potentially also limiting opportunities for
space is at a premium. Simple programming and redeployment, and ultimately impacting on the
easy system configuration make them easy to return on investment.
deploy and redeploy. And there is the potential to With the MELFA ASSISTA cobots, Mitsubishi
handle not only the simple and repetitive tasks to Electric has built on its experience in industrial
increase production efficiency, but also the flexibility robots to develop a cobot range that addresses the
and adjustability to tackle more specialist tasks. real world challenges of different applications and
Different industries such as packaging, food & sectors. It recognises that simple control and ease
beverage, fast moving consumer goods and of programming must be taken as a given, but
pharmaceuticals all make stringent demands on without impacting on precision.
automation systems. For cobots, that can mean a Mitsubishi Electric has developed a new hand-
requirement for some very specific features. This guided teaching strategy, where the cobot arm is
raises the question, 'is it always possible to combine simply moved to the desired position. Operators
the simplicity of programming and set-up that many then press a single button on the teaching panel on

August 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA! • p10