Robots? More like Cobots in Industry 4.0

A blog to give you an insight about Collaborative Robots.

It’s quite hard to believe that it has been almost two decades since the third industrial revolution began and we are already in the cusp of the fourth one- Industry 4.0.

Industry 4.0 is the quintessential congregation of all cyber-physical systems, enabling them to interact with each other with little to least possible human involvement.

What began as a high-tech plan to make the German manufacturing industry more competitive, has now emerged into a worldwide revolution. While the integration of all the latest technologies like IoT, ML, and AI seems compelling and exciting, it has most certainly has brought a perpetual fear of exponential decrease of human employability.

But, like every problem, this can also be solved by realising the vision of collaboration between humans and technology; presenting to you- Cobots or Collaborative Robots. These Cobots physically interact with humans in a shared workspace all while making automation easier, i.e, they are robots designed to work alongside humans.

Cobots are both absolutely similar to robots and extremely different too. These Cobots don’t just increase productivity and process optimisation but they are also people-focused, how cool is that!

They make it possible to implement a safe and monitored workspace by shrinking the impending dangers employees might face in the industries. Unlike robots, they are not specific to a predefined task and are rather known for their efficient flexibility.

Cobots have been employed in manufacturing industries since 2014 but are only recently being exploited by the other industries. Their intuitive 3D visualisation and easy programming make them all the more desirable for use in potentially harmful jobs and it is with no apprehension that Cobots will form a vital part of Industry 4.0.

Cobots, apart from being major contributors in production, also act as highly efficient data gatherers. Through this ability, they promote large volumes of transparent data flow. While robots are also employed for the very reason of data collection, the flexible and simple-to-operate Cobots embody the concepts of decentralised decisions and information transparency, thus adhering to all of Industry 4.0’s goals.

In short, Cobots are the smarter and more efficient cousins of robots.

In light of these benefits, it is quite evident that Cobots are here and are surely going to stay. In fact, according to the Collaborative Robots Market report, the Cobots market will reach $4.28 billion with a growth rate of 56.94% by 2030.

The time is not far away from where we shed our fears of technology overtaking our lives and join hands with those very machines to work in a collaborative workspace.