BUSINESS

COBOTs enter industries

Automation at the largest scale possible is a typical feature of Industry 4.0, yet its implementation

depends on humans experienced in identifying proper areas in which and collaborators with whom

to integrate the process.

Collaborative robots (cobots) represent

a simple form of automation:

• They decrease the number of operators

in repetitive, monotonous, and/or

dangerous jobs and processes.

• They reduce the shortage of experts in

traditional automation both in spheres

of programming and maintenance.

• They increase the skills of staff and allow

them to work at positions with

considerably higher added value.

• The global development of automation

is tending towards collaborative

robotization

Nowadays, there is an average of sixty-nine

robots per 10,000 workers in production

worldwide. The greatest share of cobot sales

and the implementation is in Asian countries

(China, Japan, South Korea, etc.). The Czech

Republic is 19th in the world with ninetythree robots per 10,000 workers in 2015.

All of that (together with a general shortage

of employees) has inspired the Automobile

Cluster to prepare and, with the assistance

of MSIC, build the Centre of Collaborative

Robotics.

This attitude is extremely important for

small- and medium-sized businesses

who cannot afford to build their own

testing facilities, therefore they can share

knowledge and experience in other

innovation processes in the collocation

centre.

The efficiency of the centre will undoubtedly

increase thanks to the synergy of the

newly built Idea Hub whose management

decided to join in the Automobile Cluster.

Basic features of cobots

Cobots suppose and demand interaction

with a human as the operator and the

cobots become part of the process in

which they complement each other. They

are basically slower (in order to improve

safety) than traditional industrial robots,

and they are made so as to react to

a change in requirements and instruction

during the production process and/

or cycle. They do not demand a long

shutdown, and may be programmed and/

or reset by a collaborating employee. They

can handle components of relatively small

weight mostly in regards to momentum

and the need to stop the motion in case

the operator is in danger.

The use of cobots is desirable wherever the

routine demands challenging ergonomics

and/or high job precision, even at a slow

tempo.

Co-operation

between

Automobile

Cluster and MSIC

The initiative by Automobile Cluster to

establish the Centre of Collaborative

Robotics was most welcome by MSIC (the

Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre).

Both organizations opened the Centre

on the occasion of the workshop

“Robotization and Automation in Practice”

held on Sept. 19, 2018.

However, the sole construction of the

Centre would not have been enough to

really support recent trends. Automobile

Cluster has therefore decided to develop

this infrastructural project with another

research and development project:

COBOTS – Development of Peripheries.

The project involves the research and

development of specialized tentacle robot

arms and other features in workstation

peripheries, their sensory systems and

control systems corresponding with the

demands of that particular workstation,

including safety analysis. The target

output is functional prototypes of specific

peripheries.

The user team consist of Automobile

Cluster members, and the pilot tests will

take place in the technological leaders

of the automotive industry: Continental

Automotive, Varroc Lighting and Brano.

The project intensifies co-operation of

businesses and universities, in this case

VŠB – the Technical University of Ostrava

– whose Department of Robotics in the

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is the

project solver.

Collaborative Robotics is an asset of

national significance

The introduction of collaborative robotics

will keep production efficient even in

countries with higher labour costs, and may

even bring back those production activities

that had moved and been outsourced to

countries with lower costs.

POSITIV ǀ 3/2018 27