Universal Robots’ cobot UR30 (Screenshot captured from Universal Robots website)
Denmark-based Universal Robots’ release of the world’s slimmest collaborative robot (cobot) with an increased lifting capacity is spurring on its peers such as South Korea’s Doosan Robotics Inc. and Taiwan’s Techman Robot to develop lightweight cobots with a larger payload.
The Danish company recently unveiled the upgraded version of UR30, one of its flagship cobots, with a maximum payload of 35 kg, the largest lifting capacity for a cobot in the world.
It raised its payload by 5 kg compared with its predecessor through software enhancements. It weighs as much 63 kg as the previous model, the world’s lightest collaborative robot.
The UR30 fits into automated guided vehicles, or unmanned transport vehicles moving around a logistics center to pick up and unload products.
A robot arm is moving used cooking oil cans
In comparisons, cobots, also called robot arms, produced by South Korea’s Doosan Robotics and Taiwan’s Techman Robot boast a lifting capacity of more than 30 kg, but they are heavier than the UR30.
Along with Universal Robots, Doosan Robotics and Techman Robot are the world’s three companies manufacturing robot arms with a lifting capacity of more than 30 kg and weighing less than 100 kg.
Lifting a payload capacity without increasing its weight is the key to determining the performance of cobots used for logistics automation.
Japan’s Fanuc, the world’s No. 2 industrial robot manufacturer, rolls out robot arms, the latest model of which can move products with a weight of up to 35 kg, the same lifting capacity as that of the UR30, but weighs as much as 135 kg.
A robot arm, developed by Swiss company ABB, is moving a car seat
Industrial observers said the release of the upgraded UR30 will boost the demand for cobots to replace construction and other manual workers.
“If we carry a load heavier than 35 kg, we are exposed to the risk of suffering musculoskeletal disorders,” said a domestic robotics company official. “In the palletizing robot market, cobots will rapidly replace people.”
A palletizing robot is capable of sorting, transferring and stacking boxes or items onto a pallet.
The robot arms’ market, led by palletizing robots, is forecast to more than quadruple to $10.2 billion by 2026, from $2.2 billion in 2021, according to Research and Markets.
By Hyeon-Woo Oh
ohw@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article
