Collaborative Robots (Cobots)

Cobots are the fastest-growing segment of industrial robotics, fundamentally changing how humans and machines work together on factory floors. Universal Robots pioneered the modern cobot market with its lightweight, easy-to-program arms, and now faces intensifying competition from established players like FANUC, ABB, Doosan, and Techman Robot. The key advantage that sets cobots apart: they can operate safely alongside human workers without requiring safety cages, thanks to force-limiting technology governed by ISO/TS 15066.

Cobot applications have expanded well beyond simple pick-and-place tasks. Today, collaborative robots handle welding, polishing, machine tending, quality inspection, and assembly operations that were previously considered too complex for automation. Their ease of programming—often through intuitive hand-guiding or visual interfaces—means even small and medium-sized manufacturers can deploy automation without dedicated robotics engineers. This democratization of robotics is driving adoption across industries from automotive to electronics to food processing.

The global cobot market is growing at over 20% annually, with cobots now representing approximately 10% of all industrial robot installations worldwide. As payload capacities increase, precision improves, and AI-powered perception enables more adaptive behaviors, cobots are poised to capture an even larger share of the industrial automation market in the years ahead.