Human-Robot Collaboration

Human-Robot-Collaboration with Motoman Cobots (HC Series)

The term Human-Robot-Collaboration refers to using a type of robot which is designed to work in close proximity to humans, possibly even directly controlled by human workers through touch and guidance. This type of robot is different from traditional industrial robotic arms which are faster, heavier and more powerful, but too dangerous for humans to work with directly, and are caged off in factories and wherever else they are used.

Basically, the application range of collaborative robots (Cobots) is similar to classical Industrial Robots, including Assembly, Machine Tending, Palletizing, Quality Inspection, Arc Welding, Glueing, Bonding, Polishing, Deburring. The differentiation point is that the realisation of a collaborative application should include elements of Human-Robot Coexistence, Cooperation and Collaboration. With collaborative robots, you basically sacrifice speed for the chance of fenceless installations and the benefits of real human-robot interaction.

The growth in global collaborative robot sales has been phenomenal, but mainly not because they are allowing safe cooperation with humans, but because configuration, commissioning and operating is so easy. This allows small- and medium-sized companies to step into automation ef existing work environments at affordable investments.

YASKAWA are offering our HC Series Robot models for safe & direct Human-Robot-Collaboration. But - good news - easy-to use concepts are also available for classical GP Series handling robots as well, like the innovative Smart Pendant.

Brochure Robot Assistants_Collaborative Applications

Material Handling Applications with Motoman Cobots

Collaborative Material Handling makes sense when avoiding to fence the robot in, for example in case of public traffic passing by, or if you just want to relief workers from annoying, error-prone or repetitive labour.

Assembly Applications with Motoman Cobots (HC-Series)

A good cobot assembly application is where the robot is supplementing a human's labour content. Cobots will increase quality of work when you are adressing human failure rates, fatigue or frequent process interventions. A Human-Robot-Interaction can be beneficial for assembly tasks, supporting the human or supplying parts or subassembles while the worker is doing parallel tasks.

Motoman HC-Series robots are precise and repetitive enough for sensitive and fine assembly motion.

Mobile collaborative robots open the door to new assembly workflow concepts - do you still need stationary workbenches and workspaces ?

Collaborative Arc Welding with HC10DT-IP67 and Weld4me

The Weld4Me cobot welder (collaborative Robot) makes it easy for manual welders doing their first steps into robotic welding. As a key component, it includes the HC10DT-IP67 Cobot Welder and the Welding Wizard Software. Welding with Collaborative Robots is not primarily about Human-Robot-Collaboration, but we are exploiting the hand-guided teaching features of the Cobots for easy programming and operation.

Weld4Me has been developed for small and medium sized welding companies to address the increasing shortage of welding specialists, in order to automate existing welding workstations without having to invest in costly robot welding equipment. Programming / teaching the robot is very simple - the operator guides the robot arm from point to point, the robot takes over the robot path and replays the motion later.

Palletizing with Motoman Cobots (HC10, HC20)

Palletizing carton boxes or crates in logistic stores, warehouses, distribution centres, intralogistics, or even in small enterprises is a tough and unhealthy routine job for manual workers, especially when it comes to larger box sizes and/or weights of more than 8kg. With human palletizing, the cycle speed, method, alignment and stability of the stack may be unstable. Under the pressure of health regulations, many potential customers with this kind of jobs investigated in robotic automation, however a classical palletizing installation would require fences or changes in workflow and layout, leading to unreasonable ROI of such automation projects.

Human Robot Collaboration with long reach and large payload cobots like the HC Series has resolved this dilemma, combining the precision of a robotic solution with fenceless installation and easy programming.

Pick & Place & Pack and Bin Picking with Motoman Cobots

Cobots like HC10 or HC20 cannot compete with those industrial robots in terms of speed, but they may have other benefits to be considered for Pick and Place applications - easy to use, fenceless installation or just assisting a human during his work. Our HC Series cobots are Hybrids, being able to switch from safe human interaction mode to faster speeds in phases where the operator is absent. Collaborative Robots could be the choice in brownfield environments, saving installation space by avoiding fences. They are very flexible in terms of recoding and location flexibility. With Cobots you can realize do very attractive, smart and lean pick stations.

Collaborative Machine Tending with Motoman HC-Series Cobots

For lean automation of brownfield Machine Tending applications with narrow installation space and moderate cycle time requirements, we recommend to consider our Collaborative Robots HC10/HC20. They allow fenceless operation, and enable you to build smart, flexible and movable loading stations on operational stands including loading tables. Yaskawa HC Series robots are perfect - they provide comfortable reach and payload capability even for the double gripper and heavier workpieces. With their metal mody, their industrial rigidity and their high IP-Rating against dust and liquids they can withstand rough machining environments.

For more details about CNC Machine Tending, please click here.

Doseren/sealen met Motoman Collaborative Robots
Anders dan veel Collaborative Robots die alleen ontworpen zijn voor eenvoudige pick&place bewegingen, bieden de Motoman HC Series Collaborative Robots uitstekende padprestaties, waardoor hoogwaardige resultaten behaald kunnen worden in dispenser- en sealapplicaties.

Quality Inspection and Testing with Motoman Cobots

Quality Inspection Applications, for example contact-less metrology, are perfect for cobots. The robot has just to carry a scanner or sensor head, safety assessments for those applications are not very excessive.

Mobiele robots (robotarmen op automatisch geleide voertuigen AGV)
Steeds meer klanten vragen om robots op mobiele platforms (automatisch geleide voertuigen, AGV). Collaboratieve robots met voldoende bereik en een hoog laadvermogen zijn zeer geschikt voor dergelijke toepassingen.

Een eenvoudige operationele standaard of een handbagage is vaak voldoende om de robot snel op een andere plaats te zetten, en dankzij eenvoudige leerfuncties kan men zich snel aanpassen aan de nieuwe robottaak op de nieuwe plaats.

Digitalisation and Augmented Reality and Motoman Cobots

Collaborative Robots are regarded as a key technology for the smart and digital factory of tomorrow. As a consequence, Motoman Robots (both Collaborative and Industrial Robots) are more and more embedded in digital planning tools (Digital Twin, Augmented Reality).

Collaborative Grippers & Accessories with Motoman Cobots

Cobot Applications often come with the Plug & Play Idea - make it simple to install, program and operate the robot. Easy to use and Plug & Play is not only a hot topic for collaborative robots!