Getting Started with Cobots
Cobots (collaborative robots) include robots that will assist humans, especially in complicated tasks. These robots can be seen as the midpoint between robots meant to replace workers and the current scenario. However, their status and use still have to be completely determined within industrial sectors. They’re usually seen as useful for small businesses that can’t hire workers and need to work around the clock.
Here are a few use cases for cobots in manufacturing.
Hold Ups
Holdups are expensive. They occur when workers are waiting for another aspect of the job to be done so that they can carry on. That’s time and energy wasted. Hence, they can be allotted to another section of the factory while the cobots do the other job for them.
Mundane Tasks
These can be broken up in to three broad categories.
Simple Tasks
These tasks are so absurdly simple that cobots can easily do them. These tasks are usually the first that come to mind when you consider automation.
By-Number Tasks
These tasks have been broken down into so many subtasks that they’ve become like following a recipe. They’ve become a string of boring tasks that have to be set on repeat every day. These tasks can really take a lot out of an employee, and they’re best left to cobots.
Boring Tasks
These tasks are the ones that your employees are fed up of doing. They may have the simplest job in the world, but that gets old fast. Hence, getting them to do a more challenging job and handing over their old one to cobots is better.
Tasks Which Don’t Require Dexterity
There are a lot of tasks in industry and manufacturing that don’t require dexterity. These are tasks that are slow and simple. Hence, these tasks can usually be taken care of by robots which are designed for simple tasks. These tasks aren’t worthy of the expertise that human workers can provide. Hence, these are the perfect tasks that cobots can be programmed to do.
For every industry and setup these tasks will be different. Hence, an audit of your workspace will help you decide which tasks can be fully automated.
These jobs are all subjective, of course. They can vary depending on what the business or industry is. However, cobots do have a purpose to serve in industry and manufacturing. That is for certain.
