Collaborative robots are a different breed. Rather than being angular, with square or sharp edges, as are most of the early robots, they tend to have circular surfaces to try and limit the damage that may be done if they come into contact with humans. Often robots are carrying out repetitive tasks at high speed. This leaves open the potential for nasty accidents to occur if robots and humans are working in close proximity or side by side. Generally, human intervention is constantly required to keep the robot on-track because of the mixture of tasks it is required to perform.

Instead of carrying out tasks on their own, collaborative robots – as the term suggests – are designed to complement humans in the tasks they perform. This is particularly valuable in an industrial environment that sees low volume production runs combined with a high mixture of components. A good example is the YuMi dual arm small parts assembly collaborative robot from ABB (http://new.abb.com/products/robotics/industrial-robots/yumi) which incorporates two flexible hands with dextrous grippers, parts feeding systems, camera-based parts location and state-of-the-art robot control. YuMi is designed to work side by side with humans – not caged up to separate it. Sensitive force control feedback enables it to react speedily if it comes into closer proximity with a human than its programming allows for, by scaling back its operation / motion instantaneously to prevent any harm occurring to the human. YuMi learns its skills through teaching rather than programming. ABB is collaborating with Kawasaki on cobot development.

A group of researchers have also combined to produce the ARMAR-6 robotic assistant designed for use in the highly automated warehouses – or customer fulfilment centres – of British online supermarket Ocado (https://ocadotechnology.com/blog/secondhands-project-first-robot-prototype/). The cobot is designed to support maintenance technicians to complete tasks that either require a higher level of dexterity than they are capable of producing or those that require greater force than they can use. ARMAR-6 is currently being trialled in Ocado’s robotic research facility.

Medics – particularly surgeons – were early adopters of robotics, recognising the benefits that the technology could bring to their profession. The surgeon is seated at a console some distance from the patient and controls the robot through a joystick interface. One of the major advantages of using a robot in surgery is that it is completely tremor-free – a major advantage when fine surgery is involved.

Expertise in this area has now been complemented with the development of a collaborative robot by Medineering (http://www.medineering.de/#/en). This consists of a positioning arm, at the end of which is a mechatronic interface to which a variety of surgical robots can be attached. The first to be developed is an endoscope, for looking inside the body. The robot frees up the use of another medical professional, who would otherwise be required to hold equipment in position, sometimes for quite lengthy periods. A report from US-based Wintergreen Research in 2015 anticipated an expansion in the market for medical robotics from USD 3.2 billion in 2014 to USD 20 billion by 2021.

Surgical robotic tools extend the capabilities and precision of the surgeon, rather than replacing human skills. Precision is enhanced while smaller incisions mean smaller scars, lower levels of blood loss and reduced trauma to the tissue involved, in comparison with conventional surgery. It’s even possible that in the future, minute nanorobots, the size of a cell, could be introduced within blood flow to eliminate cancer cells or for tissue repair.