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WHEN IS A ROBOT A COBOT? MOVING BEYOND MANUFACTURING AND ARM-BASED COBOT MANIPULATORS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2023

Matthias Guertler ,
Laura Tomidei ,
Nathalie Sick ,
Marc Carmichael ,
Gavin Paul ,
Annika Wambsganss ,
Victor Hernandez Moreno  and
Sazzad Hussain
Matthias Guertler*
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney: Centre for Advanced Manufacturing
Laura Tomidei
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney: Centre for Advanced Manufacturing
Nathalie Sick
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney: Centre for Advanced Manufacturing
Marc Carmichael
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney: Robotics Institute
Gavin Paul
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney: Robotics Institute
Annika Wambsganss
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney: Centre for Advanced Manufacturing
Victor Hernandez Moreno
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney: Centre for Advanced Manufacturing
Sazzad Hussain
Affiliation:
Centre for Work Health and Safety, NSW Department of Customer Service
*
Guertler, Matthias, University of Technology Sydney, Australia, matthias.guertler@uts.edu.au

Abstract

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Collaborative robots (“cobots”) have attracted growing attention in academia and industry over the last years. Due to in-built safety features and easy programming, they allow for close human-cobot collaboration and support e.g. flexible manufacturing. However, the lack of a common understanding what a cobot is along with its traditional focus on arm-based cobots complicates further research and industry adoption. Thus, this paper analyses the variety of definitions in literature incl. standards and practice examples to derive a consistent and holistic definition and taxonomy of what a collaborative robot is. Aside from contributing a structured overview of various forms of human-robot collaboration, this builds an important foundation for future research as it systematically differentiates different cobot types. Companies and other organisations will benefit by a better understanding of what type of cobot they need and how to ensure safe collaboration.

Keywords

TechnologyDesign engineeringIndustry 4.0Collaborative Robotic
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 3: ICED23 , July 2023 , pp. 3889 - 3898
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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