The Cobot Ecosystem
When designing and implementing a cobot system, it’s essential to think beyond the robot arm itself and consider the entire cobot ecosystem—the interconnected elements that ensure efficiency, accuracy, and long-term output. Taking a turnkey approach to design and integration, ensures all elements work in sync to deliver maximum value for each application or project. Here's what you should consider to ensure a successful application:
- The Robot
- Staging
- Machine Base
- End of Arm Tooling (EoAT)
- Egress
- Safety
- Preventative Maintenance
- Programming
- Electrical Interface
- Partners
The Robot
Choosing the right robot starts with properly matching specifications like reach and payload. An undersized or oversized robot can lead to unnecessary wear, inaccurate movements, and higher costs. Don’t overlook center of gravity (COG)—different brands calculate payload curves from different joints, which impacts sensitivity. Also, consider the operating environment (temperature, dust, oil, or moisture) to extend lifespan.
Example In a packaging setup, the GCG Automation & Factory Solutions team paired a properly sized cobot arm with protective measures to handle dusty conditions, improving uptime and reducing maintenance needs.
Trusted brands Universal Robots, Fanuc, Yaskawa
But what is a cobot?
A Cobot, or Collaborative Robot, is a term coined by the industry, which at a high level means it has the hardware and software present, should all other hazards be mitigated, that it can operate in open space near or with an operator. Hard guarding, specialized concrete/infrastructure, commissioning taking weeks, and more are a thing of the past, commonly associated with industrial systems.
Cobots have special torque sensors at each joint, such that the robot can sense when something other than its expected payload is interfering with the system. What this means, is that if a cobot collides with a fixture, a component, or an operator, it will go into a protective stop and require operator intervention to resume production. While cobots are marketed as “safe” out of the box, system safety is always application dependent. The robot might be collaborative, but sharp edges, pinch points, and all other hazards that might be present in the full automation cell must be protected and addressed through the risk assessment process.
Staging
When staging product for a robot, three main considerations are taken into account (1) the target unattended machine run time, (2) the work flow/procedure required to stage parts and keep the system running, and (3) the time between quality, tooling, or other required interventions. These three items are key to properly sizing and engineering a staging setup for your automation, making sure it is the most efficient without being over-engineered.
If you have to take the line down to reload your cell, it may not be the best solution, but if you can keep loading parts, and keep the downtime to a minimum, the system will be much more productive. Many times, it is beneficial to keep staging systems as simple and as open concept as possible. Keeping them simple and open allows any operator nearby to see what is still staged up, allows for additional reloading, and the system can continue running without much downtime at all, all while keeping costs low. 3D vision bin picking can be a powerful tool, but it can come with added cost, slower cycle times, and more complexity, especially when handling a variety of parts. It’s a great fit in the right application, but not always the most practical solution.
Machine Base
When selecting or manufacturing a machine base, or what you are mounting your robot to, it is critical to select something that will support the weight of the robot, the moments and torques generated by rapid accelerations/decelerations, and ensure that there is no vibration or accuracy issues stemming from the machine base. Having a robustly designed and anchored machine base will result in much more accurate and repeatable movements over years of utilization. We often design with a factor of safety great enough to ensure all standard operations, and specific unusual occurrences are not going to take the system out of commission. Another thing to consider when selecting or making a machine base, includes accessory hardware mounting, cable routing, and more.
EoAT (End of Arm Tooling)
The End of Arm Tool (EoAT) is the mechanism that helps your robot accomplish the task at hand (no pun intended...). Selecting and building out the right EoAT is critical to ensure a reliable system is in place. The gripper must suit the application, and between manufacturers and models, the spec’s vary greatly.
Gripper geometry, sizing, finger restrictions, induced moments from gripping, and more must be taken into account when sizing and selecting a gripper. Wear patterns, and material interactions should also be considered, such that fingers are not getting worn down, and become a consumable. It is rare that such an application exists, where the parts must not be scratched or marred, and a plastic or softer material must be used – in which case the fingers could become a stocked consumable. Should magnetic gripping be considered, the largest concern is always residual magnetism that could be left in the parts. In some cases, this can be catastrophic, and in others, it is a non-issue.
Center of Gravity for both the part + fingers to the gripper itself, and the whole EoAT including mounting hardware, grippers, fingers, and more to the robot flange must be considered as well. When selecting a stroke for a gripper, safety limitations come into play as well, where one must prevent any clamping hazards to operators, by limiting the stroke of the fingers to just larger than the part size. The EoAT can experience some of the fastest speeds on the robot, so any sharp edges, or hazards present at high speeds must be addressed through a risk assessment process.
Egress
When determining what to use for the Egress of parts from the cell, a few things can be considered to help select the best solution. Most commonly, a simple exit ramp or exit table approach can be cost effective, and get parts out of the way so we minimize the downtime and changeover time. Occasionally, parts can be replaced where they were picked from. An application like this is best suited for large cycle times, and smaller parts, such that we can deplete and replace a tabletop of parts, in a number of hours of work. This way, it is not causing frequent downtime when resetting the cell, and at times, it can even be reloaded while other parts are being ran.
Accumulation conveyors can be useful when we want to get parts out of the way, but we don’t have a way to dispose of them. Loading up an accumulation conveyor can help decrease the time between operator intervention, while adding some additional functionality than something like an exit ramp.
For flat parts, an accumulation table or accumulation conveyor are much more useful, than round parts and an exit ramp. Downstream production should also be considered, where if the robot can present parts in a way that helps the efficiency downstream, and reduces the handling of parts, then it might be worth looking into.
Safety
Safety is a topic that could be pages and pages of information. At a very high level, one must reduce all risks present to the operator that have been defined in a risk assessment process. A risk assessment is required by law to show that an automation cell has been designed and installed with hazards eliminated through the process. Many hazards can present themselves in an automation application, including but not limited to: clamping/crushing, collisions, pinch points, sharp edges, entanglement, punctures, slips/trips, and more. All of these, must be analyzed in a step by step workflow, and addressed on a probability and severity basis – and any action items that come of the risk assessment must be tended to. There are ways to help restrict or deter operators from accessing hazard zones, such as, light curtains, hard guarding, safety scanners, and more.
Refer to your required risk assessment to define what must be included in your automation. There are standards, regulations, and laws in place that advise best practices or requirements of automation, such that it remains safe for all parties involved. Some examples of these are ISO10218-1, ISO10218-2, ISO TS 15066, ANSI B11.0, RIA 15.06, OSHA regulations, and more. Safety is not something to be taken lightly with all of the restrictions and regulations in place, and we must ensure all parties involved are safe when working with an automation system, or when an automation system is running.
PM (Preventative Maintenance)
PM is important to address on automation cells to ensure all components continue working as intended. If operators ignore PM routines, they could create risks that cause harm or affect the cell’s accuracy and repeatability. Each manufacturer is slightly different, so it is important to know what you must do for your robot, EoAT, third-party components, and more. Leading cobot manufacturers design easy PM into their operational cadence, with many systems boasting years of runtime before requiring anything beyond simple routine checks and minor service.
Programming
Programming your robot is one of many topics to consider when deciding if you want to take on a project yourself, or if you want an integrator to get you going. While cobot’s programming interfaces are generally simpler than fixed automation or industrial automation/robots, it still requires some degree of understanding of programming flow and programming logic. Considerations when programming for the most optimized usage include recovery logic, startup procedures & validation, and more. All of these things are topics we work with on a daily basis, and as your integration partner, we offer an efficient and rock solid platform to take your automation to the next level.
Ease of use from the robot manufacturers also helps ownership be easier for the end user. Should something change, it typically is pretty simple to set a new point, change the program, or make other changes to your setup. Additionally, there are 3rd party tools out there, that can help get the best solution for your robot. Between simulation software, 3rd party applications, and other accessories, you can make your system as robust as you prefer it, and as powerful as you need it. It's important to consider multiple cobot manufacturers for ease of use to help define the best programming ecosystem based on your application and your operators or engineers.
Electrical Interface
The electrical interface defines how the robot communicates with the existing machine or process. This can involve direct I/O, fieldbus protocols, or tapping into existing machine signals without disrupting original functionality. Signal compatibility is key, voltage levels, timing, and logic types must align to ensure reliable operation. Proper handling of safety I/O is critical as well, and requires special considerations.
Cable routing and management should be planned from the start, taking into account movement, access, and protection. Current draw and power supply ratings also need to be validated to avoid overloading existing circuits or introducing noise into sensitive equipment. A clean electrical interface ensures the automation works as intended without compromising the machine it supports. It can be intimidating looking in a machine cabinet, and trying to figure out what we can. Lastly, following codes and best practices when wiring and communicating to a machine, will result in a clean, safe, and easy to work with system. No maintenance team wants to find an unorganized mess of wires and signals, so having a plan and executing it well is very important.
Partners
GCG Automation & Factory Solutions works with a number of accessory partners who have developed various combinations of hardware and software to provide a more efficient or more powerful solution to the end user. Applications including welding, palletizing, and machine tending, making the transition of automation getting added to your workflow that much simpler.
