Collaborativ Robotics

Important factors

Affordability

Return on investment

Size

Safety

1. Industrial robot - work without a safety fence
2. Kukua iiwa - joint torque sensors detect contact immediately and reduces its level of force and speed instantly. position and compliance control enables it to handle delicate components without creating crushing and shearing hazards 
3. Festo Bionic Cobot - Adjustable level of rigidity/force potential

Functionality

1. Atria Innovation - interfaces with cameras that can “automatically adapt themselves to most variations of manufacturing processes.”

scalability


ease of programming/customizing for other purpose

1. kuka iiwa - indicate the desired position and it will remember the coordinates of the path point. Controller simplifies the quick start-up of coplex activity

precision

1. kuka iiwa - axis-specific torque accuracy of ±2% of the maximum torque

Replaces manual labour in repetitive task

Employee skills


Questions to ask
Affordability
What is your financial budget for the cobot?
Does a cobot exist that can carry out the functions required within budget?
Are financing options available for the cobot?
Is it a lease or robots as a service option?  

Return on investment
What payback period can you expect
Is this payback period acceptable in terms of your ongoing financial projections?  

Size
What is the size of the cobot under consideration?
In particular, what is the cobot’s height, width, depth and footprint?
Is the working environment sufficiently sized so the cobot can be positioned easily?
Will the cobot move around in the workplace? If so, is there enough room for it to comfortably move around in an unimpeded manner?

Safety
Are you sure the cobot can operate in a safely in the allocated workspace?
Have you carried out a health, safety, and risk assessment on the likely impact for staff of introducing a cobot to the workplace?
What is the safety record of the cobot under consideration?
If staff is expected to directly interact with the cobot - have you carried out an ergonomic assessment?
Does the cobot manufacturer or integrator offer safety training? If not, is third-party safety training available?
If you plan on moving the cobot within the workplace, can you do another risk assessment every time?           

Functionality
What operations will the cobot be used for? Assembly? Pick-and-place? Machine tending? Human assistance?
Will the cobot be expected to perform a single or multiple functions?
Is the cobot under consideration capable of carrying out all functions necessary? Or will more than one type of cobot be necessary?
Can the cobot manufacturer adapt the cobot to your specific functional requirements?
How easy is it to program the cobot?

Employee skills
Does existing staff have the skills necessary to undertake programming and operational duties for cobots?
Does the manufacturer or dealer offer or provide any sort of staff training?
Is training software (or other information) available?

         

Compliance in industrial robots

In industrial robotics, the term compliance refers to flexibility and suppleness.

A non-compliant (stiff) robot end effector will always move in predetermined positions or trajectories, no matter what kind of external force is exerted the robotic end effector.

On the other hand, a compliant end effector can reach several positions and exert different forces on a given object. 

Example: 
With proper setting, a compliant robot gripper can grasp an egg without crushing it with the proper settings. A non-compliant gripper will continue its given operation even if it crush the egg. 

Compliance aims towards either process improvement (active) or human safety (passive). 

Active compliance must be set by the user and will vary for each application process. It is commonly set up via software programming of the servo joints and uses sensors (vision sensors, force sensors, torque sensors, etc.). This typically used to provide flexibility in the manufacturing process.
Example: Loading or unloading a machine will require freedom in two axes (to prevent crushing the pieces if they are misaligned) and no freedom in the loading/unloading direction.
Processes like grinding, polishing, deburring, finishing, etc. also need to have active compliance, because of the differences from one part to another. 


Passive compliance is set during the setup of the robotic cell and continuously runs in the background to fulfill its safety role (Eg. Torque limitation device on the end effector or a torque limitation on the joints). It can also be a form of collision detector that prevents collisions from occurring or prevents them from being harmful. These compliance devices are for safety purposes and are important when human-robot collaboration are intended.
Example: Usage the robot without any safety fences requires an extreme level of passive compliance. Such as being equipped with a large array of collision sensors, are designed to slow or stop with inadvertent contact



Credits to https://blog.robotiq.com/bid/69962/How-Do-Industrial-Robots-Achieve-Compliance