Collaborative robots are essentially the recent technology in manufacturing automation. It is estimated that their demand will surpass that of traditional robots in the very near future. With their increasing usefulness in the factory floor, they will soon run traditional robots out of the market.
The effectiveness and usefulness of collaborative robots is as a result of the software that runs them. Software enhances their capability and also promotes their ease of use. With additional software, factories can upgrade their cobots and not need to have to buy a new robot when their capacity is still low.
Listed are the types of cobot software used to enhance their functionality.
1. Monitoring software
Monitoring software, are they type of software that robot operators use to track the efficiency of a cobot. Through these software, robot operators are able to identify problems with the cobots as soon as they appear and can even work on them remotely.
This ensures that there is no time lost in having to switch off the robot when it stalls as the problem is identified as soon as it occurs.
Additionally, monitoring software enable the robot operator to identify and rectify problems with the robot remotely.
Robotiq Insights, is one of the monitoring software available for cobots from Universal Robots. It is a monitoring software that enables the robot operator to monitor and take care of the collaborative robot remotely. Through this software, the robot, it can send an SMS to the operator whenever it encounters a problem.
Monitoring software enable robot operators who are not techies to access help from the techies and directions on how to get the robots in good condition.
2. Scanning software
Another type of robot software available is the scanning software. This software runs and activates the cobot’s vision capabilities. Through this software, cobots are able to complete inspection tasks effectively.
For a cobot to effectively carry out inspection tasks, it requires both the hardware which comes in the form of cameras and software that enables the camera to see and understand the object that it is inspecting.
Streamline 3D Scanning is one of the scanning software made for use by collaborative robots manufactured by Universal Robots.
3. Specialized software
Computer aided design is a specialized skill that enables manufacturers to design high quality, unique and functional products that they can offer for sale and gain loads of customers.
Collaborative robots are highly flexible and can easily maneuver and design products uniquely. As a result, a computer aided design software installed in a collaborative robot enables the designer to come up with unique and sometimes complicated designs that the human hand on its own cannot create.
Additionally, a design software can be used offline to ensure that the design process does not take up bandwidth and also allows for time and creativity.
Robot Master is one such kind of software compatible with collaborative robots.
4. Data Backup Software
As the robots work, they create and store a lot of data. This data can be mined to help factory owners and workers identify ways in which they can make their production process more effective an efficient. Often the robot can’t keep this data for long. As a result, there is a needed for automated backup of the data to the factory servers.
Through the software Robot Data Center, cobot monitors can go to the server and find the automatically backed up data.
5. Safety software
Safety concerns are some of the largest barriers to the adoption of technology. People want to know if it will be safe to have a machine in the same workspace and whether they will they need to move the existing equipment around to cater for proper factory safety design.
Raswin, is a software that enables factories and cobot users to ensure that their factory is well designed for safety and adherence to legal health and safety rules.
