Implementing robotics in routine work processes, such as placing snails in a production chain, this is the main function of collaborative robotsa tool that allows users to collaborate in a secure environment. “Traditional robots, like the ones we see in car factories, have to be locked in cages because they have no safety functions. Collaborative robots are smaller and have lower load capacities, but they have safety featurest», explains Josep Adroher, manager of Elektres, a company from Girona through which the international group Itsme, specialist in the distribution of electromechanical technical components, operates in Spain.
The automation of processes
This past Thursday, Blanes hosted one open day on collaborative robotics focused on the automation of metallurgical processes and programming without code. The meeting, an initiative of Cobotica and the Comas Polytechnic Center, had as objective that SMEs could see the operation of the robotic arms live.
The event had a exhibition area of collaborative robots, where you could see welding, bolting or painting applications in operation, as well as different talks. Josep Baijet, CEO and founder of uRock, a Human Resources consultancy, starred in one of the conferences.
Baijet assured that in the coming years the use of this type of machine will grow and “most jobs will be affected”. This change, he explains, will force society to adapt and many individuals to reinvent themselves. “The implementation of collaborative robots will bring us good things, but not without conflict. This change can cause that people are dedicated to jobs of greater value and not to repetitive jobs that a machine can do with more quality and efficiency», he affirmed. Josep Baijet assures that this transition is almost mandatory, since “if we don’t do it we will lose competitiveness, other countries will do it and, therefore, we will be left behind». “If we are ready we will work fewer hours, but we will be paid the same, as you need to keep a balance. It’s no use to companies to produce a lot at lower costs if there’s no one to buy the product,” he added.
Apart from the possibility that a human can work together with a collaborative robot without danger, due to the safety measures of this type of machinery, programming these robots is also simpler, as explained by Jorge Ruitiña, Business Developer at Cobotica. “In terms of implementation, it is very applicable. The configuration is fast, due to their sizes they can have flexible locations and the programming is easy”, he said.