Word of the Day: collaborative robot (cobot)

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms |June 18, 2018

collaborative robot (cobot) A collaborative robot, also known as a cobot, is a robot that is capable of learning multiple tasks so it can assist human beings. In contrast, autonomous robots are hard-coded to repeatedly perform one task, work independently and remain stationary. Today, advances in mobile technology, machine vision, cognitive computing and touch technology (including collision avoidance) are making it possible for small, lower-power robots to be aware of their surroundings and perform multiple types of tasks safely in close proximity to human workers. A cobot, when working side by side a human, can quickly learn tasks through demonstration and reinforcement learning.   As of this writing, the majority of industrial robots are still autonomous. They are expensive, large and reside behind barriers for safety reasons. Although industrial robots have played an important role in the automotive industry and its suppliers, their high cost, large size, weight and complex programming requirements have limited their use in other vertical industries.  Another barrier to adoption is the cultural fear of robots dominating the workplace and replacing human employees.   Cobots are purposely designed to address this fear. A collaborative robot is not intended to augment the human worker's capabilities, not take the place of a human worker. In many cases, the cobot takes the form of an arm, providing the worker with an extra set of hands.   Today, collaborative robots are currently used in several vertical industries, including manufacturing, supply chain management and healthcare. They generally have lower power requirements than their large, autonomous counterparts, are often mobile and use collision detection to prevent injury to their human colleagues and other cobots.   Popular collaborative robot manufacturers include Universal Robots, KUKA, Rethink Robotics and Franka. Quote of the Day "When the conversation changes and people are told cobots are meant to be collaborative tools rather than replacement tools, people feel less threatened and companies get more productive workers." - Kathleen Walch Trending Terms machine-human collaboration social robot swarm robotics smart robot cloud robotics   Learning Center Industries evaluate collaborative robot applications Advanced robots don't have to replace human workers. Collaborative robot applications can pair people and machines in ways that make both more effective. Roboticists: Universal basic income demands attention Universal basic income may be a mitigating tactic for employees when automation really kicks in. Forrester: The CIO's job in fostering human-machine collaboration A new Forrester Research report says it's time for enterprises to embrace AI in the workplace -- not to replace employees, but to support them via human-machine collaboration. Solving for human-robot communication deficits in autonomous driving Human-robot communication dominated the opening panel discussion at the MIT Disruption Timeline Conference. Quality, meaningful future work hinges on human-machine 'complementarity' What does future work look like in a world of AI and machine learning? MIT scholars say, with effort and purpose, it's substantial, accessible and full of promise. Writing for Business Because time is limited, please hold your questions ____ after the robot demonstration. A. till B. 'til Answer   Stay In Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com   Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed!   FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2018 TechTarget. All rights reserved.