This report from Automate 2024 consolidates robotic-oriented news from Doosan Robotics, Kassow Robots, InOrbit CoPilot, and Hirebotics. Collaborative Robots, or Cobots, are now just about everywhere. The software for these is innovative, often no-code, and easy-to-use. There is consolidation of the market. It will be interesting to see what next year brings.

Doosan Robotics to Unveil New Cobot

Doosan Robotics unveiled its latest industrial cobot which boasts a 30 kg payload. It also wins the award for the most marketing hype of any press release I received. Parsing through the release, here are a few tidbits.

The P3020 offers a payload of 30kg (60lbs) and reach of 2,030mm (80in), bringing the ability to palletize from floor to 2m high (stacking up to 10 layers of boxes approximately 8 inches tall) using its simple fixed base without a lift.

Additional key features of the P-SERIES cobot lineup include lower power consumption compared to similar payload cobots by applying its built-in gravity compensation mechanism, inherent wrist-singularity free, and a 5 degree-of-freedom movement with the 4th axis removed and 6th axis speed increased to 360 degrees/second. Doosan Robotics’ continued priority on optimal safety across its solutions is also fully present in the new P3020. This includes achieving the highest PL (e) and Cat 4 safety ratings to ensure both a max-powered and max-safety experience for users. 

Dart-Suite an advanced robot ecosystem designed to redefine the way customers utilize Doosan cobots. The scalable platform provides “unlimited” programmable motions, while ensuring accessibility for all.

Kassow Robots launches the world’s first 7-axis cobot series with a controller integrated into the base

With its Edge Edition, Kassow Robots has launched the world’s first 7-axis cobots in which the controller is integrated into the base of the robot. All five of the 7-axis cobots are now available in two versions: the classic variant with a separate controller, and the Edge Edition. Kristian Kassow and his engineering team have succeeded in miniaturizing the controller so that it now only occupies around 10% of the volume of the external controller. The footprint of the Edge edition’s base is compact, measuring only 160 by 200 millimeters. These cobot models are powered by direct current, meaning that they can be directly connected to any DC power supply, for example a battery of mobile robots. There are also easily accessible 60 IO connections. With these new models, the Copenhagen-based cobot manufacturer is making it easier for industrial companies to automate their operations. At the same time, their lightweight robots open up new opportunities for mobile cobot AMR and cobot AGV applications and various space-saving solutions.

InOrbit Unveils RobOps Copilot for AI-Powered Robot Optimization

InOrbit.AI, the leading provider of robot operations (RobOps) solutions, introduced InOrbit RobOps Copilot. This product harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to turn robot operations data into actionable insights in order to optimize autonomous robot fleets.

Leveraging the latest large language models (LLMs), RobOps Copilot enables users to ask questions in their preferred language, get detailed explanations, refine their analysis, and arrive at key optimization decisions, seamlessly transitioning between their favorite messaging platform for casual queries and a fully integrated experience with chat-driven dashboard explorations.

As with the rest of the InOrbit platform, RobOps Copilot works with mixed, distributed robot fleets. InOrbit continues to expand the InOrbit Connect ecosystem, including the ability to define, execute, and analyze missions that support integrations with Warehouse Management Systems, AMRs from different vendors, and Goods-to-Person workflows. One recent addition is support for a novel Automated Storage and Retrieval System developed by Instock, which is now in use at the InOrbit Robot Space in Silicon Valley and will be part of InOrbit’s live remote demonstrations presented at Automate.

Beacon-Powered Hirebotics Cobot Welder

Hirebotics launched support for the new Miller Auto DeltaWeld with their Cobot Welder. The Miller Auto DeltaWeld System is a MIG/Flux-cored, pulsed-capable power source designed for cobots. 

Unlike other cobot solutions, Hirebotics Beacon-powered Cobot Welder lets the user control everything in one place—a simple smartphone/tablet interface. This makes the process easier and faster compared to systems where welders must go back and forth between the teach pendant and the power source. 

Beacon is cloud-based, allowing total remote and local cobot control.