In September 2020, Mitsubishi Electric highlights it is selling collaborative robots (COBOTS) at half the price. The industrial giant has installed collaborative robots at the production facilities globally and is targeting a sale of approximately 1,000 cobot units per year. Mitsubishi’s main collaborative model is Assista.
With a recent upsurge in demand for collaborative robots that have high payload capacity and can be used for a number of new application areas, such as logistics and warehouses, science and research labs, and security in a dynamic industry environment, would drive the market in the long term. Also, during COVID-19, cobots have showcased applications in disinfecting and sanitization as well as sample collection for the COVID-19 testing.
Researchers at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) developed a system for collecting the patient’s sample for the COVID-19 test.
With recent developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Industrial IoT, collaborative robots are becoming increasingly flexible and are available at a fraction of the cost of those used in manufacturing environments. However, despite the plethora of benefits provided by industrial robots, there are certain challenges associated with them, which have led to the requirement and foundation of collaborative robots.
According to the market intelligence published by BIS Research, the global collaborative robot market was estimated at $739.1 million in 2019. The market is expected to grow at a significant double-digit CAGR during the forecast period, 2020-2025.
The growth of collaborative robots is driven by the requirement for increasing operational efficiency in manufacturing organizations, adoption of new digital industrial technologies such as industry 4.0 and Industrial IoT, and the decrease in prices and quick return on investment.
Among the various applications of collaborative robots, pick and place contributes a large share of the revenue generated from the overall products offered in the market. In terms of end users, automotive and subcontractor, and electronics and technology, along with food and agriculture, collectively constituted a large share in the market. In the upcoming years, several new collaborative robots are also expected to be launched for different applications. Furthermore, the declining prices of these robots are also supporting the growth in their demand across varied end users.
