LONDON—During the past decade, collaborative robots have taken the manufacturing world by storm. The small, dexterous industrial robotic arms have opened up new opportunities for human-machine interaction without the need for complex programming or external safety infrastructure.
“In reality, the value of current collaborative robotics is somewhat more modest,” claims Rian Whitton, senior analyst at ABI Research. “Collaborative systems are not a revolution in robotics, but are instead a parallel technology that has some advantages over traditional industrial arms, and some disadvantages.