http://bfqmb.cn 2019-12-31 10:41 《中華工控網(wǎng)》翻譯
Robots or Cobots: Which to Choose?
傳統(tǒng)機(jī)器人還是協(xié)作機(jī)器人:選哪個(gè)?
Today’s plant managers are faced with a dearth of automation technologies but it’s not always obvious what will work best. There is rarely, if ever, a one-size-fits-all approach. This article discusses what manufacturers should consider when choosing which type of robot to invest in.
當(dāng)今的工廠經(jīng)理面臨自動(dòng)化技術(shù)匱乏的問題,但哪種方法最有效并不總是顯而易見。如果有的話,極少有一種放之四海而皆準(zhǔn)的方法。本文主要討論制造商在選擇要投資的機(jī)器人類型時(shí)應(yīng)考慮的因素。
If it wasn’t already clear to manufacturers that the adoption of robots is on the rise, the numbers leave little doubt. The International Federation of Robotics predicts that by 2020, over 1.7 million new industrial robots will be installed in factories worldwide.
如果制造商尚不清楚機(jī)器人的采用是否正在增加,這一數(shù)字其實(shí)毫無疑問。國際機(jī)器人聯(lián)合會(huì)預(yù)測(cè),到2020年,全球工廠將新安裝超過170萬臺(tái)工業(yè)機(jī)器人。
Industrial robots have long been used to replace human workers in performing tasks that are dangerous, dirty or repetitive. These robots are often large and bulky, caged machines used to do the heavy lifting in applications such as packaging and palletizing.
長期以來,工業(yè)機(jī)器人一直被用來代替人工來執(zhí)行危險(xiǎn)、骯臟或重復(fù)的任務(wù)。這些機(jī)器人通常是被隔離起來的大型笨重機(jī)器,用于包裝和碼垛等應(yīng)用中的繁重工作。
Collaborative robots, otherwise known as cobots, have been designed to work safely alongside humans in a shared workspace. These robots, with their increased flexibility and dexterity, can complete more delicate tasks that conventional robots cannot, such as polishing fragile materials in the production process.
協(xié)作機(jī)器人(cobot)經(jīng)過精心設(shè)計(jì),可以與人類在同一工作區(qū)域安全地工作。這些機(jī)器人具有更高的靈活性和靈巧性,可以完成常規(guī)機(jī)器人無法完成的更精細(xì)的任務(wù),例如在生產(chǎn)過程中拋光易碎的材料。
Cobots
Cobots were built to be smaller, lighter and safer than conventional industrial robots. Demand for this technology is on the rise, with the global cobot market expected to reach $9 billion by 2025.
協(xié)作機(jī)器人
與傳統(tǒng)的工業(yè)機(jī)器人相比,協(xié)作機(jī)器人的體積更小、更輕、更安全。對(duì)這項(xiàng)技術(shù)的需求正在增長,預(yù)計(jì)到2025年,全球協(xié)作機(jī)器人市場(chǎng)將達(dá)90億美元。
Because of their flexibility, and relative ease of use compared to fully automatic robotic systems, cobots are generally considered to be an affordable and attractive choice for small and medium sized businesses. These manufacturers can benefit from the traditional value proposition of robots — namely that they can carry out repetitive or unsafe tasks, freeing up human workers to add value — but at a much lower cost of entry.
與全自動(dòng)機(jī)器人系統(tǒng)相比,由于其靈活性和相對(duì)易用性,對(duì)于中小型企業(yè)來說,協(xié)作機(jī)器人通常被認(rèn)為是負(fù)擔(dān)得起且有吸引力的選擇。這些制造商可以從機(jī)器人的傳統(tǒng)價(jià)值主張中受益,即他們可以執(zhí)行重復(fù)性或不安全的任務(wù),從而使工人解放出來實(shí)現(xiàn)增值,而且它們的入門成本要低得多。
Before investing in cobots, it’s important that manufacturers carry out a complete and thorough risk assessment. Risk assessments could call for the addition of extra safety features, low operating speeds or even multiple stops for a cobot. Furthermore, these extra considerations aren’t free and add a significant amount to the integration costs.
在投資協(xié)作機(jī)器人之前,制造商必須進(jìn)行完整而徹底的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估,這一點(diǎn)至關(guān)重要。風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估可能需要增加額外的安全功能,低運(yùn)行速度,甚至需要對(duì)協(xié)作機(jī)器人進(jìn)行多次停止。此外,這些額外的功能并非免費(fèi)的,會(huì)大大增加集成成本。
In fact, according to TM Robotics’ Global Robotics Report 2018, 79 per cent of automation distributors don’t think that their customers fully understand the safety requirements of installing a cobot, and therefore are unlikely to budget for these additional safety features.
實(shí)際上,根據(jù)TM Robotics的《2018年全球機(jī)器人報(bào)告》,有79%的自動(dòng)化分銷商認(rèn)為他們的客戶不完全了解安裝協(xié)作機(jī)器人的安全要求,因此不太可能為這些額外的安全功能安排預(yù)算。
Safety First
The ISO 10218 guidelines exist to set the safety requirements for industrialized robots. However, for cobots, which will see an increased number of interactions between human and robot, these guidelines alone don’t suffice.
安全第一
目前現(xiàn)有的工業(yè)化機(jī)器人安全要求主要是ISO 10218指南。但對(duì)于協(xié)作機(jī)器人來說,人與機(jī)器人之間的互動(dòng)將越來越多,僅憑這些準(zhǔn)則還不足夠。
First introduced in 2016, the ISO/TS 15066 guidelines supplement the ISO 10218 requirements and ensure that any machines classed as collaborative meet specific safety requirements. This also includes any tools that have been adapted onto the robotic arm to perform tasks as well as any objects handled by it. For the first time, ISO/TS 15066 outlines the maximum allowed power and speed limits for cobots. It also brings increased clarity on what is necessary when carrying out risk assessments on cobot applications.
ISO / TS 15066準(zhǔn)則于2016年首次引入,對(duì)ISO 10218指南進(jìn)行了補(bǔ)充,并確保所有分類為協(xié)作類機(jī)器均滿足特定的安全要求。這還包括已適配到機(jī)械臂上以執(zhí)行任務(wù)的任何工具以及由其處理的任何對(duì)象。ISO / TS 15066首次概述了協(xié)作機(jī)器人的最大允許功率和速度限制。它還讓人們更加清楚地了解對(duì)協(xié)作機(jī)器人應(yīng)用進(jìn)行風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估時(shí)的必要條件。
The risk assessment must consider the entire collaborative workspace and look at how the operator will interact with the robot. Manufacturers must take the time to ensure they properly risk assess all foreseeable contact situations that could arise between the operator and cobot for any job that the robot is expected to complete.
風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估必須考慮整個(gè)協(xié)作工作空間,并研究操作人員如何與機(jī)器人交互。制造商必須花時(shí)間確保他們正確地風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估操作者和協(xié)作機(jī)器人之間可能出現(xiàn)的所有可預(yù)見的接觸情況,以完成機(jī)器人的任何預(yù)期工作。
Engineers need to carefully assess every task that the robot will complete in detail — an oversimplified assessment will not accurately represent how safe the robot will be. Here, manufacturers should consider the safety concept of ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable). Manufacturers must consider all the potential risks that could arise in a robot application, not just one or two of them.
工程師需要仔細(xì)評(píng)估機(jī)器人將完成的每一項(xiàng)任務(wù)——過于簡(jiǎn)化的評(píng)估不能準(zhǔn)確地代表機(jī)器人的安全性。在這里,制造商應(yīng)考慮ALARA(合理可行盡量低)的安全概念。制造商必須考慮機(jī)器人應(yīng)用中可能發(fā)生的所有潛在風(fēng)險(xiǎn),而不僅僅是其中的一兩個(gè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
Industrial Robots
Manufacturers also need to consider the production speed and volume that they are looking to achieve when deciding between cobots and traditional industrial robots. To run efficiently, an assembly line comprised of both humans and cobots must run at the speed of human operators to avoid bottlenecks on the production line.
工業(yè)機(jī)器人
在選擇協(xié)作機(jī)器人還是傳統(tǒng)工業(yè)機(jī)器人時(shí),制造商還需要考慮他們希望達(dá)到的生產(chǎn)速度和產(chǎn)量。為了有效運(yùn)行,由人和協(xié)作機(jī)器人組成的裝配線必須以人工操作的速度運(yùn)行,以避免生產(chǎn)線上出現(xiàn)瓶頸。
Manufacturers in sectors such as bottling or packaging, that need a much higher production speed or volume, can benefit from purchasing conventional robots. The logic is simple. Fewer human operators means there is less chance to slow the system down and production will increase. Multiple industrial robots can be integrated for a fully automated production line.
裝瓶或包裝等行業(yè)的制造商需要更高的生產(chǎn)速度或產(chǎn)量,他們可以從購買傳統(tǒng)機(jī)器人中獲益。邏輯很簡(jiǎn)單。更少的人工操作意味著降低系統(tǒng)速度的機(jī)會(huì)更少,產(chǎn)量將會(huì)增加。多個(gè)工業(yè)機(jī)器人可以集成為一條全自動(dòng)生產(chǎn)線。
Industrial robots are automatically controlled and are programmable in three or more axes and they can automate an extremely broad range of processes unattended. Crucially, programming of these machines is easy, so operators don’t need to have advanced programming skills to use them. These robots can make use of AI software and machine learning to pickup processes and improve on them – self-coding their programmes when necessary.
工業(yè)機(jī)器人是自動(dòng)控制的,可在三個(gè)或更多軸上進(jìn)行編程,并且它們可以在無人值守的情況下自動(dòng)完成非常廣泛的過程。至關(guān)重要的是,這些機(jī)器的編程很容易,所以操作員不需要有高級(jí)編程技能來使用它們。這些機(jī)器人可以利用人工智能軟件和機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)來改進(jìn)流程,并在必要時(shí)對(duì)其程序進(jìn)行自我編碼。
Upgrading a factory to make use of cobots alongside existing legacy equipment and the human workforce is an attractive proposition for many businesses but it is one that requires selective investments and careful obsolescence management.
對(duì)許多企業(yè)來說,升級(jí)工廠以利用現(xiàn)有舊設(shè)備和人力資源是一個(gè)頗有吸引力的提議,但這需要有選擇的投資和謹(jǐn)慎的淘汰管理。
The widespread growth in the cobot market illustrates the fact that cobots are an ideal first step towards automated manufacturing processes. The initial investment is low in applications that don’t require guarding to be installed. However, for large, complex manufacturing setups, full size industrial robots may still offer better economies of scale.
協(xié)作機(jī)器人市場(chǎng)的廣泛增長表明,協(xié)作機(jī)器人是邁向自動(dòng)化制造流程較為理想的第一步。在不需要安裝防護(hù)裝置的應(yīng)用中,初始投資很低。但是,對(duì)于大型、復(fù)雜的制造設(shè)置,全尺寸工業(yè)機(jī)器人可能仍會(huì)提供更好的規(guī)模經(jīng)濟(jì)。