Robotics was one of the pillars of the third industrial revolution. Today, it is an established technology with a constantly growing market. In recent years, ‘collaborative robots’ or ‘cobots’ have burst onto the scene, allowing human-robot interaction, even with physical contact.
The EU has led the development of this technology as one of the keys to Industry 4.0. Although the growth of collaborative robotics has been spectacular in recent years, it is still a very small part of robotics.
The installation of robotics is closely related to business development, with increases in productivity and precision. Therefore, it is relevant to further explore this to highlight the potential gains for European companies and society that stem from a positive development in the robotics industry and the use of robots and/or cobots in Europe.
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This European Parliament study (PE 740.259 – June 2023) analyzes the current state of collaborative robotics by exploring the risks and opportunities of this technology and possible options to reap the benefits and address the risks associated with the increasing use of these technologies in the EU industry.
In the opinion of most of the experts consulted for this study, collaborative robotics can have a very positive impact on job creation and retention, especially when used with high levels of human-robot collaboration. Collaborative robotics makes it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to access robotics technology by simplifying processes and reducing costs. Collaborative robotics also means an improvement in safety in the manufacturing sector and a clear improvement in working conditions.
Although the EU maintains a leadership position, it is threatened by the growth of other regions such as Asia-Pacific and the need to develop adequate legislation. Ethical impacts are also of great interest when humans can work alongside machines. Collaborative robotics can remove barriers to the integration of people with physical or mental disabilities in the labor market. Likewise, it can help eliminate physical strength or height limitations for certain tasks.
Collaborative robots have experienced significant growth in recent years and have become one of the fastest growing sectors of the robotics market (Goldberg, 2019). The evolution of cobots has been remarkable in the last ten years (Fast-Berglund et al., 2016; Hentout et al., 2019; Knudsen et al., 2020). Growth in 2021 was up to 50%. Several recent studies forecast cobot market growth of up to 20% and even up to 30% annually. However, currently the cobot market represents only 7.5% of the total robotics market (IFR, 2022).
Impacts on job creation
The main objective of collaborative robotics technology is to complement human abilities to solve complex problems in imprecise tasks with the characteristics of precision, power and resistance that robots possess. Therefore, cobots do not replace humans, but rather assist them by improving their working conditions and freeing them from tedious and arduous tasks.
Under this approach, collaborative robotics technology does not have a significant impact on the manufacturing industry but implies an advantage in the technological sector, creating new jobs and helping to retain existing ones. In addition, this technology can help the survival of SMEs in the productive sector by facilitating their access to automation technologies that traditional industrial robotics cannot provide due to the cost and difficulty of producing batches of small and medium products.
Unfortunately, cobots are still being used in many cases with little or no interaction with workers, largely matching their impact to traditional robotics. The results obtained in personal interviews and surveys clearly show that most experts agree that this technology contributes to the creation and retention of jobs.
Economic, social and environmental impacts
Supported by lower acquisition, installation and use costs and a greater capacity for reassignment and adaptability to frequent task changes, collaborative robotics improves the productivity of the manufacturing sector and, in the case of SMEs in particular, increases their competitiveness and reduces production costs. Therefore, the EU’s leading position gives it a competitive advantage with significant economic impact.
Most experts point out that there is still a lack of knowledge about collaborative robotics in the industry, which limits its potential economic impact. The growth of the collaborative robotics market will continue to outpace that of the industrial robotics market. However, there is a risk that the EU will lose its leadership in this sector and be overtaken by the Asia-Pacific region in the coming years. Experts say that there is no major problem of social acceptability of collaborative robots.
The possibility of directly interacting with robots opens up a vast world of opportunities for service robotics in fields such as care robotics, the health sector or the construction sector. However, STOA | Panel for the Future of Science and Technology 30 Current EU legislation limits development compared to other countries such as the US and China.
Several authors comment that collaborative robotics can contribute to improving the efficiency of resources and can also act as a facilitator of remanufacturing and the circular economy. Cobots are lighter and smaller than traditional industrial robots and therefore consume less energy. However, experts do not see this technology significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing sector.
You can read the full report here: