Collaborative Robotics Week to examine state of industry

On Sep 1, 2021

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Collaborative robotics, along with enabling and support technologies, is one of the hottest sectors in industrial robotics, and the fastest growing. The sector is moving so fast it often difficult for end-users and prospective end-users to keep up the latest developments. Collaborative Robotics Week, which runs virtually Sept. 7-10, is designed to educate potential end-users with a series of discussions with the brightest minds in the industry.

Collaborative Robotics Week will provide a snapshot of the current state of the sector, including emerging capabilities, powerful enabling technologies, as well as new business models enabled by cobots. Insights into what the future holds will also be provided. New collaborative robotics approaches for common industrial tasks such as machine tending, bin picking and palletizing / depalletizing will be analyzed, and new ways collaborative robots are adding value in various industries will be highlighted. You can register for free here.

Collaborative Robotics Week will provide attendees, whatever their cobot adoption profile, with the information they need to select, program, deploy and manage collaborative robotics systems. The use of cobots for various classes of application types, across key industry segments, will also be included.

A detailed agenda can be found below. Again, interested attendees can register here for free.

High-Speed Bin Picking and Pick-and-Place Applications Using Collaborative Robots
September 7 at 2 PM Eastern

There is a clear trend for the development and use of collaborative robotics systems in manufacturing and logistics environments for bin picking and pick-and-place applications. Collaborative robots are particularly well suited for the repetitive part transfer operations of loading and unloading items on a moving assembly line, especially for manufacturing environments requiring a high degree of application flexibility. So, too, with bin picking operations, an especially critical application for fulfillment providers. During this panel session, attendees will learn of the latest commercially available hardware and software technologies, along with new development and deployment and techniques, to support bin picking and pick-and-place operations using collaborative robots.

Speakers
Tianlan Shao, Founder and CEO, Mech-Mind Robotics
Wes Garrett, Senior Account Manager, FANUC
Lael Odhner, Co-founder, RightHand Robotics

Collaborative Robots for Food Manufacturing
September 8 at 11 AM Eastern

Food companies have employed industrial robots to great success for the production of meat and dairy products, baked goods, frozen foods, snacks, beverages and more. Robotics systems in food production are typically used for end-of-line picking, packaging or palletizing operations, applications that collaborative robotics excel at. Collaborative robotics are also appropriate for ‘upstream’ food production tasks. In this Collaborative Robotics Week session, the appropriateness and use of collaborative systems for food manufacturing will be analyzed, and recommendations made. Real world case studies will also be studied and best practices elucidated.

Speakers
Andie Zhang, Global Product Manager, Collaborative Robotics, ABB
Roy Fraser, Global Product Manager, Food & Beverage, ABB

Selection Criteria for Collaborative Robotics Systems
September 8 at 1 PM Eastern

The collaborative robotics segment is growing rapidly as new suppliers, technologies, and investors enter the market. As is common with other hot technology sectors, this has resulted in a great deal of “noise” in the robotics community, as well as in the business and investment press. This results in increased risk, missed opportunities, and confusion among all members of the collaborative robotics value chain. The problem is especially acute during the selection process for collaborative robotics systems.

This collaborative Robotics Systems session will address a number of important issues related to the selection of cobot solutions including collaborative robotics value drivers, critical enabling technologies, and key provider differentiators. A number of representative collaborative robotics products (and companies) will also be highlighted, along with the features and capabilities that distinguish them.

Speaker
Batu Sipka, Application Engineering – Robotics, Gibson Engineering

Palletizing and Depalletizing Using Collaborative Robots
September 9 at 11 AM Eastern

Palletizing and depalletizing are two of the most common processes in material handling. As such, the use of robotics for palletizing applications continues to be one of the fastest growing segments in robotics. Collaborative robotics systems, too, have proven to be very adept for palletizing and depalletizing work, protecting workers from repetitive motion injuries and reducing costs in the process. In this Collaborative Robotics Week session, the latest collaborative robotics solutions for palletizing and depalletizing applications, will be reviewed. Case studies where cobots are used to make palletizing and depalletizing operations simpler and more efficient will be used to highlight recent trends.

Speakers
John Walker, Sales Manager, Onexia Inc.
Ben Courtright, Business Development Manager, Pacific Northwest, Universal Robots
Dick Motley, Director, Authorized System Integrators, FANUC America

Collaborative Robotics: An Enabler for Small-to-Medium Manufacturers
September 9 at 1 PM Eastern

A large percentage of small-to-medium manufacturers (SMMs) have missed out on the many benefits of robotic industrial automation such as increased productivity, improved quality and enhanced competitiveness. Rapid change, however, is underway. Both traditional industrial robotics companies, as well as a number of new vendors, are providing products and services specifically designed to satisfy the requirements and support the culture of this sizable and underserved market. This is especially true for collaborative robots, systems largely designed to support the specialized requirements of small-to-medium manufacturers. In this Collaborative Robotics Week session, attendees will learn about new collaborative robotics products and services that support small-to-medium manufacturers. Real world case studies will be presented to illustrate salient points. Topics covered include: SMMs and collaborative robotics, application-specific systems, robotics-as-a-service, flexible automation, rapid deployment and simplified programming.

Speakers
Joe Campbell, Head of US Marketing, Universal Robots
Michael Szesterniak, Area Sales Manager, Midwest, Universal Robots
Brian Havey, Director of Sales, VersaBuilt
Ryan Weaver, VP, Commercial, Robotiq
Rob Goldiez, CEO & Co-founder, Hirebotics

3D Printing as a Collaborative Robotics Enabler
September 9 at 3 PM Eastern

3D printing technologies are increasingly used to support and enhance robotics automation, including collaborative robots. In this session, attendees will learn how 3DP can be used to enable collaborative robotics systems, providing cost-effective, efficient, and often technically superior alternatives to traditional approaches. Topics include the use of 3DP to generate prototypes quickly and inexpensively, along with the production of custom jigs, molds and fixtures necessary to position or hold objects while cobots operate on them. The use of 3D printing to create parts for cobots will also be covered, as well as the manufacture of end-of-arm tools (EOAT) for collaborative robots.

Speakers
Duygu Gunay, Industrial Segment Manager, HP 3D Printing
Preston Souza, Additive Manufacturing Product Manager, igus

Welding and Metal Fabrication Using Collaborative Robotics Systems
September 10 at 11 AM Eastern

The definition of the term “robotic” has evolved over time to reflect the change from traditional industrial robotics arms, to also include many other types of mechanical systems, including collaborative robots. Like the articulated arms that preceded them, collaborative robots and their supporting technologies are having a major impact on the metal fabrication sector. The systems themselves continue to evolve to support higher payloads and greater accuracy making them even more suitable for welding and metal fabrication applications.

Speakers
Soroush Karimzadeh, CEO, Novarc Technologies
Stuart Shepherd, Vertical Development Director, Universal Robots

Thank you to all the sponsors who have made Collaborative Robotics Week possible.

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