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ROBOTICS · BASICS

What Is a Cobot?

A cobot (collaborative robot) is an industrial robot designed to work alongside people rather than behind safety fencing. Cobots limit their speed and force, sense contact, and are often programmed by guiding the arm by hand. They take on repetitive tasks such as picking, packing, machine tending and screwdriving while staff work nearby.

01

The Short Answer

Traditional industrial robots are fast and powerful, so they work inside guarded cells. Cobots trade some speed and payload for the ability to share space with people. Every application still needs a risk assessment, because a cobot carrying a sharp or heavy part can be hazardous even when the robot itself is designed for collaboration.

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    Guarding Cobots can often work without fencing; industrial robots usually cannot.
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    Speed and payload Industrial robots are faster and stronger.
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    Set-up Cobots are quicker to redeploy to new tasks.
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    Vision Cameras and AI add awareness of people nearby.
02

Why It Matters

Our cobot safety standards FAQ covers the rules, and our pose estimation FAQ explains how AI tracks people. See the human-robot collaboration case study and our work in factory automation.