History of the cobots
A journey from sci-fi to jobsite
1920
Karel Čapek. Photo: Wikipedia
The word 'robot' was first used by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a 1921 science-fiction play. The word comes from the Czech word robota, which means 'work' or 'compulsory labour'.
1954-1959
The first industrial robot arm called a ‘Programmed Article Transfer device’ is patented in 1954 by George Devol, who partners with Joseph Engelberger and launches it as the ‘Unimate’ in 1959 with a first installation at General Motors. The robots were controlled by hydraulic actuators, and their only task was to move objects from one point to another. The robots were called programmable transfer machines.
1966
The robot “Shakey”, Photo: Wikipedia
Charlie Rosen and his team at Stanford Research Institute developed a robot many consider one of the first successes in artificial intelligence; the robot ‘Shakey’. Rosen and his team made major breakthroughs in visual analysis, object manipulation, and route finding.
1970-1995
Industrial robotics find their way into factories and in assembly lines across the world. The German company KUKA, the Swedish company ABB and the Japanese company Hitachi are front runners.
1996
The first cobot was invented in 1996 by J. Edward Colgate and Michael Peshkin. They called the cobot 'a device and method for direct physical interaction between a person and a computer-controlled manipulator'.
2000-2010
Kuka Robotics, who also launched one of the first industrial robots on the market, launched their first cobot in 2004, the LBR 3. This was the result of a collaboration with several companies. Universal Robots, one of the largest robot suppliers in the world, released their first cobot in 2008, the UR5.
2010-2015
Drilly1 in operation at site in Sogn, Norway
‘Collaborative Robotics’ is recognized as a viable new class of robots; larger robot manufactures such as KUKA, ABB and Fanuc as well as smaller startups like Rethink Robotics start launching and developing cobots. In 2012, nLink builds the first prototype of a ceiling drilling robot based on UR10 from Universal Robots, named Drilly. In 2015 ABB launched YuMi, the first collaborative dual arm robot.
2016
ISO publishes the long awaited specification ISO/TS 15066, containing guidelines on how to ensure the safety of human workers in collaborative robotic systems. nLink completes the first commercial robotized ceiling drilling contract at jobsite in Trondheim, Norway.
Drilly2 in operation at site in Oslo, Norway.
2020
Hilti AG launches the first commercial ceiling drilling robot, developed in collaboration with the Norwegian robotic company nLink.
2023
The Danish manufacturer of collaborative robots (cobots), Universal Robots, has announced that it will expand its product portfolio with a new 30 kg payload cobot. This will give the cobot new capabilities, and extend the range of applications feasible for cobots.
Cobot UR30 machine tending. Picture from Universal Robots (2023)
