협동로봇이 다양한 산업 현장에 적용되며 미래 먹거리로 조망되고 있다. 세계 3대 로봇 강국을 목표로 국가차원에서 미래전략산업으로 대두되는 만큼, 국내외 로봇 시장에서의 치열한 경쟁이 예상된다. 2023년에도 로봇의 수요는 꾸준히 증가하며, 로봇의 일상화가 가속화될 것으로 전망된다.
▲Universal Robots collaborative robot 'UR20'
Robot demand continues to increase, accelerating the introduction of robots into everyday life
Human-robot symbiosis… Expansion of application in manufacturing, textiles, and services
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Develops Carbon Steel Pipe Welding Collaborative Robot
Samsung, Doosan, Large Corporations Invest Large-Scale in Collaborative Robots
Collaborative robots are being applied in various industrial fields and are being viewed as a future food source.
It has been a long time since we have been on the wave of the 4th industrial revolution, and in the wave where the speed of digital transformation determines national industrial competitiveness, we can see that the robot market has grown significantly compared to the past.
As it is emerging as a future strategic industry at the national level with the goal of becoming one of the world's top three robot powerhouses, fierce competition is expected in the domestic and international robot markets. The demand for robots is expected to steadily increase in 2023, and the daily use of robots is expected to accelerate.
A collaborative robot (cobot) is a robot that works in symbiosis with humans. Unlike existing industrial robots, it is recognized for its safety and is attracting attention for future smart factories.
According to Markets and Markets, the global collaborative robot market size is expected to grow from $1.2 billion (about 1.4 trillion won) in 2021 to $10.5 billion (about 12 trillion won) in 2027.
■ From automobile manufacturing sites to coffee-making cafes Collaborative robots repeat simple tasks, and humans work together with flexibility to achieve efficiency. The key is not to take away human work, but to work with humans. Thanks to collaborative robots, workers can invest time in creative tasks in a safe work environment.
In particular, various uses are possible by replacing the hand (arm, end effector) at the end of the collaborative robot's arm.
Universal Robots, which launched its first collaborative robot in 2008, suggests that collaborative robots are being applied in industries such as food, agriculture, furniture and equipment manufacturing, electronics, metal and machine processing, the automotive industry, and pharmaceuticals.
According to industry insiders, more than 60% of collaborative robots are currently being used in the automobile industry, and cases are increasing in the food, textile, and service industries.
Robots are changing our daily lives by making chicken, coffee, serving, cooking, beauty, painting, etc. possible, and there are cafes where robots actually serve or pour coffee. In addition, collaborative robots are rapidly evolving by merging with autonomous robots (AMR) and increasing their usability by installing vision systems.
Experts predict that collaborative robots will help many small and medium-sized manufacturing companies secure smart manufacturing competitiveness. The cost of collaborative robots is expected to be around 30% of that of traditional industrial robots, and it is expected to be an alternative to overcome the lack of system compatibility and cost burden.
■ Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering applies collaborative robots to weld carbon steel pipes
▲Collaborative robot welding at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering site
Collaborative robots in manufacturing sites are efficiently deployed for a wide range of applications, from assembly to painting, palletizing, dispensing, packaging, finishing, machine tending, cutting, quality inspection, and welding.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering announced on the 9th that it is developing a carbon steel pipe welding collaborative robot and applying it to the field.
This collaborative robot is mainly used to weld shipboard pipe adjustment pipes. Previously, for precise welding, workers had to move the torch worktable weighing over 30 kg and manually adjust the position to perform welding. However, industrial robots had to be equipped with safety fences to prevent collisions due to safety issues, which made precision work impossible.
Thanks to the collaborative robot applied this time, fine adjustments are now possible, allowing workers to collaborate on welding with the collaborative robot without having to install safety fences or safety sensors through collision safety analysis.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering also announced that it had obtained ‘Collaborative Robot Installation Workplace Safety Certification’ through an examination by the Korea Robot Users Association, a certification agency. This is the first case in Korea where a collaborative robot was introduced to the field after receiving safety certification without safety fences or sensors.
■ Samsung, Doosan, and other collaborative robot companies open their wallets Recently, the industry was heated up when it was revealed that Samsung Electronics had made a large-scale investment in Rainbow Robotics and was listed as the second largest shareholder.
Samsung Electronics is actively investing in new robot businesses, explaining that it is seeking to enhance its competitiveness in related fields by forming technological partnerships with promising robot companies.
▲Rainbow Robotics collaborative robot 'RB series'
Rainbow Robotics is a venture company founded in 2011 by researchers at the Humanoid Robot Research Center of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He became known for developing 'HUBO', Korea's first humanoid bipedal robot.
Rainbow Robotics' flagship collaborative robot RB series has achieved performance by utilizing hubo technology.
Last year, the company produced more than 600 collaborative robots, and is running at a target of increasing annual production to 3,000 units by 2025. It also achieved cumulative sales of 10.4 billion won by the third quarter of 2022, showing encouraging results of turning a profit in just three years since entering the collaborative robot market.
Rainbow Robotics has established the unmanned robot cafe 'Rainbow Robot Cafe' along with the RB series, and is developing quadruped robots, autonomous robots, ultra-small collaborative robots, and bipedal robots.
Meanwhile, Doosan Robotics is considered one of the new growth engines of Doosan Group. Doosan Robotics has been leading the automation solution market since 2018, surpassing 1,000 units of annual sales of collaborative robots for the first time in Korea. According to the industry, Doosan Robotics is estimated to have had sales of 67 billion won last year.
The annual production capacity is approximately 10,000 units, and the company has secured a total of 10 types of collaborative robot lineups in 3 series, including M, A, and H, from its own development center.
It can support payloads ranging from small to large with various products, and its capabilities have been recognized by successfully raising 40 billion won while operating Doosan Robotics' unmanned cafe.
The collaborative robot market size is expected to grow even faster with investments from large corporations that are shining their eyes. We look forward to the steps taken by the Korean collaborative robot industry to gain an advantage not only in the domestic market but also in the global market.
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