글로벌 협동로봇 기업 유니버설 로봇(Universal Robots)이 20일 오전 서울 삼성동에서 공식 기자 간담회를 개최했다. 이날 행사에는 유니버설 로봇 CCO 스테이시 모세르(Stacey Moser)가 협동로봇과 고객 성공 사례 등 주요 성과를 소개하고, 향후 전략 및 방향성을 공유했다.
Building a robot ecosystem with 1,000 global partners
Providing customized solutions to maximize collaborative robot usability
Collaborative robots with high-priced components compared to other companies… Obtaining quality reliability
Universal Robots expands its robot ecosystem based on high-quality collaborative robots (HW) and customized solutions (SW).
Global collaborative robot company Universal Robots held an official press conference in Samseong-dong, Seoul on the morning of the 20th. At the event, Universal Robots CCO Stacey Moser introduced key achievements such as collaborative robots and customer success stories, and shared future strategies and directions.
▲Stacy Moser, CCO, Universal Robots
“Globally, the robot market is only about 2% active, which means there is a 98% potential for automation,” said Universal Robots CCO Stacey Moser. “Universal Robots will pursue a strategy of finding opportunities in various fields (Anywhere) and making it easy for anyone to use collaborative robots (Anyone).”
Universal Robots, the world's leading collaborative robot company with both collaborative robot hardware and software, recently announced that its global sales have surpassed 75,000 units.
■ Emphasizes cooperation and building an ecosystem beyond collaborative robots Universal Robots emphasizes ecosystem building as a differentiating factor from other companies. Universal Robots goes beyond collaborative robots to build an ecosystem and pursues cooperation within it.
This includes manufacturers of collaborative robot hardware, distributors supporting services, and robot service support. For example, it provides appropriate solutions needed in the welding or shipbuilding industries as well as collaborative robots. It also offers certified peripherals and application kits through the UR+ platform.
“Universal Robots is building an ecosystem with over 1,000 partners worldwide and 50 domestically,” said Moser CCO, adding, “It is not easy to provide robots and customized solutions that can be applied quickly and easily compared to other companies.”
One of the reasons Universal Robots is focusing on the ecosystem is to raise awareness of the collaborative robot market itself. Collaborative robots have recently received a lot of attention, but their market share is still low, so they ultimately found a solution in expanding the ecosystem.
Universal Robots focuses on technological collaboration with partners to drive innovation, such as the application of AI/ML to collaborative robots. It is also discovering new markets for collaborative robots and fields, and increasing cases of technological application.
Universal Robots also emphasized the importance of education. Currently, Universal Robots provides training in programming skills related to collaborative robots in more than 120 training centers around the world.
CCO Moser said, “Recently, the number of global subscribers to the Universal Robots Academy has exceeded 200,000,” and emphasized, “Through consistent robot education, we will lower the entry barrier to collaborative robots and take the lead in building a better society with robots.” Currently, there are six training centers operating in the country.
■ Securing customer trust with high-quality collaborative robots Universal Robots also focuses on high quality. From robot parts to development, testing, and certification, they apply the latest technology to improve quality. Although each robot is more expensive than other companies, it maintains cost-effectiveness because there are no breakdowns and no maintenance costs.
“Universal Robots has a clear value for quality,” said Lee Nae-hyung, CEO of Universal Robots Korea. “There are many cases where customers who used products from other companies but experienced problems such as breakdowns returned to Universal Robots products.”
Universal Robots offers solutions that encompass hardware and software. They offer high-quality robot arms such as the UR20, and their ‘Polyscope’ software platform maximizes the user experience. More than half of Universal Robots’ R&D is invested in software and user experience.
In particular, the UR20, released last year, is being actively applied in various industries for welding, loading, and machine tending applications. Universal Robots said, “The UR20 has been prepared for a long time to improve quality, and was even sold out due to many customer requests,” and added, “The UR20 is just the beginning, and we plan to release smaller models in the lineup.”
■ Focus on machine vision, mobility, and connectivity… Increasing robot efficiency Universal Robots has identified machine vision, mobility, and connectivity as its future core areas. It is investing primarily in the sustainability and environmental adaptability of robots.
'Machine vision' is a technology that allows machines to obtain and process information. It is explained that it studies how robots can be controlled well without human intervention by increasing the adaptability of machines in changing environments.
'Mobility' is related to AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot). Universal Robots said, "In the changing paradigm of robot technology, we are already working with AMR provider 'Mir' on mobility robots and finding solutions."
'Connectivity' means expanding the connection between clouds and robots to increase productivity and efficiency based on the data collected and analyzed. “We will focus on developing technologies that will allow robots to adapt to changing environments, such as enabling communication between robots to increase interaction,” said Moser, CCO.
Lastly, CEO Lee Nae-hyung expressed his ambition, saying, “The Korean market, where the labor force is stagnant due to the low birth rate, is a country with great potential for the collaborative robot market,” and “We are looking at an average annual growth rate of 30-40% and will achieve sales of 100 billion won in the short term.”