Friday, March 29, 2024

Collaborative Robot Adoption in the Scientific and Research Sector

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Industrial robots from Universal Robots are being used throughout the scientific and research communities to help develop innovative solutions by creating a foundation for objective information gathering and analysis.

Robotic technologies continue to become relevant like never before for, in science and research. Due to their affordable price, Universal Robots robot arms can be found in several research institutes and universities.

Robot Use in Science

Science is always entering new technological areas and fortunately the game changing robot arms from Universal Robots can replace human researchers and operators in dirty, dangerous, and dull jobs to eliminate repetitive strain and accidental injuries.

Eighty percent of the thousands of cobots worldwide operate with no safety guarding, after a successful risk assessment, right beside human workers. The safety system of the robots is approved and certified by TUV (The German Technical Inspection Association).

Since precision and consistency are the keys to a project’s success, then UR robots present the answer. The cobot arm consistently and repeatedly follows an exact processes and pre-defined workflows with miniscule deviation, providing optimum conditions for study and analysis.

Case study of Two Scientific and Research Institutions Using Cobots

1.      AGH University

AGH turned to universal-robots.com to help develop a high precision tool to be used in the operating theatre that introduces stem cells into the body.

The collaborative robot was chosen due to its ability to mimic the human range of motion. AGH is currently working on designing a specialized robotic station in Gyro-urological interventions. The cobot’s job is to introduce stem cells into the body in a way that is much more precise compared to a human hand.

The second project being implemented by AGH University is setting up a station for the mixing of cytotoxic drugs used during anti-cancer chemotherapy. The robot’s job is to improve the efficiency in the preparation of cytotoxic drugs.

The UR5 robot arm was selected for its ease of operation and extreme precision giving the operator the ability to program movements with a resolution of +/- 0.1 mm hence it is easier to manually guide the robot into the required position.

Another key reason for selecting the UR5 is its gravity compensation function which prevents it from shifting position even when it is switched off. This is very important when using the cobots for testing the trajectory of hand movements in interventions that require precision, accuracy and safety

Universal Robots has made it possible for students to use the cobot even more extensively with the ability to program additional functions during individual projects. This gives the scientific personnel and future generation engineers a unique opportunity to continue developing their skills in creating innovative solutions.

2.      iQLANDIA

iQLANDIA Science Center has been able to successfully popularize science for the youth of Liberec, Czech Republic for the past ten years.

The experts and lecturers of the center wanted to place a contemporary robot on display to show visitors the great improvements that have been made in the robot technology recently. The robot exhibition needed to be able to show how user-friendly the robots have become, easy to use and safe to be around, as the Science Center is visited by primary and secondary schools from all over the Czech Republic. 

iQLANDIA chose the robot exhibition Robot Run that is built around a UR5 robot. Robot Run is an interactive robot game which lets the users control the robot around a maze-like structure. The game highlights and showcases the precision of the robot arm, its ease in programming and the wide range of applications that the cobot can be tasked with. 

This solution was based on a UR5 robot arm from Universal Robots. It is safe, has a flexible operation without the need for screens and can also rotate 360 degrees.This exhibition has become a very popular attraction at the science center as it captures the hearts and minds of over 50,000 young visitors each year.

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