• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • Your Membership
    • Edit Your Profile
  • Services
    • Advertising
    • Case studies
    • Design
    • Email marketing
    • Lead generation
    • Magazine
    • Press releases
    • Publishing
    • Sponsored posts
    • Webcasting
    • Webinars
    • White papers
    • Writing
  • Shop
    • My Account
    • Cart
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Terms of use
  • Events

Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

  • News
  • Features
  • Video
  • Webinars
  • White papers
  • Press releases
  • Featured companies
    • BlueBotics
    • SICK Sensor Intelligence
    • Vicor Power
Mathias Wiklund, chief operating officer, Comau

The future of small and cooperative robotics, according to Mathias Wiklund of Comau

March 3, 2016 by David Edwards

Mathias Wiklund, chief operating officer, Comau
Mathias Wiklund, chief operating officer, Comau

An interview with Mathias Wiklund, chief operating officer, Comau Robotics. ‘Bringing intelligent robotics to the market means combining ease of use with advanced performance.’

When did you join Comau?

I joined Comau in 2011 as the managing director for Comau Germany, and became the COO of the Robotics Business Unit in 2013. I’m also a member of the Comau Executive Committee.

Having spent most of my career living and working around the world, including Germany, Italy, Sweden, Thailand and the USA, I now enjoy splitting my time between Germany and Italy. 

What was your first impression of the Comau team?

More than by the Comau team, I was struck by the size and globality of the organization itself.
During its forty plus years, Comau has expanded all over the world in terms of both market penetration and local presence.

When I was brought aboard to manage the German market, I quickly realized how solid the global network really is. More importantly perhaps, I was impressed by Comau’s steadfast commitment to evolving its dynamic, multinational presence. It’s not enough to be a leader; Comau wants to lead the future of automation. It’s exciting to be part of such a pioneering vision.

In terms of the team, Comau has developed a culture of its own that is different from anything I’ve ever experienced. The company refers to this as the culture of automation.

I see it as the culture of team, where significant personal investment – in terms of time, commitment and passion – is put into tackling obstacles and finding the best possible solution for the situation at hand. This powerful way of working with clients spans cultures, countries and even companies.

Let’s talk robotics. What can you tell us about your organization?

It’s well-known that Comau began as a consortium of machining companies focused on the automotive industry. Our first robots were developed in the late 1970s and immediately put to work on the factory floor. Today, Comau robots, recognized for their precision and state-of-the-art performance, continue to play an integral role in the future of global manufacturing.

The automotive industry relies heavily on our robotics because of their advanced capabilities and not only their extreme precision. In this sector, Comau’s robots are very well positioned, performing everything from arc welding and spot welding to plasma cutting, gluing, foundry, handling, stud insertion and cosmetic hemming/seaming.

Over the last several years the versatility of our robots has helped us expand into new General Industry sectors like consumer products, electronics and even general industry applications including packaging and Food&Beverage. These changes are not without significant effort on our part. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our offer and better respond to the existing and future needs of the market.

Where do you see the future of industrial robotics heading?

The market for industrial robots has grown about three times in twenty years – from €65k in 1995 to over €229k in 2014. Yet I believe that we’re going to start to see a different type of market in the future. We’re going to see different machines working differently with humans, and manufacturing in a different way.

The key drivers of these changes are safety, the emerging role of cooperative robots, dual arm robots, mobility robots, and more. These are the areas where traditional robots are going to be replaced. And if we add to this scenario the Internet of Things, which is also known as industry 4.0 or smart factories, these same industrial robots will become increasingly connected to the entire manufacturing operation.

The future lies in connecting everything to the internet, making sure the data is available, transferring this data, connecting, viewing, using it, making smart manufacturing a reality.

How are you addressing the concept of safety?

Safe robotics is extremely important and Comau is dedicating significant resources to advancing our ability to deliver safe, collaborative industrial automation solutions.

Our ROBOSafe technology, for example, uses redundant controls to track the exact position of the robot at any moment, thereby certifying its entire range of action. When combined with external security sensors that are connected to the control unit of the robot, we are able to detect and react to a human presence in the cell.

When the operator approaches, the sensors will slow or stop the movement of the robot. The cycle is automatically resumed when the operator leaves the area.

Clearly, the system helps avoid useless downtimes, but it also allows us to build more compact cells that are designed taking the actual work area of the robot into consideration rather than the potential overall area. Of course our SAFE robotics investments are not limited to this area, as we are also strongly focused on cooperative robots able to interact with human beings.

What about small businesses and robotics?

Until recently, most robotic solutions didn’t have the flexibility or agility to address the specific needs of SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises) and as a result, SMEs tended to have a low overall awareness of how and where automation could fit into their business models.

Even if the SME inherently understood that process improvements could boost productivity, robotics were not likely to be considered for two primary reasons: limited willingness to invest unless the Return on Investment was very short, and limited skills for designing, programming and operating a robotic cell.

To address these issues, Comau has developed a new generation of agile, task-oriented robotics able to handle both small and large loads. What this means is that our robots can manipulate small, lightweight objects as easily as they can handle heavier materials – from 3 to 650 kg – with maximum acceleration up to 5G. Racer999 and Racer3 are two examples of this strategy.

More importantly, we believe the driving factors for robotic systems within the SME environment are investment reduction, safety, efficiency, repeatability and accuracy, high process quality, flexibility and easy integration (which can be translated as ease of use and plug & play). As a company, we are working very hard to design solutions around these key factors.

Does automation make sense in a small industry?

We think so, which is one of the reasons why Comau is investing heavily and working with top institutions and EU Research Programs, to develop profitable and intelligent robotic solutions that are specifically designed for the SME market.

This means combining the high productivity, consistent quality and absolute accuracy of robot-based industrial automation with the flexible, Customer-focused production methods of the SME. Under this framework, we are able to help automate inbound logistics (reading and sorting, picking), outbound logistics (palletizing and handling), and manufacturing operations (polishing and grinding, die-casting, arc welding and even hazardous operations).

Would you give us an interesting example of how this works?

Shoes. Few people realize that there are more than 28 highly specialized manual operations to make every single shoe. And yet we’ve recently developed a robotic solution to automate shoe production.

The complexity of the shoe making process is noteworthy, and is usually done by master craftsmen. To give you an idea of how even artisan techniques can be automated, our solution – developed within the framework of an international consortium of which Comau is a leading partner – uses a robotic cell for part of the work cycle. The robotic cell executes different operations in sequence.

It moves the shoes from the conveyor belt, it positions them on the shoe upper, it performs the cleaning, polishing and finishing tasks, and it also performs other types of activities which would be demanding and potentially dangerous for humans, such as spraying and painting.

The automated system ensures total compatibility between man and machinery – meaning, the sensitivity and the manipulative skills are almost identical. In this way, the robot can detect the position of the objects, manipulate the components of the shoe using the correct amount of force, and at the end of the process, place the shoes in the final package. It’s just one example, but demonstrates that agile robotics combined with advanced vision sensors are now able to add value to largely manual operations.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

In closing I want to emphasize the importance of simplifying the use of robots. The man-machine interface should be more intuitive, similar to what Apple did with the iPhone. Almost anyone can use a smartphone without ever reading the instruction manual.

We are working hard to make even the most complex systems easier to use, which will benefit the Customer in terms of a shorter learning curve and allow us to offer application-specific training rather than generic “how to use a robot” training.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Skype
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • Pocket

You might also like…

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: automation, comau, industrial, industry, manufacturing, operations, robot, robotic, robotics, robots

Join the Robotics & Automation News community

Primary Sidebar

Latest articles

  • How robots and RPA will change the business of the future
  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI
  • Berkshire Grey launches new mobile robotic platform
  • Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot

Most Read

  • Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
    Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
  • Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
    Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
  • Track your lost Android
    Track your lost Android
  • Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
    Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
  • Top 25 vertical farming companies
    Top 25 vertical farming companies
  • The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
    The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
  • Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?
    Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?
  • Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
    Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
  • Industrial robot costs to drop by half in the next three years
    Industrial robot costs to drop by half in the next three years
  • What You Need to Know About Fixing an Engine Misfire
    What You Need to Know About Fixing an Engine Misfire

Overused words

abb ai applications automated automation automotive autonomous business china companies company control customers data design development digital electric global industrial industry logistics machine manufacturing market mobile platform process production robot robotic robotics robots safety software solution solutions system systems technologies technology time vehicle vehicles warehouse

Secondary Sidebar

Latest news

  • How robots and RPA will change the business of the future
  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI
  • Berkshire Grey launches new mobile robotic platform
  • Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot

Footer

We are…

Robotics and Automation News was established in May, 2015, and is now one of the most widely-read websites in its category.

Please consider supporting us by becoming a paying subscriber, or through advertising and sponsorships, or by purchasing products and services through our shop – or a combination of all of the above.

Thank you.

Independent

Archivists

March 2016
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Feb   Apr »

Complex

Old-skool

This website and its associated magazine, and weekly newsletter, are all produced by a small team of experienced journalists and media professionals.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to contact us at any of the email addresses on our contact page.

We’d be happy to hear from you, and will always reply as soon as possible.

Future-facing

Free, fair and legal

We support the principles of net neutrality and equal opportunities.

Member of The Internet Defense League

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT