Cobots, or “collaborative robots”, are a type of industrial robot designed to operate safely alongside human workers. Like conventional robots, they tend to take the form of a multi-jointed arm that can rotate, swivel, bend and contort to approach a job from any angle. Interchangeable tools at the end of their arms allow cobots to perform countless tasks, from assembling electronics and packaging pharmaceuticals to gluing and even welding. But the machines are smaller and more flexible than traditional robots, and are designed to be integrated with the workforce rather than separated from it, making automation attainable even for smaller companies.

How long have cobots been around and how big is the market?

The first cobot was invented in the mid-1990s by two professors from Northwestern University in Illinois, with the first commercial versions hitting the market a decade later. Since then the technology has surged in popularity as demand for automation soars in sectors from packaging to electronics, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Cobots accounted for 11 per cent of all industrial robots installed in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the International Federation of Robotics. The cobot industry now boasts sales of almost $3bn a year, according to California-based consultancy Grand View Research, which forecasts annual growth of more than 30 per cent to the end of the decade as adoption spreads.