Cobot (Collaborative Robot)
A cobot is a collaborative robot designed to work safely alongside people without fencing, using force limiting and built-in safety to share workspace.
A cobot, or collaborative robot, is built to share a workspace with human operators without traditional safety fencing. Force- and power-limiting (per ISO/TS 15066), rounded surfaces, and sensitive collision detection let it stop or yield on contact.
Cobots trade speed and payload for safety and easy redeployment. Many use hand-guided teaching, so an operator can program a path by physically moving the arm. They suit machine tending, assembly, inspection, and light palletising in mixed human-robot cells.
Universal Robots, FANUC CRX, and Doosan are common cobot brands on the used market. A collaborative robot still requires a risk assessment for its specific application — the cobot rating applies to the robot, not automatically to the whole cell.