Advances in Human-AI Collaboration

11Cobot: Collaborative Robots

Li Liu

School of Maritime Economics and Management, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning, China

11.1 The Origins and Development of Collaborative Robots

11.1.1 Overview of Early Industrial Robots

Industrial robots, widely utilized across various industrial sectors, are multi-jointed mechanical arms or machines with multiple degrees of freedom. They possess a certain degree of autonomy, relying on their own power and control systems to execute a variety of industrial manufacturing tasks. These robots are extensively employed in fields such as electronics, logistics, and chemicals.

The use of industrial robots began in the late 1950s. Inspired by servo systems, Joseph Engelberger, in collaboration with George Devol, developed the industrial robot “Unimate” (Wikipedia, 2024), which was first deployed in 1961 at the General Motors production line. The early industrial robots were relatively simple in design, performing tasks such as picking up car parts and placing them on conveyor belts. They could not interact with other operational environments, strictly following predetermined programs to execute repetitive actions. While the operation of “Unimate” was a simple repetitive task, it showcased the promising future of industrial automation and marked the beginning of the rapid development of industrial robots. From that point onward, many labor-intensive, repetitive, or mundane tasks in industrial production could be delegated to robots, relieving ...