The Collaborative Robot Revolution: The Future of the Smart Factory

(Dan Tri) - No longer giant machines locked in glass cages, a new generation of robots is entering factories as "colleagues".

Collaborative Robots - A New Lever for Manufacturing Efficiency

The world is witnessing a quiet but profound revolution in manufacturing.

Not giant robots locked in glass cages like before, but intelligent robot “colleagues” that can work alongside humans safely and effectively. This is no longer science fiction, but a reality happening right before our eyes.

According to the latest report from McKinsey & Company, the global industrial robot market has reached a record $16.5 billion in new installation value, with more than 4.28 million robots operating in factories around the world.

This figure not only reflects the strong growth of the industry, but also signals a new era in which robots are no longer a luxury solution reserved for large corporations.

The biggest difference between the current wave of robots and previous generations is the ability to "cooperate" with humans.

These “collaborative” robots are designed to work alongside workers, not to completely replace human labor but to support and improve productivity. With advanced sensors and intelligent control systems, they can detect the presence of humans and adjust their movements accordingly, ensuring absolute safety.

The collaborative robot market is booming at an impressive rate of growth. From $2.14 billion in 2024, the market is expected to reach $11.64 billion by 2030, equivalent to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of up to 31.6%.

This figure reflects the growing demand from businesses for flexible and easy-to-deploy automation solutions.

From pilot to full scale

One of the biggest challenges businesses face is not deploying pilot robots, but scaling the application.

According to a McKinsey survey, about 40% of executives said that while their robotics pilot projects were exciting and attracted a lot of interest in manufacturing, the actual business value was unclear.

The collaborative robot market is booming at an impressive rate of growth (Photo: Genedge).

This doesn’t mean that robots aren’t effective, but rather that the approach is one of approach. Instead of viewing robots as a tool to buy and use, businesses need to think about building overall automation capabilities. This is a significant mindset shift from investing in equipment to developing operational capabilities.

“The big difference is that traditional automation is a one-size-fits-all solution for one application,” says Teradyne Robotics’ Ujjwal Kumar. “The new generation of AI-enabled robots has standard products that serve multiple applications. You can deploy them to multiple applications through software and some end-to-end tooling differences.”

This means that instead of needing 100,000 different configurations like previous technology, Universal Robots now only needs 6 configurations to serve 100,000 collaborative robot installations worldwide.

This is the key to dramatically reducing the total cost of ownership of the new generation of automation.

AI - The Soul of the New Generation of Robots

The trend of integrating artificial intelligence into robots is growing stronger. By leveraging various AI technologies, robots can perform a variety of tasks more efficiently.

Analytical AI enables robots to process and analyze large amounts of data collected by their sensors. This helps manage variability and unpredictability in outdoor environments, high-mix/low-volume production, and public environments.

Robots equipped with computer vision systems, for example, analyze past tasks to identify patterns and optimize their operations for greater accuracy and speed.

Computer vision systems play an important role in manufacturing robots (Photo: New Ocean).

Robot and chip makers are recently investing in developing specialized hardware and software that simulate real-world environments. This physical artificial intelligence allows robots to train themselves in virtual environments and operate based on experience rather than rigid programming.

“Our vision is to create versatile robots that can go anywhere humans can go, understand and manipulate their surroundings in harmony,” explains Marc Theermann from Boston Dynamics.

And only when they can do all three of those things do you really have a multi-purpose robot. For the last 30 years, we've been working on the "go anywhere" part, and we've gotten pretty good at it. Now, our robots can go almost anywhere a human can.”

The next two challenges they're trying to solve are semantic understanding and manipulation. That's where they're spending most of their time.

These are the basic building blocks for the massive scale that people are predicting for these types of robots.

Game-changing technology

Another important breakthrough in the field of robotics is Digital Twin technology.

Digital Twins are virtual replicas of physical systems that mirror their real-world counterparts in real time. These models use data from sensors and machines to simulate the behavior and performance of their physical counterparts.

By providing a detailed digital representation, Digital Twins enable continuous monitoring, analysis, and optimization of the systems they replicate. This technology is particularly valuable in mitigating the risks of robot deployments.

As Ujjwal Kumar comments: “With a Digital Twin, some of the risks you’re talking about go away. Now you can deploy a new automated system in a virtual world, test it, perfect it, and then from that same Digital Twin, you can download the code into the production environment.”

Digital Twin is a virtual replica of physical systems that mirrors their real-world counterparts in real time (Photo: Future).

This allows businesses to simulate and optimize manufacturing systems with Digital Twin before making an actual capital investment. Companies can expect a business return on investment in one to three years and minimize integration risk with existing IT and OT systems, making the adoption of robotics smoother.

One growing trend in robotics that will continue to grow this year and beyond is the development of the Mobile Manipulator, commonly known as MoMa.

These industrial robots are the result of combining tasks performed by robotic arms, such as grasping, lifting, or moving objects, with the ability of robots to navigate through space.

MoMa consists of an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) integrated with a robot arm equipped with suitable tools.

Mobile manipulator robots can perform predefined manufacturing tasks on equipment or retrieve components from a production line or warehouse. This flexibility allows for automated material transport to any location, introducing a new level of efficiency in manufacturing and warehousing management.

This mobility not only extends the robots' operating range, but also allows them to adapt to changing factory layouts and meet the needs of flexible, mobile manufacturing.

Instead of being fixed in one location, MoMa can be deployed flexibly according to business needs, optimizing resource utilization and improving overall efficiency.

One of the biggest barriers to robotics adoption has always been the high initial investment cost, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (Photo: ITG Technology).

One of the biggest barriers to robotics adoption has always been the high initial investment cost, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

Robots as a Service (RaaS) is changing this by allowing companies to deploy robots on a subscription or rental model instead of buying them outright.

The RaaS model offers several advantages including scalability, resilience, and flexibility, making it an ideal choice for search and rescue missions, environmental monitoring, manufacturing, agriculture , and space exploration.

RaaS helps companies scale local manufacturing without large capital risks, effectively “enabling manufacturers that produce close to home to move production closer to their consumer markets without sacrificing cost efficiency.”

Challenges and opportunities ahead

Despite the positive outlook, the robotics industry still faces significant challenges. One of the biggest barriers is the skills gap in the current workforce.

The current workforce lacks the expertise to deploy and manage autonomous robots. While this has led to a labor shortage, one way to address this is to make robots more accessible through targeted education and training programs to equip workers with the right skills.

Technological advances have outpaced current education and training frameworks. Workers often find themselves unprepared to handle modern robotic systems, from programming to maintenance.

This imbalance slows the adoption of automation and exacerbates labor shortages as companies struggle to find qualified personnel.

Addressing this issue requires updating educational curricula to include advanced robotics and automation technologies.

Industry partnerships can provide hands-on training and real-world experience through internships and apprenticeships. As Ani Kelkar of McKinsey notes, “When we surveyed executives about barriers, 61% of them reported that one of the main barriers was that, even if they found a good business plan, they simply didn’t have the internal capacity to execute it.”

The current workforce lacks the expertise to deploy and manage autonomous robots (Photo: Mecalux).

To successfully deploy robots, businesses need to shift their approach from focusing on pure efficiency to prioritizing flexibility.

Ujjwal Kumar advises leaders to rethink automation through the lens of flexibility, not just efficiency. Traditional automation tools were built for high-volume, low-variability manufacturing environments. But today’s marketplace demands agility.

Social and labor impacts

A common concern about robots is their ability to replace human labor. However, the reality is that robots, especially collaborative robots, are primarily meant to complement human labor rather than replace it entirely.

“This is not about replacing people,” Ani Kelkar emphasizes. “It’s about making work safer, more flexible, and more meaningful; it frees up workers to focus on higher-value tasks. There are a lot of repetitive tasks that don’t fully utilize the skills of our workforce.”

Automating these tasks while investing in capacity building helps upgrade the workforce and prepare for the future of operations.

In fact, according to Deloitte Consulting, there could be 2 million new manufacturing jobs by 2025. This reflects the trend of robots creating more new jobs than they eliminate, especially in the areas of engineering, maintenance, programming and system operations.

Workforce challenges, including an aging population and declining interest in factory jobs, are driving the adoption of robots.

For example, the United States is short 400,000 welders, while Europe reported more than 200,000 construction vacancies in 2020.

Robots address these gaps by performing repetitive, labor-intensive tasks, making them valuable assets for both small and large businesses.

New technology prospects in the future

Robotics technology is moving towards new breakthroughs. Generative AI is being integrated into robots to create more intelligent and adaptive behaviors.

These projects aim to create a “ChatGPT moment” for Physical AI, when robots can understand and interact with the environment as naturally as humans.

Advanced sensor technology is making robots more sensitive to their surroundings.

Bionic sensors are being developed to provide sensing capabilities as delicate as human skin. Advances in gripper technology use biology to achieve high gripping force with almost no energy consumption.

Swarm robotics is opening up the possibility of deploying many small robots working together to complete complex tasks.

This approach offers several advantages including scalability, resilience, and flexibility, making swarm robotics an ideal choice for search and rescue missions, environmental monitoring, manufacturing, agriculture, and space exploration.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/cuoc-cach-mang-robot-hop-tac-tuong-lai-cua-nha-may-thong-minh-20250905101445097.htm