Cobots and electricity use: one less thing to worry about

In many regions, the rising cost of electricity is putting pressure on production costs, and manufacturers are scrutinizing processes in order to avoid a soaring energy bill. UR cobots require less electricity compared to traditional industrial robots, but exactly how energy efficient are they and how can they help save on electricity?

UR Cobots require less power than traditional industrial robots

When looking at traditional industrial robots compared to cobots, physical size is an obvious difference. Cobots are designed to work alongside humans, and for that reason they are much smaller and lighter than typical traditional robots. As a result, our cobots use less electricity than traditional industrial robots, which usually use three phase power.

UR cobots use as a little energy as a householder blender

A cobot uses most of its power consumption to hold itself up. Did you know our cobots only require the same amount of power as your everyday household appliances? The UR3e only consumes 100W on average, which is the same amount of energy as an average desktop computer or what a person can produce when riding a bike. A UR5e and the newest generation of gaming consoles both use approximately 200W. With an average power consumption of 350W, the same amount of power as a basic household blender, the UR10e and UR16e can carry 10 and 16 kilos respectively. Universal Robots’ newest addition, the UR20, can carry a payload of 20 kilos using 500W, the same amount of power as the most efficient washing machines.

You could run a UR cobot in your own home

In contrast to traditional industrial robots, a cobot from Universal Robots can be plugged into the same types of outlets that exist in every house. A cobot can even be powered by batteries, and every cobot from Universal Robots is available in a DC version that does not need to be plugged into an outlet. The battery in an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) from MiR, Universal Robot’s sister company, can power a cobot if the cobot is mounted on top of the AMR.

Optimizing output while avoiding energy waste

Once cobots are deployed, how can you make sure that the cobots are being used to their fullest potential while avoiding energy waste? Cobots from Universal Robots are already optimized in terms of runtime in order to be energy efficient. Still, when creating a new program for the cobot, it is worth considering how fast the robot accelerates and to only program it to go as fast as it needs to go. The UR+ ecosystem offers a wide range of remote monitoring solutions, which allow users to optimize how their cobots perform without multiple on-site visits. Even though cobots consume little power, a simple “on and off” button can be programmed for longer periods where the cobots are not in use. During nights where cobots work alone, production halls need not use electricity for lighting or heating.