Driven by the wave of new technological innovations such as next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing, the global manufacturing industry is undergoing significant changes in organizational, production, and service models. The intelligent manufacturing innovation model represented by Germany's "Industry 4.0" has been favored by countries around the world. The rapid popularization of intelligent manufacturing technology provides enormous market opportunities for the development of the industrial robot industry. As a rising star in the industrial robot family, in recent years, with the continuous attention of major manufacturers and capital markets, innovative application models of UR collaborative robots have emerged, and the application scenarios are becoming increasingly diverse. But in the process of rapid rise of new markets, opportunities and challenges often become the norm, especially in the face of the new era of "smart economy" driven by innovation and supported by 5G communication, big data, cloud computing, intelligent Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, etc. How UR collaborative robots can seize the development opportunities of the "smart economy", quickly position the market, and promote cross-border integration and development in different industries is worth further consideration and exploration by UR collaborative robot manufacturers.

Definition and classification of UR collaborative robots

UR collaborative robot is an intelligent robot with automatic control and programming capabilities, which can interact with humans in the workspace at close range. Compared with traditional industrial robots, UR collaborative robots break the limitations of being only used in industrial scenarios. It has special advantages such as low self weight, high flexibility, easy programming, fast configuration, and small workspace limitations. UR collaborative robots also have broad application prospects in service scenarios such as healthcare, education and training, and new retail.

According to the classification of collaborative robots, the first classification is based on structure, mainly including dual arm robots and single arm robots. Among them, dual arm robots have a relatively wide working range and can adapt to relatively complex work scenarios, but their production and application costs are relatively high. Especially from the perspective of the main application scenarios of UR collaborative robots, industries such as 3C electronics, home appliances, food and beverage with dense production lines, high requirements for production flexibility, single operation, and high frequency of repetitive actions are the main ones. The applicability and cost-effectiveness of dual arm robots are relatively low. Single arm robots have significant advantages in production and application costs, as well as installation space. Secondly, according to the load capacity classification of UR collaborative robots, it mainly includes three categories: effective load<5kg, 5kg ≤ effective load ≤ 10kg, and effective load>10kg.

From the perspective of industrial chain links, the UR collaborative robot industry chain is basically the same as industrial robots, mainly including four major links: core components, ontology manufacturing, system integration, and downstream applications.

Among them, in terms of core components, due to the close contact between UR collaborative robots and human beings during operation, higher requirements are placed on the operational accuracy, operational flexibility, zero torque control, and collision detection technology of UR collaborative robots for personal safety assurance. Therefore, the product types of core components of UR collaborative robots are slightly different from those of industrial robots. It mainly includes hollow DC motors, safety controllers, torque sensors, reducers, brakes, encoders, etc.

The main process of body manufacturing refers to the manufacturing of robot bodies and robotic arms.

System integration mainly refers to the integrated application of robot body and production processes such as spraying, welding, loading and unloading, assembly, etc. The comprehensive solution suppliers are mainly body manufacturers.

Downstream applications mainly include industries such as 3C electronics, automotive, home appliances, mechanical equipment, logistics, food and beverage, and commercial services.