Composite robot is a type of robot that integrates the functions of AGV mobile robot and general industrial robot. In the industrial field, general industrial robots are called robotic arms or manipulators, mainly replacing the grasping function of human arms. AGV mobile robots replace the walking function of human legs and feet, while composite robots combine the functions of both hands and feet.

Both collaborative robots and composite robots adopt a combination of "mobile robots and collaborative robots" to meet multi workstation operations in multiple scenarios, achieving visual inspection, product grasping, assembly, sorting, loading and unloading, product and fixture transportation, biochemical experiments, visual inspection, human-machine collaborative operation, and manual substitution for multi machine and multi process collaboration.

Their ideas for the birth are also different: the birth of composite robots cannot be separated from the development of the AGV industry. Around 2015, the domestic AGV industry developed, and the number of companies in the industry suddenly increased from 10 to 50. Many AGV companies have found that AGVs have replaced human foot (handling) functions during the project process. There are many workstations in intelligent flexible production lines that require both hands and feet, such as CNC machining centers, collection of processed parts and finished products, and loading of raw materials. Therefore, the AGV robotic arm, a composite robot, was born with the expectation of achieving a 1+1>2 effect. Their drawbacks are obvious: although they can achieve functions such as movement, grasping, recognition, and detection, the secondary development of integrators is relatively complex due to the completely different controllers and internal communication protocols between the chassis and the robotic arm or other sub units. The "head" of the machine is not outstanding, with a control frequency of around 50Hz, and the hardware and time costs for customers are relatively high. But the birth history of mobile collaborative robots is different: the birth of mobile collaborative robots itself is to simulate human "hands and feet", using an integrated operating system, higher accuracy, control frequency of 2KHz, and faster response.

Generally speaking, composite robots are AGV or robotic arm enterprises that are born by combining "mobile robots and robotic arms" to meet the needs of production lines; Collaborative robots are based on replacing human hands and feet. In fact, both functions can meet various operational requirements, but the composite robot controls the hands and feet, which need to be coordinated and allocated by higher-level systems. Collaborative robots are brain controlled hands and feet, which can be more direct, simple, and high-energy when they meet the requirements of compound robot operation.

Many composite robots use dual vision assisted positioning in CNC workshop projects: AGV transports the robotic arm to an approximate position, and then the robotic arm adjusts its position. The entire process control requires PLC coordination and secondary development of vision and software, with a movement accuracy of approximately 5 millimeters; The mobile robot chassis of the mobile collaborative robot can achieve a repetitive positioning accuracy of 1 mm, without the need for visual secondary positioning.