Reflections on automation in Italy
In Italy, thought leaders from research, education and industry have come together to discuss the future of automation. Gloria Sormani, Universal Robots’ country manager for Italy, explains more.
When the first cobot was introduced in 2008, it came with a vision for the future of automation. A world where robots work around people, and not the other way around. To explore how far cobots have come since then, a selected group of experts in robotics from the worlds of research, education and industry came together in Italy at a series of events that started back in November 2020 and went on until May 2022, called the General State of Collaborative Robotics. The ideas presented at these events became the foundation for a written Charter of Ideas on Collaborative Robotics, a collection of reflections on the visions, experiences, and possibilities of cobots.
People at the center of the production floor
Cobots were created to offer flexible automation and to improve the way humans work. Since these robotic colleagues entered production floors, thousands of companies tell a tale of not only improved working conditions but also a redistribution of tasks. As such, conversations about cobots have become explorations of the new roles that humans will play on the factory floor and a quest to identify the skills they need to acquire for industry 5.0.