Through the Renewable Energy Sources Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive, the European Union has set as its main objective to maximise the energy efficiency of its Member States. By 2030, it aims to reduce primary energy use by 39% and final energy use by 36%. Energy efficiency is increasingly crucial as industry becomes more automated.
To enable its collaborative robots to work alongside people and with less energy consumption, Universal Robots has reduced their size and weight compared to traditional robots.
Like household appliances, Universal Robots’ cobots require between 100 and 500 W of power. The average power consumption of the UR3e model is 100 W, UR5e 200 W, UR10e and UR16e 350 W and UR20 500 W, the same as the most energy efficient washing machines.
A new competitive advantage for European industry is the energy efficiency of collaborative robots. The energy efficiency of Universal Robots’ cobots has been the company’s main area of focus. For European industries, where reducing energy consumption is crucial to remain economically viable, energy efficiency is a competitive advantage. This initiative includes the European Union’s climate-related energy consumption reduction targets.
The company has also developed systems that allow cobots to be switched off when not in use. According to Jordi Pelegrí, country manager of Universal Robots in Spain and Portugal, these are energy-efficient devices that have been improved with new technologies.
Moreover, the UR+ ecosystem, which offers a wide range of peripheral devices and robotic application kits, also includes remote monitoring tools that allow customers to improve the performance of their cobots and save energy while production lines are not running.
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