On the Automate present this week, 3D Infotech will exhibit a turnkey high quality inspection course of with the UR15 and UR AI Accelerator, demonstrating the potential of bodily AI within the UR15. | Supply: Common Robots
Common Robots unveiled its quickest collaborative robotic (cobot) but in the present day. The UR15 has a most TCP pace of 5 m/s to cut back cycle instances, enhance productiveness, and scale back prices throughout purposes and industries.
For pick-and-place purposes, the corporate mentioned the UR15 delivers as much as 30% cycle time enhancements in comparison with different UR fashions. On the similar time, it maintains the traits UR cobots are identified for, reminiscent of a light-weight design and small footprint.
When mixed with OptiMove, UR’s new movement management know-how, the corporate mentioned these features go even additional. OptiMove can improve trajectory smoothness and guarantee persistently correct actions, even in high-speed and high-payload purposes, UR claims.
“For 20 years, we’ve pushed the boundaries of collaborative automation, making it simpler, safer and extra highly effective for companies all over the world,” mentioned Tero Tolonen, Chief Product Officer, Common Robots. “Immediately, we take one other leap ahead with the UR15, which is designed particularly to function at increased speeds with the smoothest efficiency in robotics in the present day. This makes it a seamless match for various manufacturing environments and gives our huge ecosystem of companions with a chance to spice up present purposes and to develop new, transformative options that may take collaborative automation to the subsequent stage.”
New cobot, management modifications to assist deal with falling gross sales
UR is a member of Teradyne’s robotics group, together with autonomous cell robotic developer Cell Industrial Robots (MiR). UR declined 3% yr over yr, and MiR grew 1% yr over yr. Teradyne Robotics Group laid off 10% of its international employees in January 2024.
Thus far, in 2025, Teradyne’s robotics group hasn’t fared higher. In accordance with the corporate, its robotics income was $69 million in Q1 2025, which is down from $98 million in This fall 2024. This additionally marked a 21% drop in gross sales in Q1 yr over yr.
Simply final week, Teradyne introduced management modifications to each of its robotics divisions. Jean-Pierre Hathout transitions from main MiR to changing Kim Povlsen because the president of UR. Kevin Dumas succeeds Hathout as the brand new president of MIR. Povlsen is pursuing an exterior profession alternative. These modifications, together with the brand new robotic, may assist UR bounce again from it current highway bumps.
“We live in a time of extraordinary stress, no understatement there. Throughout each hyperlink of the economic worth chain, we now have labor shortages, shifting demand cycles, elevated volatility, and a rising requirement for resilience in how we transfer and make issues in that context. Automation isn’t only a aggressive lever anymore, it’s a foundational requirement for the trade,” Ujjwal Kumar, group president of Teradyne Robotics, mentioned throughout a press convention.
UR has been a long-time chief of the cobot trade. Earlier this yr, it surpassed 100,000 cobots offered over the lifetime of the corporate.
This yr, for the primary time, the Affiliation for Advancing Automation (A3) included cobot statistics in its quarterly North American robotic numbers. A3 discovered that, total, robotic gross sales remained largely flat from final yr, with items ordered rising 0.4% to 9,064 items. Cobots made up 11.6% of all robots ordered.
UR targets automotive, machining, and electronics with UR15
The UR15 at Automate 2025. | Credit score: The Robotic Report
The UR15 has a payload of 15 kg (33 lbs). This will increase to 17.5 kg (38.58 lbs) for purposes with wrist-down orientation, reminiscent of palletizing. UR designed it to be a flexible cobot with a number of purposes and industries. Some industries it’s focusing on specifically embody:
- Automotive, the place area is tight, and suppleness is essential. Right here, the corporate mentioned UR15’s small footprint and full work envelope ship efficiency with out compromising area or pace. Traditionally, cobots haven’t been used for widespread automotive purposes because of their manufacturing. This consists of duties like automated bin selecting, machine tending, and inspection. Now, UR mentioned these will be considerably sped up whereas retaining the very best stage of precision.
- Metallic and machining, the place environments will be harsh. The UR15 provides improved ingress safety, IP65, and excessive payload functionality, mixed with straightforward deployment.
- Electronics and tech require precision and compact design. With cleanroom class excellence, compact kind, and distinctive movement management, UR15 is prepared for high-speed choose and place and clean integration with AMRs and AGVs, the corporate claimed.
“I spent the final 25 years of my profession in manufacturing, and I’ve seen an actual shift in the best way firms method automation. From inflexible, capital-intensive programs to versatile, clever human-scale instruments that are designed for agility,” Kumar mentioned.
UR15 is AI-ready to adapt to many wants
UR15 runs with each PolyScope 5 and PolyScope X, UR’s software program platform, and customers can improve it with AI to allow increased usability. The corporate mentioned end-users can use the UR15 with the UR AI Accelerator, UR’s toolkit for creating AI-powered purposes.
The UR AI Accelerator is developed in collaboration with NVIDIA utilizing NVIDIA Isaac’s CUDA-accelerated libraries and fashions and working on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin system-on-module.
“Immediately, the actual benefit lies in adaptability. It’s not nearly how a lot you’ll be able to produce, it’s about how briskly you’ll be able to change. In that sense, we’re seeing one thing outstanding. Massive enterprises are studying from smaller, extra nimble producers who already embraced cobots to reach excessive combine, low quantity manufacturing,” Kumar mentioned.
UR15 joins the UR20 and UR30 for many who want increased payloads, superior capabilities, and certifications for demanding environments. Along with UR7e and UR12e, the e-Collection additionally consists of UR3e and UR16e.
UR15 is on the market for pre-orders now, with delivery to start in June. UR7e and UR12e are prepared for quick supply. The UR15, together with many different cobots from the corporate’s product vary, will likely be on show this week at Automate in Sales space 5574.
“We don’t construct cobots to exchange human beings,” Kumar mentioned. “We construct cobots to help individuals, to increase what’s potential, to make work safer, extra productive, and extra significant.”
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