Top 10 Noteworthy Robotic Systems at Automate 2023

ABB's SWIFTI high-payload cobot

ABB Robotics’ new robot bridges the divide between a traditional robot arm and cobot. The company’s SWIFTI CRB 1300 has a payload options from 7 to 11 kg (15.4 to 24.2 lb.) and reaches from 0.9 to 1.4 m (2.9 to 4.5 ft.).

“The latest addition to our SWIFTI family is a highly accurate, high-payload cobot that’s up to six times faster than other robots in its class,” said Andrea Cassoni, managing director for global general robotics at ABB, in a statement. “This means it can be used by both SMEs [small and midsize enterprises] and large manufacturers looking for collaborative automated solutions to achieve new levels of flexibility and productivity.”

ABB Robotics President John Bubnikovich said one of the main draws of the cobots is that they are easy to deploy and use. The SWIFTI CRB 1300 continued the trend of cobot arms increasing in size and payload capacity for tasks such as palletizing.

“One of the traditional barriers to adoption is setting up and programming robots,” noted Bubnikovich. “Collaborative robots have come a long way in the past five years.”