The two new families complement ABB'sexisting range of two-armed YuMi robots and the single-armed YuMi variant. The stronger, more agile and versatile cobots are designed to accelerate the company's expansion into segments such as electronics, healthcare, consumer goods, logistics and the food and beverage industry.

GoFa and Swifti are intuitive to use and can be up and running within a short time of installation, with no special training required. This gives industries with a low level of automation the opportunity to benefit fully from automation.

"Our new cobots are easy to operate and configure. With our global network of service experts, we enable companies of any size and in any industry, far beyond manufacturing, to get started smoothly with robotics," says Sami Atiya, Head of ABB' s Robotics & Factory Automation business unit.

With the expansion of its cobot portfolio, ABB wants to support not only existing but also new users of robotics in accelerating automation.
GoFa and Swifti are designed to help companies automate processes and assist employees with tasks such as material handling, machine operation, assembly and packaging. The versatile new-generation cobots are suitable for use in manufacturing, medical laboratories, logistics centers and warehouses as well as in workshops and small production facilities.

The two new cobots in detail

The easy-to-operate, collaborative ABB robot GoFa CRB 15000 has intelligent sensors in all joints, enabling close cooperation between humans and robots.

© ABB

The easy-to-use, collaborative robot GoFa CRB 15000 has a payload capacity of up to 5 kg. With a reach of 950 mm and a speed of up to 2.2 m/s, GoFa is an effective solution for a variety of applications ranging from material handling and machine tending to parts assembly, packaging, inspection and laboratory automation. Intelligent torque and position sensors in all six joints prevent the risk of injury by detecting accidental contact between the human and the robot arm and bringing the cobot to a standstill within milliseconds.

GoFa can be programmed using intuitive lead-through programming and ABB's Wizard Easy Programming software. Wizard Easy Programming is based on simple graphical blocks and enables even non-specialists to automate their applications. The blocks represent specific actions such as moving to a position, picking up an object and repeating movements. In this way, a series of simple processes can be created quickly and intuitively for the robot to carry out.

Swifti CRB 1100 is based on the IRB 1100 industrial robot, which is characterized by the highest speed and accuracy in its class. Swifti is easy to operate and combines a payload of 4 kg and a reach of up to 580 mm with the advantages of safe, collaborative operation and simple handling. Its maximum TCP (Tool Center Point) speed is over 5 m/s. This is more than five times faster than other cobots in its class and is comparable to standard industrial robots.

Swifti from ABB is a fast and precise collaborative industrial robot with a speed of 5 m/s and a payload of 4 kg.

© ABB

At the same time, Swifti is designed for sporadic collaboration between humans and robots. This means it can move at high speed to ensure maximum productivity without compromising safety when a human approaches the robot.

Swifti is suitable for tasks such as assembly or polishing where a human needs to be present to monitor the process or reposition parts. In the past, such applications required extensive safety measures such as fences or enclosures to prevent contact with the fast-moving robots. This not only affected the cost and size of the installation, but also the speed and productivity of the production line, as the robots had to be stopped every time a human could enter the work area.
With Swifti, integrated safety laser scanners and ABB's SafeMove safety software ensure that there is no contact between a moving robot and a human, preventing injuries. Together, the two technologies enable safe human-robot collaboration without the need for physical barriers. They ensure that no person is in the robot's working area while it is moving.

If a person is detected in Swifti's workspace, its movements are automatically slowed down or stopped completely so that the operator can approach the robot safely. If the operator moves away again, the cobot resumes its movement and returns to full speed and production output as soon as the work area is clear. As an additional safeguard, Swifti has a status light that indicates the operating status of the robot while a person is in the work area.

"With its speed and distance monitoring, SWIFTI enables safe collaboration at higher speeds, bridging the gap between collaborative and standard industrial robots," says Andie Zhang, Global Product Manager Collaborative Robotics at ABB.