Collaborative Robots Upskill Students

October 28, 2024October 28, 2024 Staff Writers 171 Views 0 Comments Advanced Manufacturing Education, Robotics Education, Universal Robots

In this QA, we speak with Mikkel Vahl, Director of Academy & Education at Universal Robots (UR), on developing the world’s largest, most comprehensive training platform for collaborative robots. Collaborative Robots Upskill Students. To learn more, join UR’s free webinar on October 30th.

Q: Your background is not in industrial automation. How did you enter the world of cobots?

A: My hometown Odense in Denmark, where Universal Robots (UR) is headquartered, has developed into one of the robot capitals of the world. I became intrigued by the industry and was curious to find out how companies were trained to program and operate technical hardware such as robots – and also, the whole aspect of having both our own UR Academy and education partners as part of an overall business offering. Coming from a career in education has been vital for understanding how to bring actual learning to the participants, turning that learning experience into real life deliverables.

Q: Let’s start out with a quick snapshot of where the UR Academy is at today?

A: We’ve come a long way since we launched the first Academy modules back in 2016. Today, we have more than 270.000 users from 130+ countries taking courses available in 16 languages. We have 130+ Authorized Training Centers in 27 countries with more planned in the coming years. We offer free, interactive online modules to teach the core competencies, and in-classroom robotics training offered through education partners around the world. All our courses are built on feedback from our unrivaled installed base of more than 90,000 cobots worldwide.

The UR Academy was launched as we wanted to create in-house UR experts and upskill the workforce in mastering cobots. So far, it looks like we’re succeeding with that mission as we clearly see users taking UR Academy training shorten their cobot implementation time significantly – and they start building their cobot fleet with additional cobots much faster.

As we started building the Academy training, we realized there was a great need to teach these skills in educational institutions – from elementary to college level and vocational training centers, so we developed the UR Education program to provide a hands-on robotic learning platform for teaching the next generation of our workforce industrial robot programming. Educational institutions are now experiencing first-hand the value that robotics bring to their students as they graduate and look for careers in manufacturing and collaborative technologies become more widespread. We’re also hearing that both teachers and students are much more motivated working with robots that have real-world applicability while receiving an industry-recognized certificate.

Cobots are the perfect classroom companion

Q: How has the educational industry reacted to cobots? Are we starting to see more cobots in the classroom?

A: Yes definitely – the educational sector is a really important focus area for UR – and there are many reasons for that. We’ve heard about the “skills gap” for years, how manufacturers simply can’t find skilled employees. Getting state-of-the art cobots into the classroom is instrumental in addressing this gap and offer students instant employability. A cobot is the perfect classroom companion; it’s safe to use around students and it’s easy to learn – yet it’s an actual industrial robot that students will encounter once they leave the school setting. While I have only tremendous praise and respect for the many educational robots offered by companies such as VEX Robotics and LEGO, they’re not the automation solutions you will meet on the factory floor.

Q: What are some examples of programs offered by your education partners?

A: The UR ecosystem has traditionally focused on integrating a wide range of automation solutions and has expanded to include education partners. This move aims to bridge the gap between academic institutions and industrial automation, making advanced training tools more accessible to educators and students. A great example is SMC International Training, a global leader in industrial automation and pneumatics, which has designed educational training solutions tailored to Industry 4.0. One such solution, the RTS-200, is a comprehensive training system that replicates real-world industrial automation processes. The RTS-200 provides hands-on learning opportunities in robotics, mechatronics, and smart manufacturing, equipping students with the skills necessary for modern automated industries.

SMC’s partnership, alongside others in the UR ecosystem, ensures that both students and instructors have access to cutting-edge tools and platforms that mirror the technological advancements in automation, robotics, and AI. These partnerships are critical in creating a workforce capable of thriving in highly automated and data-driven environments.

Q: Where can educators looking to enhance classrooms with cobots learn more?

A: We’re offering a free 30-minute live webinar on October 30th featuring how SMC International Training and Universal Robots can help educators transform their teaching through industry-leading collaborative robotics. I encourage everybody to sign up here to learn more.