Esben Østergaard
SOFTWARE UPDATE NEWS ABOUT DIGITAL MANUFACTURING TOOLS AND SOFTWARE
New Collaborative Robot App Store Helps Users Find Solutions to Automation Problems
s Manufacturing Engineering: Your company
has grown quickly and recently was acquired by Teradyne; how will that affect Universal Robots’ direction?
Esben Østergaard: Teradyne is investing ambi- tiously in maintaining Universal Robots’ lead in col- laborative robots. With the employment of another 20 robot developers in 2015, the staff at our devel- opment division at the headquarters in Odense has almost doubled. In the coming years, we expect the market for collaborative robots to grow by at least 50% annually, not least due to the short payback period, which is typically around six months. Universal Robots currently holds a nearly 60%
share of the cobot market, a percentage that Te- radyne’s sales channel strength will help increase. Collabora- tive robotics are a natural extension of Teradyne’s offerings of automatic test equipment, as Teradyne can now up-sell machine-tending solutions that complement its testers to
customers faced with rapid product changeovers. Now, instead of recommending a third-party integrator, Teradyne can offer an in-house solution. ME: What drew your management to recently establish its new Americas headquarters in the Ann Arbor, MI, area? Østergaard: If you’re looking for a place to launch an automation product in North America, Ann Arbor is absolutely the place to be. Southeast Michigan is going through its
18
AdvancedManufacturing.org | November 2016
CTO and Co-Founder Universal Robots A/S (Odense, Denmark)
ww.universal-robots.com
The Universal Robots+ app store, dubbed a “dating service for problems and solutions,” offers access to software, end-effectors and accessories tested and verifi ed to work with UR robots.
fourth generation of manufacturing and automation is a key part of that. The area has come through some tough times in 2008-2009, but if you look at on-shoring and automation, many business activities are coming back home. This is a
“Universal Robots+ is what I call a ‘dating service for problems and solutions’ where we facilitate access to software, end-effectors, and accessories tested and verifi ed to work fl awlessly with UR robots.”
great destination to come to and with the close access to the DTW airport, our clients and partners will be fl ying in from all over the Americas for on-site training. ME: How has the new Universal Robots+ app store and developer portal helped in spurring software development for UR collaborative robots? Østergaard: Universal Robots+ is what I call a ‘dating service for problems and solutions’ where we facilitate ac-
Image courtesy Universal Robots
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