ABB unveiled its newest collaborative robot, now with a single arm, at the International Robotics Exhibition (iREX) 2017 in Tokyo. Building on the success of YuMi®, the world’s first truly collaborative, dual-arm industrial robot, the newest member in the YuMi family combines industry-leading capabilities with a much smaller footprint. The robot will be officially launched in 2018.

Collaborative robots are designed to work alongside humans on the fac-tory floor to raise productivity and support the transition to mass customi-zation.

Like YuMi, a small-parts assembly robot introduced in 2015, the new ro-bot has a payload of 500 grams and, thanks to its compactness, is easily integrated into existing assembly lines, increasing productivity. The new robot also features lead-through programming, eliminating the need for specialized training for operators.

“Based on YuMi’s enormous success, we fully expect our new single-arm robot to be equally well-received, especially since it was developed at the request of customers,” said Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robot-ics and Motion division.

In turn, Per Vegard Nerseth, Managing Director, ABB Robotics described the newest robot as a much anticipated addition to the factory of the fu-ture, ”enabling our customers to grow and thrive in the age of mass cus-tomization.”