Robotics

What is robotics?

Robotics is the field concerned with designing, building, programming and deploying robots: programmable machines that use sensors, control systems and drives to carry out physical tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously in place of people. In industrial automation the focus is on the industrial robot: a robot arm or mobile robot that welds, assembles, packages, performs pick-and-place or inspects products. Robotics combines mechanical engineering, electronics, motion control, control engineering and artificial intelligence. Because a robot is both a moving machine and a networked computer in the OT domain, robotics touches machine safety and OT cybersecurity at the same time.

🤖 What is a robot and what is it made of?

A robot is a programmable device that performs tasks based on input from sensors, logic and instructions. The ISO 8373 standard describes an industrial robot as an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator that is programmable in three or more axes. That reprogrammability is what separates a robot from an ordinary machine: the same robot can be given a different product or task tomorrow without mechanical rebuilding. Almost every robot consists of the same building blocks:

The robot controller converts the desired position of the tool (the tool centre point) into joint angles for each axis (inverse kinematics) and drives the servos in a real-time control loop, often on an RTOS with cycle times in the millisecond range. Path planning, axis synchronisation and collision detection are part of that job. The line controller, usually a PLC, sends commands and enables and receives status in return; the operator runs the cell from an HMI or the teach pendant.

🧱 What types of robot are there?

Mobile robots determine their position with LiDAR, cameras and SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping): they build a map of their surroundings and locate themselves within it at the same time. Key performance characteristics of a fixed industrial robot are payload (from a few kilograms for cobots to more than 1,000 kg for heavy articulated robots), reach, cycle time and repeatability. Repeatability is measured according to ISO 9283 and for industrial robots typically lies between a few hundredths and a few tenths of a millimetre; small SCARA and articulated robots sit at the lower end of that range, heavy high-payload robots at the upper end.

🕰️ How has robotics developed?

The first industrial robot, the Unimate by George Devol and Joseph Engelberger, went into service at General Motors in New Jersey in 1961, handling hot die-cast parts. In the decades that followed, the automotive industry became the largest buyer. In 1996 researchers at Northwestern University introduced the concept of the cobot, and in 2016 ISO/TS 15066 set out safety requirements for collaboration between humans and robots. ROS 2, the successor to the open-source Robot Operating System that is also used in industry, has existed since late 2017.

Growth is substantial. According to the World Robotics report of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), more than 603,000 industrial robots were installed worldwide in 2025, 11% more than a year earlier, and for the first time some 5 million were in operation. China accounted for 59% of installations, at around 354,000 units. In the EU, by contrast, installations fell by 11% to roughly 60,500; Germany remained the largest European market with almost 25,000 robots. Average robot density in 2024 was 132 robots per 10,000 manufacturing employees, with South Korea (1,220), Singapore (818) and Germany (449) leading.

🔧 How is a robot programmed and integrated?

• Teach pendant - the programmer jogs the robot to positions with a handheld unit and stores them. The pendant has a three-position enabling switch and an emergency stop; in manual mode speed is limited (commonly to a maximum of 250 mm/s).
• Offline programming - the program is created in simulation software, often using a digital twin of the cell, so the line stands still for less time.
• Vendor languages - every manufacturer has its own language, such as RAPID (ABB) and KRL (KUKA). That is why plants often standardise on one robot brand.
• Integration with the control system - the robot controller exchanges I/O and commands with the PLC; safety signals travel over a safety protocol such as PROFIsafe or CIP Safety.
• Data to higher levels - in 2018 the VDMA and the OPC Foundation presented an OPC UA companion specification for robotics, formally released in 2019 as OPC 40010-1. It lets robots deliver status and diagnostics to MES, SCADA and cloud platforms, which enables predictive maintenance of gearboxes and motors.

Robots almost always communicate over industrial Ethernet. Which protocol is used for which job depends on the layer:

Machine learning and vision AI make robots more flexible: picking unsorted parts from a bin (bin picking) or recognising defective products without programming every variant separately. Edge computing keeps that compute-intensive industrial AI analysis close to the cell, so response times do not depend on a cloud connection.

🔐 Which safety standards and laws apply to robots?

In the EU a robot is (partly completed) machinery; the complete robot cell receives CE marking. The main frameworks:

Human-robot collaboration takes four forms: a safety-rated monitored stop, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring (using safety laser scanners) and power and force limiting. A cobot is therefore not automatically safe: the whole application, including tool and workpiece, must be assessed. A sharp knife on a cobot may still require a fence or scanner. Conventional robot cells are guarded with fences, interlocks on doors and light curtains.

🛡️ Why does robot cybersecurity matter?

Robots are networked controllers with an operating system, a web interface and often remote access. Research by Trend Micro and Politecnico di Milano showed in 2017 that an attacker could make a robot deviate unnoticed from its path, tamper with its calibration and show the operator a false state. The causes: outdated software, default passwords and long lifespans that keep patches from being applied. Because a robot directly drives a physical process, a cyberattack affects quality, availability and safety alike:

Legislators are responding. The Machinery Regulation requires protection against corruption of safety-relevant software, and the Cyber Resilience Act sets requirements for products with digital elements (reporting obligations from 11 September 2026, full application from 11 December 2027). In practice, robot cells are set up as their own zone with a firewall towards the plant network in line with IEC 62443, vendor maintenance runs only through controlled, logged remote access, and robot programs and safety configurations are version-controlled through change management and verified with checksums. A zero trust approach, in which every connection to the cell is explicitly permitted, fits well with this.

🏭 How do you approach a robot project?

1. Choose the right task - repetitive, heavy, dirty or dangerous work with a stable product delivers the fastest return.
2. Carry out a risk assessment - following ISO 12100 and ISO 10218-2, before designing the cell; then determine the required Performance Levels.
3. Simulate the cell - check reach, cycle time and collisions offline before ordering hardware.
4. Design the integration - define which signals pass between robot, PLC, safety PLC, MES and ERP, and in which network zone the robot sits, with which security requirements.
5. Validate and document - test every safety function, compile the technical file and affix the CE marking.
6. Manage the life cycle - arrange backups, spare parts and firmware management; robots often stay in service for more than ten years, so plan controller updates and replacement ahead.

Robots are used in almost every sector: in automotive manufacturing for welding, painting and screwdriving, in the pharmaceutical industry for dosing, filling and labelling, and in cleanrooms for contamination-free handling of components. The benefits and points of attention are much the same in almost every project:

For small and medium-sized manufacturers in the Netherlands, cobots are often the entry point because they are compact and can be deployed without heavy guarding where the risk assessment allows it. Large food and logistics companies combine delta robots, palletising robots and AMRs in fully automated lines. In Smart Industry programmes, robots feed their data via the Industrial Internet of Things to a historian, MES or Unified Namespace, making the cell part of a cyber-physical system.

❓ Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between robotics and a robot?

Robotics is the field: designing, programming, integrating and securing robots. A robot is the concrete device, for example an industrial robot arm or an AMR. Anyone deploying a robot in a factory deals with the whole field of robotics: mechanics, control, safety and security.

What is an industrial robot according to the standard?

According to ISO 8373, an industrial robot is an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator that is programmable in three or more axes. It can be fixed in place or mobile. Reprogrammability is what distinguishes an industrial robot from a machine that performs one fixed movement.

Is a cobot always safe without a fence?

No, a cobot is only safe without a fence if the risk assessment of the complete application demonstrates it. Force and speed limiting protects against collisions, but a sharp tool or heavy workpiece may still require additional safeguarding. ISO 10218-2 and ISO/TS 15066 provide the limit values and methods.

Which standard applies to industrial robots?

ISO 10218 is the core standard for industrial robots: part 1 covers the robot itself and part 2 the robot cell and integration, both revised in 2025. In addition, ISO 13849 or IEC 62061 applies to safety functions, ISO 12100 to risk assessment, and the Machinery Directive or, from 20 January 2027, the Machinery Regulation provides the legal framework.

How many robots are in use worldwide?

According to the International Federation of Robotics, some 5 million industrial robots were in operation at the end of 2025, after more than 603,000 new installations that year. China is by far the largest market, accounting for 59% of installations.

Can a robot be hacked?

Yes, an industrial robot is a networked computer system and can be attacked through the network, remote access or infected program files. Research has shown that attackers can manipulate a robot’s path, calibration and displayed state. Segmentation, secure remote access and change management according to IEC 62443 reduce that risk.

📌 In summary

Robotics is the field of programmable machines that use sensors, control systems and drives to carry out physical tasks autonomously, from the industrial robot that welds and packages to the AMR that handles internal transport. A good robot application needs more than the robot alone: a risk assessment according to ISO 10218 and ISO 12100, well-designed integration with the PLC and MES, and cybersecurity according to IEC 62443. With the Machinery Regulation and the Cyber Resilience Act, safety and security also become legally linked from 2027; together they form the basis for Industry 4.0 and scalable production.