Shifting alliances highlight a new phase in maturing collaborative robot market

Soft Robotics, which makes soft end effectors for robots that need a gentler touch, has developed a product line specifically for Universal Robots, the biggest player in collaborative robotics. It's the first plug-and-play Soft Robotics customizable gripper system designed specifically for Universal Robots, and the alliance suggests a new phase for the broader collaborative robotics (cobot) market, which has seen rapid year-over-year growth and is expected to exceed $4 billion USD by 2023. That growth has come with increasing competition and shifting alliances between technology providers.