Konica Minolta’s Innovation Team Releases Voice-Enabled Robotic Programming Platform for Cobts

Konica Minolta Inc. earlier this month announced the availability of CoboVox, a voice-enabled programing platform for robots. The company said the new platform is compatible with cobots made by Universal Robots and can be used for a myriad of manufacturing videography, and education applications.

“CoboVox is unlocking tremendous efficiency and cost savings for manufacturers looking to benefit from the potential robots offer, particularly in hypercompetitive markets crippled by a tight labor market,” explained Bahadur Ibrahimov, head of Robotics at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH.

CoboVox eliminates the costs and complexity of programming robots with other approaches, such as 3D vision systems, simulation-based offline programming, and machine learning, according to Konica Minolta Inc. Technicians do not need to have any extensive robot programming experience to operate CoboVox; in fact, CoboVox can be used by staff of all skill levels.

CoboVox has been proven to reduce programming times

Recent tests with UR robots show that CoboVox can reduce programming times by up to 43%, the company said.

“CoboVox helps to build production capacity—all while slashing equipment idle times," said Ibrahimov. "Furthermore, upskilling technicians on voice-activated robot programming can be an effective strategy to assign workers to more meaningful work and increase employee retention.”

The technology was developed by Konica Minolta's Innovation Team, whose stated mission is to humanize technologies with more intuitive robot programming, starting with voice programming. The company said it was inspired to create CoboVox after robotics experts and commercial specialists observed that clients were struggling with robot programming and a never-ending shortage of qualified robot programmers.