Try Before You Buy: Five Places to Test-Drive a Robot

Before buying anything, we usually ask one simple question: will this product do what we need to do? Buying a robot is no different.  

While a demonstration might reveal what a machine is capable of, founders and CEO's might still require an idea of whether it can meet their production demands and whether it will work with the current work force. 

Britain's new £40million Robotics Adoption Hubs program will support companies through those choices by advice, demonstrations and deployment assistance. There are already existing sites where you can try before you buy automation. Here are five, from independent testing centers to those operated by the manufacturers themselves.  

1. MTC Robot Experience Centre – UK 

Factories can try tasks like welding, palletising and machine tending before making robot investments by bringing products and components to manufacture into the factory. They can speak to suppliers and see automated processes demonstrated and trialled. Independent, vendor neutral advice helps manufacturers to determine what might work in their factories and what skills teams will need to learn. 

MTC points out that the first visit is free. Its technicians collaborate with employers to examine programming, safety, integration, and the skill requirements for employees to operate the machine - and a host of other questions that extend well beyond selecting the product. MTC 

2. Danish Technological Institute - Odense, Denmark 

A company might have an idea for automation and work with specialists to assess whether a task is suitable for a robot and to prototype a solution. 

Their labs have robots, sensors, cameras, safety testing equipment, and other state-of-the-art tools, and they help companies program and implement them. 

This enables brands to determine whether a robot can complete their workflow prior to uploading it. 

3. A*STAR Model Factory at SIMTech - Singapore 

This working manufacturing testbed enables firms to work with researchers testing new manufacturing technologies. 

Through SIMTech, you can approach automation and also innovate solutions to the requirements of your manufacturing. 

The hardware's virtual-reality demo allows companies to test factory configurations and machines' capacity before purchasing. 

4. Centers of Excellence - Universal Robots - Germany, Spain and United States 

Companies can demo robots for tasks such as stacking boxes on pallets, loading a machine or welding parts. The center offers cobot-proof-concept demos and simulations, reach calculations to determine if a proposed system can perform the task and what changes are required. This allows companies to assess technical feasibility and identify adjustments prior to a full investment and deployment. Companies can share their project using the web form or contact their account manager. 

5. ABB's Logistics Global Solution Centers in Belgium, China and the United States 

ABB's three logistics centres enable customers and system integrators to design and trial robotic automation before implementation. Customers can collaborate with ABB specialists to specify requirements, conduct virtual simulations of warehouse configurations, and plan physical trials of the proposed solution. The centres support factory acceptance testing, which validates that a system satisfies pre-agreed requirements prior to installation. 

Such trial facilities provide companies the opportunity to trial a robotic process before making a purchase. It could identify that you require training or even a different robot would have been more suitable and as long as this is identified at the trial it could be just as much of a benefit as finding the perfect machine.

 
These facilities give companies a chance to explore that before committing to a purchase. A trial may reveal that a process needs changing, employees need training or a different robot would suit the job better. Finding that out early could be just as valuable as finding the right machine.