In this episode, I was joined by Zac Bogart who is the CEO of Productive Robotics. You may remember Productive Robotics from our ProMat series when I was given a demonstration on how to teach the robot a task. We discuss the origins of Productive Robotics, the benefits of seven joints, their new software update, and OB Vision.

Key Takeaways

• Productive Robotics is the only North American manufacturer of a seven jointed collaborative robot called the OB7. The seventh motion allows the robot to reach around and inside of things making it much more akin to the range of motion of a human arm. This gives a lot more flexibility on the placement of the robot and allows room for people to be able to get inside of machines that the robot is also working on.
• One of the major selling points of Productive Robotics is the ease of use and the ability to teach the robot what it needs to do. This stems from the original roots of these robots being utilized for camera work on movie sets where programmers are not present. The overall mission became to make these robots easy to use for non-programmers. From my experience of using the robot at ProMat last year, I can tell you that it is incredibly easy and quick to teach the robot what you need it to do.
• On top of the ease of use, the OB7 has a lot of flexibility when it comes to its gripper. Zac discusses how industry standard has typically been to have a custom gripper for whatever part or product it is grabbing but the OB7 is outfitted with a flexible gripper that can grab many different types of items. This adds to the flexibility and also how easy it is to get started with these robots. It also allows for flexibility in using the same robot for multiple tasks.
• Recently, Productive Robotics has released a new software update which has increased the overall visibility of what is happening with your robots. This update allows for the robots to communicate with other robots from different manufacturers making for simpler integrations. It also allows for a full notification and online monitoring system that can send you a text or email notification alerting you that there is an issue. As Zac discusses, this is mostly a robot telling you that it needs more material to continue its task. This allows you to set up the robot for its task and then walk away to do your other work.

Listen to the episode below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.