Delta debuts AI dual-arm cobot solution

Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) debuted its embodied artificial intelligence (AI) dual-arm cobot solution integrated with Nvidia Corp’s platform at an automation and robot show in Taipei on Wednesday.

Unlike conventional robots that require engineers to preprogram movements and workflows, Delta’s cobot solution can autonomously understand, plan and execute tasks for complex, multi-step assembly work such as AI server production, Delta industrial motion solutions business general manager Nat Huang (黃群皓) said.

That reduces reprogramming and equipment adjustments during production changeovers, improving manufacturing flexibility, Huang said.

At the expo, Delta also debuted its next-generation joint module for humanoid and dual-arm robots.

The module integrates a drive, motor, reducer, encoder and force sensor into a single unit and can be used in the upper and lower limbs of humanoid robots, Huang said.

The company has in-house design and technology capabilities for all five key components, with certain reducers provided by partners, he added.

In August last year, Delta established a robotics innovation center to develop humanoid robots and robot dogs.

The company has no plans to launch its humanoid robots soon as such products are yet to fully meet industrial requirements for reliability, speed and precision, Delta industrial automation business group general manager Lisa Kao (高璐華) said.

As many companies vie for a share of the humanoid robot market, Delta plans instead to leverage its strengths by supplying key components to other robot makers, Kao said.

These include motion controls, drives, motors, encoders, reducers, force sensors and joint modules, as well as software platforms, she said.

“The focus is on the brain, not the skeleton,” she said, adding that Delta aims to develop the “brain, cerebellum and nervous system” of robots.

Once those core capabilities are established, Delta’s technology could be used across several robot designs, she added.

Aurotek Corp (和椿科技) also debuted its personnel-less factory solution at the robot show, which integrates retail robots, uncrewed forklifts, autonomous mobile robots, wheeled robots and humanoid robots to perform tasks ranging from stock-shortage detection and replenishment transport to shelf restocking.

Labor shortages have become a long-term challenge, prompting businesses to seek smart robotics and automation solutions that can integrate with existing operations and deliver measurable benefits, Aurotek chairman Chang I-sheng (張以昇) said on Wednesday.

The company mainly supplies automation components, turnkey surface-mount technology solutions and semiconductor process subsystems, and has invested in the fields of functional robots, humanoid robots and physical AI applications, Chang said.

For humanoid robots, Aurotek is focusing on real-world data collection and industrial deployment, leveraging its system integration capabilities to build datasets for AI model training and provide services from deployment to maintenance, he said.

Robotics accounted for about 10 percent of Aurotek’s first-half revenue, compared with 54 percent from automation equipment and subsystems and 36 percent from automation components, company data showed.