Introduction of Cobots in Classrooms Accelerates with New State and Industry Endorsements of Universal Robots

When schools educate students in mastering new technology, they look to validate that the hardware and software they use in the curriculum is relevant to companies employing graduates. Educational institutions also need to ensure that funding for acquiring the classroom technology is obtainable.

Two recent endorsements of Universal Robots’ (UR) products and educational curriculum awarded by ARM and the Ohio Department of Education offer schools that insight, emphasizing the importance of UR’s collaborative robots (or ‘cobots’) in today’s manufacturing processes and in classrooms; UR is the first robotics manufacturer to be selected for ARM’s new Endorsement Program as ARM reviewed UR’s Educational Robotics Training program. At the state level, Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to evaluate and add UR courses to its Industry-Recognized Credential List.

To make the Ohio Department of Education’s credentialed list, numerous companies in the state, including major Tier 1 automotive makers and home appliance manufacturers, vouched for the UR cobots, detailing how they use them on the shop floor and need an ever-expanding, educated workforce to deploy, program and operate them.

The Department of Defense-sponsored ARM Institute is a 300+ member organization that catalyzes robotic technologies and education solutions to strengthen the U.S. industrial base and secure U.S. manufacturing resiliency. ARM launched the Endorsement Program earlier this year in conjunction with RoboticsCareer.org, the ARM Institute’s national workforce capability that connects education seekers with training for manufacturing careers.

In the evaluation of the UR program, ARM stressed the ‘training of the trainer’ aspect that ensures the quality of the teaching.

“With their reduced footprint and intuitive programming, cobots have been a major disruption to industrial automation and are within that Industry 4.0 sweet spot of technology solutions that we find that our local employers need funded education programs for,” said Jeff Spain, director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Columbus State Community College. “When large companies endorse UR cobots, it has a ripple effect through the supply-chains as Tier 1-3 suppliers and other industries realize that here is a vetted, nimble technology, that we have found offers low risk.”

For educators, manufacturers and students seeking to learn more about UR’s educational program, the company is offering the free webinar “Developing Tomorrow’s Engineers Today: An Educational Program Focused on Automation Competencies” on November 2, co-hosted with The Robot Report, and on November 10 with the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).

For more information, visit https://www.universal-robots.com.