The American company Percepiton Robotics, OptoForce from Hungary and OnRobot from Denmark are being merged to form the new sub-enterprise OnRobot.

The new company OnRobot is founded by Enrico Krog Iversen, former CEO of cobot pioneer Universal Robots, and the Danish Growth Fund. In 2015, Enrico Krog Iversen and the Danish Growth Fund sold the Danish cobot pioneer Universal Robots to the US company Teradyne for 285 million dollars. With their new company, the two investors want to further strengthen Denmark's global position in the field of robotics.

The three entities will continue their own business and development activities. In addition, OnRobot's global sales network will have access to local sales support, technical support and product training from the company's regional offices in Germany, China, the USA, Malaysia and Hungary. More will follow in 2018.

The aim is to produce user-friendly gripping systems and become the global market leader. This is also to be achieved through further strategic acquisitions and technological innovations. The company will be headquartered in Denmark and managed by Enrico Krog Iversen. Iversen on the merger: "The aim is to build a global leader in the development and production of gripping systems. Through further acquisitions and collaborations, we expect to generate revenues of over one hundred million dollars in the coming years. "Safe, cost-effective and versatile cobots are becoming increasingly common as they offer sophisticated and intuitive programming that makes them easy to deploy and reuse. Easily integrated 'end-of-arm tools' such as grippers and sensors are essential elements that allow these powerful automation tools to be adapted to a variety of applications."

Future market for collaborative robots

According to the International Federation of Robotics, collaborative robots currently account for 3% of global robot sales. However, this share is expected to rise to 34% of a market worth 25 billion dollars by 2025.

"This growth will undoubtedly depend on whether cobots can be used in more applications," explains Iversen. "Their compact size and ability to work safely alongside humans make them ideal for small and medium-sized companies that need to be globally competitive. Cobots are increasingly being integrated into very large manufacturing facilities such as automotive plants, where they take over processes that cannot be automated with conventional robotics. As more cobot applications are added, new tools can be quickly and easily integrated into the cobot's user interface. The new OnRobot addresses a current megatrend in automation. By combining the unique capabilities of these gripping system technologies in an umbrella company led by the best minds in the Rotober industry, these technologies are now even easier to implement and program. By the way, the new OnRobot is currently looking for new employees for the research and development team."

The three companies

On Robot was founded in 2015 and manufactures the plug-and-play electric grippers RG2 and RG6. The gripping elements are mounted directly on the robot arm. They are very flexible and can be programmed and operated via the same interface as the robot, without the need for programmers.

OptoForce was founded in 2012 and manufactures force/torque sensors that give industrial robots a sense of touch. This enables them to automate tasks that normally require the dexterity of a human hand.

Perception Robotics was founded in Los Angeles in 2012. The company develops compliant rubber touch sensors ("skin") to provide robots with a sense of touch and automation systems with robust material handling capabilities. Its first gripper will be available this year.

At Automatica, OnRobot will present the first fully integrated products with combined user interfaces.