ABB bags Red Dot Award for designing unique robots

April 12, 2021 6:08 pm

Leading product design experts recognize ABB’s GoFa collaborative robot for innovative design to make robots more approachable.

ABB’s GoFa cobot was awarded the prestigious ‘Red Dot Best of the Best design Award’ in recognition of its unique design concept to make the new robot appealing and accessible to users.

The global Red Dot Design Awards recognize achievements in product design, with the jury assessing thousands of entries every year.  Red Dot’s “Best of the Best” award is for ground-breaking design and is the highest award in the competition, reserved for the most aesthetically appealing, functional, smart or innovative design.

GoFa is the fastest cobot in its class and is intended to work side-by-side with humans, without the need for fences, on a wide range of tasks. Advanced safety features, including intelligent sensors in each joint which bring the cobot to a stop in milliseconds if it senses any unexpected contact, allow GoFa to safely operate directly and continuously alongside workers.

“I am delighted that our new cobot GoFa has been recognized by the Red Dot jury for how user-friendly it is. GoFa is a game-changer, reinforcing the importance of good industrial design to make it easier for more people to work with robots. Creating an approachable design will ensure robots are adopted across a range of workplaces outside traditional factory environments, helping us to unlock automation for new users and new industries around the world.” said Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation Business Area.

GoFa’s design employs slim, straight arms that give the cobot a user-friendly yet strong appearance, while the advanced use of colour, material and finish gives GoFa a modern, sleek look. Its simple arm-side interface design with two buttons and light ring echoes the easy-to-use interfaces of consumer products. This makes it accessible even for first-time robot users more accustomed to consumer technology and who may be unfamiliar with industrial machinery.

The launch of ABB’s new GoFa cobot builds on the success of ABB’s YuMi® family, which has been helping businesses safely automate key tasks since YuMi launched in 2015. The design concept of YuMi, the world’s first truly collaborative robot, also won the Best of the Best Red Dot award in 2011.

For more info, visit: www.abb.com