This content was written and submitted by the supplier. It has only been modified to comply with this publication’s space and style.
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 groundbreaking 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.
The brief for the product designers was to create an intuitive, user-friendly, approachable design to encourage people, and particularly first-time users, to confidently use and interact with GoFa.
“Making robots more approachable, easier to use and more intuitive is key to our vision to make robots as familiar in the workplace as a laptop is today,” said Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation Business Area. “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.”
PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO (Sept. 27-29, Las Vegas Convention Center) will reunite the packaging and processing community, offering new products, technologies and solutions, while implementing up-to-date protocols for a safe and successful in-person event. Attendee registration opens in May.
GoFa’s design is a departure from the look of traditional industrial robots, narrowing the boundaries between industrial and consumer products. It employs slim, straight arms that give the cobot a user-friendly yet strong appearance, while the advanced use of color, 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.
“Industrial design is not just about the aesthetic! Form follows function, and our emphasis on human-centric design, using the approach of a consumer product means GoFa communicates the proposition of usability, utility and ease of use,” said Andie Zhang, Global Product Manager, Collaborative Robotics for ABB Robotics. “Creating an attractive, approachable design allows people to get the best out of their cobots. We not only want people to feel comfortable working alongside it, we want users to enjoy working with the robot. GoFa is programmed by touching the robot’s arm and leading it, so it’s important that users are comfortable with holding and guiding the cobot as they teach it.”
