DENSO COBOTTA

What it's for

The DENSO COBOTTA is the smallest cobot from Japan's DENSO Robotics, a company that grew out of the automotive line automation of the DENSO group: an arm about the size of a coffee mug that weighs 4 kg and has six axes and a reach of 342.5 mm. Its payload is 0.5 kg, so it will not carry anything heavy, but it carries small things very repeatably. The controller is built into the arm, with no separate cabinet, and programming happens in the visual “COBOTTA World” app on a tablet. That matters: someone with no industrial robotics experience can put together a simple sequence within an hour. The listed applications are two: pick-and-place and bench-top station automation. In practice that means placing samples into test tubes in the laboratory, feeding small parts during electronics assembly in the factory, trade-show demos, and classes at a university or schools. Six axes with torque and speed sensors on each let the robot feel resistance, an essential element for working alongside people without a cage, as described in the standards covered in “Robot Safety Standards”. What a cobot is and how it differs from a classic industrial robot is explained in “What Is a Cobot and How Does It Differ from an Industrial Robot”.

Who it's for

A good fit: laboratories, demonstration stands, education and light assembly, where the bench is small and the task is light and repetitive. Simple deployment and DENSO's decades of automotive reliability are its strong points. Who it does not suit: anyone who needs strength. A 0.5 kg payload and a 342.5 mm reach limit it to light tasks, so palletizing or CNC machine tending are out. If you are buying a cobot for the first time, read “How to Buy a Cobot Step by Step” and choose only after analyzing the task; for the wider market, see cobots.

Deployments

We also have no documented references from abroad, and do not know any customer names. We do know what COBOTTA is meant for: laboratories, demonstration stands and education. In the Polish market, look for light-class cobots primarily among products with Polish distributors; see “Universal Robots UR5e, UR10e and UR20 Compared” and “Doosan Robotics: Cobots from the Korean Maker in Poland”. When asking for a quote, it is worth obtaining references in writing.

The myCobot 280 is a far cheaper educational cobot, at about PLN 2,500 (≈ EUR 575), so it is good for learning and prototypes; choose it when you want to learn, not produce. The DENSO COBOTTA PRO 900 is the bigger sibling from the same family with a 6 kg payload, at about PLN 124,038 (≈ EUR 28,420), for tasks where 0.5 kg is not enough. The UR3e is the direct Universal Robots rival: a 3 kg payload and a price of about PLN 135,700 (≈ EUR 31,090); it wins on strength and ecosystem, and loses on weight and compactness. The Dobot Nova 2 is another option in the light cobot segment. The Techman TM5-900 stands out with a built-in camera if the task requires vision. The key criterion is payload including the gripper: the real load is always lower than the catalog figure.

DENSO Robotics grew out of the automotive line automation of the DENSO group and has decades of experience with industrial robots. COBOTTA is its smallest cobot and the first in the family, later joined by the more powerful COBOTTA PRO series (including the DENSO COBOTTA PRO 900). We have no launch date for COBOTTA or information on later generations, so we give no year. Nor do we have data on the founding of DENSO Robotics as a separate company or on its financing. Rather than guess, we refer you to the manufacturer and to the series comparison in cobots.