In a move that could make collaborative robots significantly more accessible to developers and programmers, Universal Robots has strengthened its partnership with mathematical computing giant MathWorks, joining the company's prestigious Connections Program.

The program supports developers creating commercial products and services integrated with MathWorks' ubiquitous MATLAB and Simulink platforms. For Universal Robots (UR), a leading cobot maker, the closer relationship paves the way for powerful new tools that simplify advanced robot programming using the techniques engineers already know.

"Universal Robots' entry into the Connections Program formalizes the organizations' commitment to helping engineers develop advanced cobot applications," said Jim Tung, a MathWorks fellow. "With UR's market leadership and the ability of MATLAB and Simulink to accelerate innovation, integrators and users will solve ever-more complex automation workflows."

Unleashing Cobot Programming Power MATLAB and Simulink are ubiquitous in engineering and research, used to design, simulate, test and deploy complex systems spanning robotics, aerospace, automotive and more. By tightly integrating UR's collaborative robots with these trusted platforms, developers can now tap into wide-ranging capabilities:

• Simplify robot programming using MATLAB's high-level scripting and visualization
• Simulate and validate robotics applications using Simulink's model-based design
• Design controllers and state machines for UR cobots using proven techniques
• Rapidly prototype solutions leveraging existing code and AI/ML toolboxes

"At Universal Robots, we constantly push what can be automated and how easily it can be done," said Jesper Kildegaard Poulsen, UR's Senior Director of Digital Ecosystems. "Together with MathWorks, we'll continue simplifying advanced cobot deployments for robotics engineers."

From Programming to Deployment 

The partnership builds upon UR and MathWorks' co-developed support package for Robotics System Toolbox that launched in 2023. This toolbox allows engineers to design, simulate, test and deploy UR cobot applications seamlessly from within MATLAB's environment.

With UR's addition to the Connections Program, that tight software integration is now official product status, ensuring ongoing compatibility as new robotics technologies emerge. MATLAB and Simulink users can leverage the latest UR robot updates and capabilities as they're released.

"MATLAB and Simulink are fundamental teaching and research tools worldwide," said Tung. "This collaboration ensures universities and innovators can integrate UR cobots into cutting-edge robotic curricula and R&D."

The partnership comes amid accelerating adoption of UR's easily programmable cobots across industries like electronics, automotive, aerospace, logistics and more. With over 75,000 units deployed globally, the company's robots are increasingly ubiquitous on factory floors and facilities of all types.

Driving Autonomy and Research 

Looking ahead, the two companies aim to push robotic autonomy and AI-driven automation even further. UR and MathWorks are co-sponsoring this July's ARM (Autonomous Robot Manipulation) Challenge, providing UR5e cobots to university researchers developing advanced manipulation skills.

Such autonomy will likely require techniques like reinforcement learning, which MathWorks' tools are designed to enable – allowing engineers to train autonomous robotic agents in simulators before real-world deployment.

"Universal Robots is a pioneer in user-friendly collaborative robots," said Tung. "By combining our platforms' rapid development capabilities with UR's robots, we're empowering engineers to create powerful, autonomous robotics solutions that simply weren't possible before."

Backed by this partnership, the path to autonomous, intelligently collaborative robots binding the digital and physical worlds could be just a few lines of MATLAB code away.