Universal Robots Academy Has Taught More Than 200,000 People How to Use Cobots

Leading collaborative robot provider Universal Robots A/S has offered training to customers and others with an interest in cobots. The company today said that more than 205,000 people have joined the Universal Robots Academy since 2016.

“It is amazing to see that so many robotics enthusiasts from all over the world have joined us to enhance their robotic skills and benefit from the training we offer,” said Mikkel Vahl, global head of academy and education at Universal Robots.

“We’re a company on a mission—automation for anyone, anywhere,” he stated. “A key part of this is providing our customers and robotics enthusiasts with high quality training that gives them the skills they need to unleash the full potential of their cobots.”

Universal Robots Academy helps companies of all sizes

With customers ranging from large global enterprises to small, family-owned businesses, Universal Robots said it can automate anything from bin picking and heavy-load palletizing to ship welding.

This variety is reflected in the UR Academy, which offers a range of courses ranging from virtual e-learning to in-depth and in-person classroom training. Universal Robots has 119 training centers around the world, with more opening soon.

“No matter the task or the size of your company, you can find relevant training that can help you become even more successful with your automation,” said Vahl. “And we can see it works—customers who do take training with us are ultimately more successful and confident.”

In addition, The Odense, Denmark-based vendor noted that cobots can democratize automation.

“Compared to other industrial robots, cobots are simpler to program and operate,” Vahl said. “But no matter if you are an application engineer, a robotics expert, or new to robotics, you will benefit from taking instructor-led training.”

Aim Processing gains experience

One customer who trained with the Universal Robots Academy was Jon Gelston, owner of Longmont, Colo.-based injection molding company Aim Processing. Gelston had very little direct experience with robot programming and used the resources he found through the free online portion of the UR Academy.

“There were self-training modules in both video and read-along formats that were very helpful for us to learn from in terms of applications and improvements in procedures that would benefit a variety of our applications,” he said.

“By utilizing the resources in the UR training database and support site, as well as the Universal Robots’ community of value-added resellers and add-on components, it really enabled that project to come to a great success,” said Gelston.

New training to come

The users of the Universal Robots Academy come from more than 130 different countries. They have all taken some of the free online courses or participated in either virtual or in-class robotics training led by highly-skilled specialists from either Universal Robots or an authorized training partner.

In North America alone, in-class robotics training is offered through 28 different authorized training centers.

With the training offers continuously being updated, UR Academy has several interesting additions coming up later this year and in 2024. This includes new UR20 e-learning teaching customers to set up and program the company's newest cobot.

New risk assessment e-learning, a palletizing learning path, and a new and improved simulator are also among the upcoming additions and updates to the UR Academy.