Research Status and Development Trend of Multi-arm Collaborative Robots

Industrial robots are mainly used in metal forming, automotive, and electrical and electronics industries. After decades of unremitting efforts, industrial robots have achieved great success. However, problems such as low safety, weak environmental adaptability, and insufficient human-computer interaction ability of industrial robots have greatly limited the application of industrial robots, and multi-arm collaborative robots came into being in this case. Multi-arm collaborative robots offer high flexibility and precision. Over the years, the application and development of multi-arm collaborative robots have been paid more and more attention. This paper aims to summarize the patents related to multi-arm cooperative robots, including their principles, classification, latest progress and future development, in order to meet the needs of the real world. According to the structural characteristics of multi-arm collaborative robots and the requirements of multi-arm collaborative robots application field, the most typical mobile collaborative robots and stationary dual-arm collaborative robots in multi-arm collaborative robots are summarized. By investigating various patents of multi-arm collaborative robots the main problems of multi-arm collaborative robots are summarized and analyzed, such as collisions or conflicts between robotic arms, low power-to-weight ratio, loose structures, and heavy weight of the robot body. In addition, the development trend of multi-arm collaborative robots is also discussed. Multi-arm robots have broad prospects and potential in future applications and development. With the advancement of new technologies, multi-arm collaborative robots will become more efficient, intelligent, safe, and flexible. More relevant patents are expected to be invented in the future.