The Danish company Universal Robots A/S (www.universal-robots.com) says ‘cobots’ (collaborative robots) “are shaping the education industry by giving students the opportunity to learn about robotics at first hand.

Within interactive learning environments, students are introduced to automation and industrial applications, mastering robot programming in minutes.”

To further lower the automation barrier, the company has developed the Universal Robots Academy — an e-learning programme containing six modules designed to maximise user engagement.

Esben Østergaard, CTO and founder of Universal Robots, says it is unusual in the industry to make a robot training curriculum of this kind available for free. “This is a long-term investment for us. We want to raise robot literacy, as we are facing a looming skills gap in the manufacturing sector.

“Facilitating knowledge creation and access to our robots is an important step in that direction. We’re excited to see the educational sector actively incorporating the Academy modules in their curriculum.

“The on-line modules are available to everybody and available in English, Spanish, German, French and Chinese.”