Leaning over the touch pad, Valentin programs an articulated arm, with no more apprehension than that. Surprised by the ease of handling, he and his friends discovered these machines recently made available to the school for a day by a distributor installer in the region, HMI-MBS. “The movement is super fluid and the programming is very easy,” observes a high school student.
Engaged in a technological course at the Sainte-Croix Sainte-Euverte high school in Orléans (Loiret), around forty final and BTS students are discovering collaborative robots, which are also called cobots, presented as the future of industry and logistics in France, while these sectors are facing a shortage of personnel.
In addition to an articulated arm, a mini-vehicle moves on a programmed path. And stops in the presence of a leg. “They are there to help operators with their repetitive tasks. Where a robot whose programming has been frozen tirelessly repeats its program, a cobot assists the human,” summarizes Camille Dauzon, from HMI-MBS. “Sensors allow it to adapt to its environment,” observes Léo Challier Lemaitre, 17, a student in the final STI 2D, delighted to have access to these machines just out of their packaging.
“Industry is getting these automated machines to replace tedious tasks. But you will always need technicians and engineers to program them, maintain them, ensure their development,” Camille Dauzon lists. The idea of bringing cobots into the establishment came from a BTS apprentice at this high school who wanted to present our collaborative robots to his class with a poster. You might as well show them that for real.”
“Showing the factory of today to the professionals of tomorrow”
“Cobots are fundamentally transforming the way of working in factories and warehouses. They reduce the difficulty of the work,” argues Nicolas Bouhet, director of HMI MBS, an SME with 35 employees which installs robots in factories and logistics warehouses from its site in Saint-Martin d’Abbat (Loiret). “It’s important to show the reality of today’s factory to tomorrow’s professionals,” he insists.
End of this recess. Leo, Valentin and their friends go back to their homework. No robot will pass the baccalaureate for them! “But it motivates us for the project that we will present at the oral, a waste collector boat powered by solar panels”, foresees Léo, who is still hesitating about his future. “I would like to do modeling and industrial design,” he considers.