Why speed and force limiting change the entire safety approach — and why the label "cobot" on a spec sheet doesn't automatically mean an application is actually safe.
People often describe the difference between a traditional industrial robot and a collaborative robot (cobot) as if it were purely cosmetic — cobots are "the friendly ones," built to work next to people, while traditional robots are "the dangerous ones" that need a cage. That framing misses the actual engineering distinction. The two categories represent two fundamentally different safety strategies. A traditional industrial robot achieves safety through separation — keeping humans entirely out of its reach while it operates. A cobot achieves safety (when properly configured) through inherent, verified force and speed limiting— letting a human share its workspace because the robot itself won't exert enough force to cause injury on contact. Confusing the hardware category with the safety outcome is where real applications go wrong.