Universal Robots Unveils Latest Cobot Tech in Collaboration with Nvidia

If you’ve attended any manufacturing industry trade show over the past several years, there’s one thing you’re certain to have seen plenty of — Universal Robots’ (UR) collaborative robots (cobots). A major reason these cobots are so ubiquitous is that Universal Robots has continued to adapt and advance its robot technology to keep up with and stay ahead of industry’s needs. 

The company’s ownership by Teradyne, which also owns autonomous mobile robot company MiR, is a key factor in UR’s and MiR’s overarching presence in industry with Teradyne’s extensive history in industrial electronics testing systems prior to its robotics acquisitions. Now, Teradyne’s collaboration with Nvidia is positioning the company to bring increasing amounts of AI-powered tech to its products. 

The latest results of this collaboration between Teradyne and Nvidia were on display at Automate 2025 in Detroit with the release or UR’s latest product, the UR15. With a payload capacity of 15 kg (33 lbs.) — which can be increased to 17.5 kg (38.58 lbs.) via a software upgrade — and a maximum TCP speed of 5 m/s, Universal Robots says the UR15 is “the fastest ever UR cobot, enabling reduced cycle times, increased productivity and reduced costs across applications and industries. For pick-and-place applications, the UR15 delivers up to 40% cycle time improvements compared to other UR models.”

Universal Robots also announced an update to the company’s well-known e-series of cobots. These updates are:

• UR5e gets a 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs.) upgrade from its original 5 kg payload and is thus renamed the UR7e 
• UR10e, with an original payload capacity of 10 kg (22 lbs.), can now carry 12.5 kg (27.55 lbs.), and has been renamed the UR12e to reflect this change. 

The UR3e and UR16e remain in UR’s e-Series lineup.

Smoothing robot motion with AI

Showcasing Teradyne’s collaboration with Nvidia is UR’s new OptiMove motion control algorithm that dynamically optimizes speed and acceleration to deliver smoother cobot movements, reduced vibrations and improved cycle times, particularly in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing of potentially fragile parts.

Explaining how the smoother robot movements enabled by OptiMove improves cycle times, Ujjwal Kumar, group president of Teradyne Robotics, noted that OptiMove has now “been running for almost half a year in several production facilities, and we’re seeing up to 40% cycle time reduction versus our traditional UR platform — which is a huge throughput improvement.”

Kumar added that OptiMove is not just a feature available on the new UR15 but is available for all UR cobots via the company’s Polyscope X software as part of its AI Accelerator. The AI Accelerator is a robotics tool for the development of AI-powered applications for UR cobots. It includes computer vision technology for improved robot decision-making and improved decision making and motion capabilities derived from AI training models.