Universal Robots

What it does

Universal Robots (UR) makes collaborative robot arms, or cobots, designed to work near people without full perimeter guarding when a risk assessment allows it. Its arms range from small tabletop models to heavier palletizing models such as the UR20 and UR30 ^[5]. The Robot Report says UR passed 100,000 cobots sold in 2025, the year it launched the UR15 ^[4].

The safety design centres on configurable safety functions built into the controller. UR lists limits on force at the tool and elbow, speed, momentum, power, joint positions, safety planes, tool orientation, and stopping time and distance, plus emergency and safeguard stops ^[5]. Power and force limiting stops the robot when contact forces exceed set values, following the body-region guidance in ISO/TS 15066 ^[5]. UR says all current models are certified by TÜV Rheinland to EN ISO 10218-1:2011, with safety functions at PL d, Category 3 under ISO 13849-1, and that it targets certification to the 2025 edition of ISO 10218-1 by January 2027 ^[5]. Its functional safety document publishes a PFHd value for each function and states that exceeding a limit triggers an immediate stop ^[6].

Who it is for

The main users are manufacturers automating repetitive handling, such as machine tending, packaging and palletizing. UR's case stories often frame the safety benefit as ergonomic: moving people away from repetitive lifting ^{[14] [15]}.

How it is deployed

A UR arm is partly completed machinery. UR certifies the robot to ISO 10218-1, but the integrator is responsible for the complete application under ISO 10218-2, including the gripper, workpiece, guarding and CE marking ^[5]. A "collaborative robot" is therefore not automatically a safe application; a cobot carrying a sharp or heavy part can still need sensors or fencing.

The robot connects to plant networks. UR's hardening guidance asks users to change default passwords, restrict network access and use SSH tunnels across trust boundaries, and warns that some interfaces lack authentication and encryption ^[10]. Optional myUR monitoring sends robot status, errors and logs every 5 seconds over encrypted MQTT to Microsoft Azure in Europe, according to a 2022 FAQ ^[12]. UR's data notice says its robots generate telemetry, event logs and maintenance data that customers can export on request ^[11]. The UR+ marketplace lists grippers, sensors, vision systems and software certified to work with UR robots ^[13].

Notable public customers and coverage

UR was founded in Odense in 2005 and has been part of Teradyne since 2015 ^{[1] [3]}. Jean-Pierre Hathout leads Teradyne Robotics, and UR names its senior management on its website ^[2]. The Robot Report noted falling UR sales and leadership changes at the time of the UR15 launch ^[4].

Named case stories include Sanofi in Tours, France, where UR says cobots cut operator working time on the line by about 10% a day and reduced load carrying ^[14], and Ornua in Ireland, which uses a UR20 palletizer to remove a task with repetitive strain risk ^[15]. These are vendor-published, and neither reports injury rates.

In May 2026 the US cybersecurity agency CISA published an advisory on a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in PolyScope 5 versions before 5.25.1 that could let an unauthenticated attacker run code on the robot ^[9]. Independent research on cobots in general is mixed: a 2025 study of South Korean manufacturers found that firms using cobots had more industrial accidents, moderated by staff tenure and job rotation ^[16].

Things to ask in an evaluation

• Who will perform the ISO 10218-2 application risk assessment, and which body regions and contact forces were tested for your tool and part?
• Which safety functions and limits will be used, and who can change them on site?
• Is your PolyScope version patched against current CISA advisories, and how are updates managed?
• What data does myUR or any cloud feature send off site?
• How will job rotation and training be organised around the cell?

Our take

Strengths

• Publishes detailed safety documentation: safety functions, tolerances, PFHd values and third-party certification to ISO 10218-1 and ISO 13849-1 (vendor-stated) ^{[5] [6]}.
• Security page with advisories and coordinated disclosure, IEC 62443-4-1 Maturity Level 2 certification (vendor claim) and hardening guidance ^{[7] [8] [10]}.
• Large add-on ecosystem through UR+ ^[13].

Watch-outs

• Robot certification does not make an application safe; the integrator's risk assessment decides ^[5].
• A critical PolyScope 5 vulnerability was published by CISA in 2026, so patching matters ^[9].
• No public pricing, and case stories report productivity rather than measured injury outcomes ^{[14] [15]}.

Best fit: Manufacturers automating repetitive handling or palletizing who have, or will hire, an integrator to complete an ISO 10218-2 risk assessment and keep the robot software patched.