Industrial, Collaborative, AGV, and AMR/IMR Robots Explained

Plants rarely use “one kind of robot.” Safety work goes better when everyone names the same thing. Here are the common types you will see around a cell, a warehouse aisle, or a mixed line.

Industrial robots

An industrial robot is the familiar arm (or similar manipulator) that runs a programmed path at production speed: welding, palletizing, machine tending, press transfer. It usually sits in a guarded cell. People are not meant to share that space while it is in automatic. Risk assessment focuses on the cell, access, teaching, recovery, and maintenance around a high-energy machine.

Collaborative robots (cobots)

A collaborative robot is designed so people and the robot can work in the same space under defined conditions — power and force limiting, speed and separation, or hand guiding. “Cobot” does not mean “no assessment.” You still list tasks, contact, part presentation, and what happens if someone reaches in. Many sites mix a cobot with industrial equipment; the whole application is what you assess, not the label on the arm.

AGVs (automated guided vehicles)

An AGV is a driverless vehicle that follows a fixed guide: tape, wire, magnets, or marked paths. It is predictable: same routes, same stops. Hazards are often aisle traffic, docking, loads tipping, and people stepping into the path. Changing the layout usually means changing the guide. AGVs are still “robots” in the safety sense: moving mass, stored energy, and people nearby.

AMRs and IMRs (autonomous / industrial mobile robots)

An AMR (autonomous mobile robot) navigates with sensors and a map. It can reroute around people and obstacles instead of only following tape. IMR is often used for industrial mobile robots in the same family — carts, tuggers, and platforms that move material without a fixed track. Assessment still covers speed, payload, docking, charging, mixed pedestrian aisles, and how the vehicle behaves when localization is poor.

Why the type matters for safety

Each type changes tasks, exposure, and safeguards. An industrial cell is not an AMR aisle. A cobot station is not “safe by default.” Robot Safety Center is built for structured, task-based assessment across these applications — see how the software works or request a demo.