Almost all industrial robot makers have or are working on lightweight and human-friendly robot arms, but none are offering them at low cost, or with user-friendly training, or plug and play and safety features. There are other robot startups in the SME marketplace – and on the horizon – but none are as far along as Rethink Robotics and Universal Robots.

Rethink Robotics’ Baxter robots are being produced and sold at a rate of 500+ units for 2013.

Universal Robots is building 100+ UR5 and UR10 robots a month of which approximately 25-30% are for customers in the U.S.

Click to see a review of each robot’s features and a couple of examples of how they are being used.