Robotics is no longer a niche corner of the engineering department. Today's students go on to work in factories, labs and hospitals where people and robots share the same workspace. Universities need equipment that reflects that reality.
That's where the collaborative robot comes in. A cobot arm is designed to work safely alongside people, so students can get hands-on with real industrial hardware rather than watching from behind a safety fence.
In this article, we look at two collaborative robotic arm ranges from German manufacturer Agile Robots: the force-sensitive Diana 7 and the versatile Thor series. We explain what each one does, and how they can support teaching, research and industry partnerships across your university.
What is a cobot?
A cobot, short for collaborative robot, is a robotic arm built to work safely alongside people. Unlike a traditional industrial robot, it doesn't need to be caged off. It uses sensors to detect contact and stop or slow down when it meets resistance.
Cobots are also designed to be easy to program. Many can be taught a task by physically guiding the arm through it, or through a graphical interface on a tablet. That makes them ideal for teaching environments, where students of different abilities need to get started quickly.
Agile Robots Diana 7: a force-sensitive cobot arm built for research
Diana 7 is a seven-axis collaborative robotic arm with torque sensors in every joint. The extra axis gives it human-like flexibility, so it can reach around obstacles and approach a part from almost any angle.
Those joint torque sensors let Diana 7 "feel" what it's doing, with force control accurate to 0.5 N. That sensitivity suits delicate tasks like precision assembly, as well as research into how robots handle contact with objects and people.
Why Diana 7 stands out for universities
In 2025, Diana 7 became compatible with the Franka Control Interface (FCI), a platform already widely used in robotics research. This gives researchers:
- real-time control at 1 kHz, covering position, velocity and torque in each joint, and position, velocity and force in Cartesian space
- a C++ interface through libfranka
- integration with ROS and ROS 2
- integration with MATLAB and Simulink
- access to an established research community and its shared code
For a research group, that means Diana 7 can slot into existing workflows and code, rather than starting from scratch.
Agile Robots Thor series: versatile cobot arms for teaching labs
The Thor series is a family of six-axis cobot arms. They cover everything from light, precise assembly to heavier machine tending and material handling. Every model has collision detection, so it can work safely alongside students.
Thor is designed to be easy to pick up. Students can program it with a graphical interface or by hand-guiding the arm, with no advanced coding skills needed. That makes it a strong choice for first-year teaching, practical sessions and open-access labs.
| Model | Payload | Reach | Repeatability | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thor 7 | 7 kg | 900 mm | ±0.03 mm | General teaching and medium-duty tasks |
| Thor 12 | 12 kg | 1,300 mm | ±0.05 mm | Heavier assembly, machine tending and material handling |
| Thor 20 | 20 kg | 1,700 mm | 0.1 mm | Loading, unloading and palletising |
With repeatability down to ±0.03 mm, Thor is accurate enough for electronics assembly work. Its compact footprint also helps in crowded labs where bench space is limited.
How Diana 7 and Thor work within universities
Choose an area to see how Diana 7 and Thor can support it.
Teaching robotic programming
Cobot programming is a valuable skill as more manufacturers bring collaborative robots onto the shop floor. With Thor, students can start with graphical programming and hand-guiding, then move on to more advanced tasks as their confidence grows.
Diana 7 takes things further. Through ROS, C++, MATLAB and Simulink, more advanced students can learn the robotics software skills used in industry and research.
Research and robot learning
Robot learning, where robots improve through data and experience rather than fixed instructions, is one of the fastest-growing areas of robotics research. Diana 7's real-time sensor data and torque control make it well suited to this work.
The Franka Control Interface is already used in research areas such as force control, machine learning and human-robot interaction. That gives research groups a ready-made starting point for projects using a machine learning robotic arm.
Industry-ready skills
Both ranges are built for real industrial jobs, from pick-and-place to precision assembly. Students who train on them learn on the same kind of collaborative robot they're likely to meet in the workplace.
That also makes them useful for industry partnerships, short courses and cobot training for local businesses.
Safe, shared lab spaces
Because both ranges are collaborative robots, they're designed to work alongside people without a safety cage. Several students can work around the same cell, which makes better use of lab time and space.
Diana 7 or Thor: which is right for your university?
The right choice depends on who will use the arm and what for.
Many universities will benefit from both: Thor for high-volume teaching, and Diana 7 for postgraduate research.
Frequently asked questions
What is cobotics?
Cobotics is the field of collaborative robotics: designing, programming and using robots that work safely alongside people in a shared space.
How do you choose between a cobot and an industrial robot?
Choose a cobot when people need to work near the robot, when tasks change often, or when ease of programming matters. Choose a traditional industrial robot for very high speeds or heavy payloads in a fenced-off cell. For most university labs, a cobot is the more practical and flexible option.
What types of cobots are there?
Cobots vary by number of axes, payload, reach and sensing. Six-axis arms like the Thor series suit most general tasks. Seven-axis, fully force-sensing arms like Diana 7 add flexibility and sensitivity for research and delicate work.
Do students need coding experience to use these cobot arms?
No. Thor can be programmed through a graphical interface or by hand-guiding the arm. Diana 7 also supports hand-guided teaching, with C++, ROS and MATLAB available for more advanced users.
Find the right collaborative robotic arm for your university
Every lab is different. Whether you're equipping a new teaching space or building a research platform, our team can help you choose the right Agile Robots cobot arm for the job.