Sunrise Robotics needs its autonomous cells to perform precise manipulation for high-mix manufacturing, including pick & place, positioning, and machine-tending operations in human-centric environments.
Sunrise Robotics Accelerates Automation with AI-powered GoFa™ cobot cells
Case Study from | ABB Robotics
The Challenge
Sunrise Robotics needs its autonomous cells to perform precise manipulation for high-mix manufacturing, including pick & place, positioning, and machine-tending operations in human-centric environments. The cells require high dexterity and sensing capabilities, remaining responsive, accurate, and reliable across simultaneous processes.
The Solution
The company selected ABB Robotics’ GoFa cobot as the perfect fit for their intelligent robotic cells. GoFa’s combination of speed up to 2 m/s and high positional accuracy were the main decision drivers. As a result, Sunrise increased throughput by 20% – from 72 to 90 parts per hour – by adjusting GoFa’s motion parameters through software alone, with no changes to hardware or AI models.
The Application
Sunrise’s intelligent robotic cells combine on-board AI, built-in perception, and radar-based safety to operate in environments designed for people, not machines. ABB Robotics’ GoFa serves as the precision-driven physical layer where Sunrise’s AI intelligence is expressed: picking, placing, and manipulating components at exceptional speeds with high positional accuracy.
Sunrise Robotics is a European technology company headquartered in Ljubljana, Slovenia, delivering fully intelligent, autonomous robotic cells, making automation faster, more affordable, and accessible to small and medium-sized manufacturers. By unifying hardware and software into a single, holistic system, the company designs solutions tailored to the realities of modern manufacturing where flexibility, adaptability, and autonomy are essential.
To achieve its vision, Sunrise conducted a thorough evaluation of the collaborative robot market. The requirements were specific: a large working envelope for euro pallet operations at floor level, speed and positional accuracy for increased reliability, and a developer-friendly software architecture capable of running Sunrise’s AI models in real time. ABB Robotics’ GoFa met all three criteria, and the confidence that comes with deploying ABB Robotics’ technology gave Sunrise’s customers additional assurance in the overall system.
Long-term reliability and support were decisive factors in Sunrise’s decision to collaborate with ABB Robotics. Its proven track record, rapid response times, and global spare-parts availability gave Sunrise and its customers the confidence that systems would remain fully supported and continuously operational for years to come.
“When you’re deploying an intelligent, autonomous cell into a customer’s production environment, every component must earn its place. ABB Robotics’ GoFa arms give us the performance we need and the brand trust that makes our customers even more confident in what we’ve built.” Robert Bevec, Product, Sunrise Robotics.
Within Sunrise’s architecture, GoFa cobot acts as the perfect embodiment of the company’s AI-driven software stack and real-world production. GoFa provides the precision, speed and flexibility that enable the company to turn AI-driven intelligence into reliable physical action. With RobotStudio® supporting fast deployment and continuous optimization.
Sunrise has also realized significant value from being able to control ABB Robotics’ arms remotely allowing its engineers to restore autonomous cells from unexpected states without travelling to the customer site; a crucial advantage when customers have limited experience with industrial robotics. Thanks to RobotStudio®, Sunrise can support deployments remotely, protecting customer trust, reducing operational costs, and keeping systems running without unnecessary downtime.
“GoFa’s open control architecture gave us the foundation to connect our AI directly to the physical world. By leveraging its flexible motion control capabilities, we increased throughput from 72 to 90 parts per hour through a single parameter change, with no modifications to our software, hardware or AI stack. That kind of flexibility is exactly what you need when you’re optimizing live deployments for real customers.” Jose Manuel Bonilla Jimenez, Customer Success, Sunrise Robotics
On the software side, the combination of Robot Web Services (RWS) and Externally Guided Motion (EGM) provided Sunrise with a robust and layered control architecture. RWS manages low-frequency tasks such as program handling and variable subscriptions, while EGM supports high-frequency, real-time motion commands driven by Sunrise’s AI models. Together, they create a system capable of dynamically responding to what it senses in the environment.
At ABB Robotics, we are proud to support Sunrise Robotics with the flexibility and performance required to optimize live deployments for real production environments.
“By combining GoFa with AI in a proven collaborative robotics solution, organizations like Sunrise are enabled to innovate faster while maintaining the reliability their customers expect,” says Alessio Cocchi, Global Head of cobot sales.
By combining Sunrise Robotics’ AI-driven autonomy with ABB GoFa’s precision, speed, and open control architecture, Sunrise is building a scalable, adaptable robotic solution designed for the realities of high-mix European manufacturing. Early deployments are already delivering measurable results, and as Sunrise extends its fleet, the collaboration is establishing a clear path toward fully autonomous industrial cells that can be deployed at manufacturer’s facilities in days, not months.
ABB Robotics as one of the world’s leading robotics companies, is the only company with a comprehensive and integrated AI-powered portfolio covering robots, cobots and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), designed and orchestrated by our value-creating software. We help companies of all sizes and sectors – from automotive to electronics and logistics – to outperform by becoming more resilient, flexible and efficient. ABB Robotics is at the forefront of developing and commercializing a new generation of Autonomous Versatile Robotics (AVR), leading a global innovation ecosystem of partners in advancing efficient hardware and intelligent software with industrial performance. The business employs approximately 7,000 people go.abb/robotics.
Sunrise Robotics is a new kind of robotics company, one that delivers fully intelligent, autonomous robotic cells that transform how manufacturers operate. Founded by a team with deep roots in industrial robotics, drone technology, consumer electronics at scale, and software platforms serving hundreds of millions of users, Sunrise brings together hardware and software into a single, holistic system designed for the realities of modern manufacturing.
At the heart of Sunrise’s offering is a dual-arm robotic cell equipped with built-in perception, on-board AI, and radar-based safety; capable of operating both collaboratively and at full industrial speed depending on what the task demands. The cells are designed to work in environments built for people, not machines, making them well-suited to the high-mix, process-intensive manufacturing environments common across European industry. Deployment is measured in days and weeks rather than months and years, and the fleet model means skills can be added incrementally as customer needs grow.
Sunrise’s mission is to augment human operators by taking on repetitive and physically demanding tasks, freeing people to focus on higher-value work, while giving manufacturers the flexibility and resilience to respond to labour shortages, process changes, and shifting supply chains.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of RoboticsTomorrow
Featured Product
DESTACO – Revolutionizing Industrial Automation
Looking for a reliable solution to enhance your automation process? Look no further than the DESTACO Robohand Grippers. These grippers are designed for the modern world of robotics, offering unparalleled performance and precision. Whether you need to grip fragile items, irregularly shaped objects, or heavy-duty components, the DESTACO Robohand Grippers have got you covered. Their modular design allows for quick and easy customization, ensuring a perfect fit for your application.