Universal Robots offers six cobot models from 3 kg to 30 kg payload. Picking the right one for your application is the single most important decision in any cobot deployment — an undersized cobot will hit limits within months, and an oversized one wastes budget and floor space.
The full UR e-Series at a glance
- UR3e — 3 kg payload, 500 mm reach. Tabletop precision tasks, electronics, watchmaking, lab automation.
- UR5e — 5 kg payload, 850 mm reach. The most popular all-rounder. Vision-guided pick & place, light assembly, quality inspection cells.
- UR10e — 12.5 kg payload, 1300 mm reach. Light palletizing, machine tending, larger pick & place.
- UR16e — 16 kg payload, 900 mm reach. Heavy material handling in compact spaces.
- UR20 — 20 kg payload, 1750 mm reach. Pure palletizing champion. The tallest cobot.
- UR30 — 30 kg payload, 1300 mm reach. Heavy screw driving (90 Nm wrist torque), heavy palletizing, foundry tending.
How we recommend choosing
Step 1: total payload, including end-effector and part. A 4 kg part with a 1.5 kg gripper needs the UR10e (12.5 kg headroom), not the UR5e. Always size up by 30% to allow for moment-of-inertia from offset payloads and for future tooling upgrades.
Step 2: reach envelope. Measure the maximum distance the tool needs to travel, including the dimensions of any pallet, conveyor or fixture. Reach is also affected by joint geometry — a UR5e at the edge of its 850 mm reach has limited orientations available.
Step 3: cycle time. Heavier cobots are not always slower; the UR20 is faster than UR10e on many palletizing patterns despite higher payload, because of better joint speeds. Get cycle times from your integrator before assuming.
Step 4: workspace constraints. Floor footprint, ceiling height, and proximity to humans all matter. A wall-mounted UR5e occupies less floor than a UR10e on a base.
Application-to-cobot quick map
- Watch case inspection / electronics assembly → UR3e
- Pick & place / quality inspection / light assembly → UR5e
- CNC machine tending / light palletizing → UR10e
- Heavy machine tending in tight space → UR16e
- End-of-line palletizing of cardboard cases → UR20
- Industrial screw driving / foundry / heavy palletizing → UR30
Total cost of ownership
Cobot hardware is roughly 30-40% of total deployment cost. The rest is end-of-arm tooling, safety scanners, electrical cabinet, integration engineering, vision (if applicable), PLC connectivity, training, and post-deployment support.
Picking too small means an early replacement — doubling effective cost. Picking too large means paying for capability you never use. A short feasibility study with a certified integrator typically saves 5-10x its own cost over the project lifetime.
Get help choosing
3HLE is a Swiss Universal Robots Certified System Integrator. We carry all UR e-Series models in stock, integrate OnRobot tooling, and combine cobots with our Retina AI vision platform. Send us your application brief for a free model recommendation.