High-Speed, High-Payload Cobots

ABB’s PoWa series meets a need for industrial-grade performance, with payloads from 7 to 30 kg, top speed of 5.8 m/s, and longest reach and highest arm load available.
April 23, 2026
2 min read
ABB Robotics
ABB Robotics PoWa cobot

The PoWa™ cobot family is designed to operate in compact environments and is well suited to applications such as high-speed machine tending.

ABB ROBOTICS introduced a new series of collaborative robots that combine flexibility with high payload capabilities. The automation developer stated that its PoWa™ cobot family meets the need for industrial-grade performance in collaborative robotics, lowering the barrier to automation for small/midsized enterprises and large businesses.

“Cobots are growing significantly faster than traditional industrial robots, driven by demands from both small and midsized companies starting their automation journey as well as large enterprises,” stated Andrea Cassoni, head of Collaborative Robots at ABB Robotics. “These customers are seeking higher speeds and payloads, but also greater ease of use, and compact designs. Established manufacturers want to automate heavier, fast cycle applications, without the complexity and operational rigidity of traditional industrial robots.”

ABB explained that the PoWa family addresses a gap in the market between traditional cobots that often lack the speed and payload required for industrial applications, and conventional industrial robots, which are designed for highly specialized, large-scale automation environments, going beyond the needs of many collaborative tasks.

PoWa extends ABB Robotics’ cobot portfolio with six different payload categories from 7 to 30 kg, the longest reach and highest arm load on the market and best-in-class top speed of up to 5.8 m/s (for PoWa™ 10 and PoWa™ 13.)

Designed to operate in compact environments and is well suited to applications such as high-speed machine tending, palletizing, screwdriving, and arc welding. PoWa aids manufacturers in automating heavier and faster processes, while maintaining the flexibility, ease of use and compact footprint of collaborative robotics.

PoWa cobots are easy to use, through programmable buttons on the arm-side interface and no-code programming and are compatible with an extensive ecosystem of third-party accessories.

PoWa can be unboxed and operational “within an hour,” according to the developer, and enables seamless plug-and-play with a wide range of tools, blending industrial-grade connectivity and performance with collaborative robot flexibility.

Powered by the ABB OmniCore™ controller platform, the PoWa cobots offer “best-in-class motion control, speed, and precision and can be integrated with ABB Robotics’ suite of AI-powered software, including Robot Studio® and Wizard Easy Programming, for intuitive programming, fast deployment, and maximum uptime.

Learn more at go.abb/robotics