Universal Robots (Denmark) Universal Robots UR5 (original) (1)

Was about €20,000 (2012)IEEE Spectrum listed the UR5 at €20,000 in 2012 and $35,000 in 2017.

Discontinued · used/leftover onlyPython from a laptopFirst commercial cobotCB-seriesHistoric

Possibly ≤ 1 weekShipping: Used market. Discontinued. Used and refurbished CB3 UR5 arms are widely resold by used-robot dealers.

Remote control: URScript over a TCP socket, or RTDE/ROS drivers on CB3-series units running recent software.

Wikipedia ↗IEEE Spectrum (2012 survey) ↗

Overview

Universal Robots' first product and what Wikipedia calls the first commercially viable cobot, sold in Denmark and Germany from 2008. It proved that a light, fenceless six-axis arm could be programmed by non-specialists, set the template copied by many later cobots, and led to Teradyne buying the company in 2015. The CB-series was replaced by the e-Series from 2018.

Specifications

Category	Robot arms · Industrial & legacy
Released	2008
Availability	Discontinued · used/leftover only
Programmability	Full SDK
Best for	Professionals & labs
Vision sensors	No vision sensors
Actuators	Brushless / direct-drive motors
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Proprietary / undisclosed
Remote control	Python from a laptop
DOF	6
Reach	850 mm
Payload	5 kg
Repeatability	±0.1 mm (CB3, ISO 9283)
Weight	18.4 kg
Controller	CB-series control box with PolyScope teach pendant
Sensors	Joint encoders, current-based force limiting
SDK	URScript over sockets, RTDE on later CB3 software, ROS drivers