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FT-300S on CB-Series vs. Copilot on E-Series: Same Hardware, Different License

Understand how Robotiq’s force-sensing features work across robot series and how licensing differs.

Context

Robotiq’s Force Copilot software unlocks advanced force-sensitive programming capabilities such as path recording, precise insertion, and surface finishing. These features rely on data from a force-torque (FT) sensor.

Depending on your Universal Robots controller (CB-Series or E-Series), the way these features are activated is slightly different.

This article explains the hardware parity and the key licensing difference between the two setups.

 

1. Hardware Consistency

  • On CB-Series robots:

    • The FT-300S force-torque sensor is an external device added to the wrist of the robot.

    • Once installed, it provides force-torque data to the robot, enabling all Copilot features.

    • The hardware sensor on CB-Series has the same specifications and performance as the built-in sensor on E-Series.

  • On E-Series robots:

    • The force-torque sensor is already embedded in the robot wrist.

    • It delivers the same quality of force-torque data as the external FT-300S.

    • No additional hardware is required.

 

 

2. Licensing Mechanism Differences

The key difference lies in how Force Copilot features are unlocked:

  • CB-Series

    • Installing the external FT-300S sensor automatically unlocks all Copilot features.

    • No additional licensing is required.

  • E-Series

    • Since the force-torque sensor is already built-in, there’s no external hardware to trigger the license.

    • Instead, a USB dongle license must be purchased and installed to activate Force Copilot features. We have different licenses depending of the functionalities that you want. You can find all the functionnalities in this article : Understanding Copilot License

 

 

Conclusion

The difference between FT-300S on CB-Series and Copilot on E-Series is not in performance—the hardware and features are the same. The distinction lies in the licensing method:

  • CB-Series unlocks Copilot features automatically with the FT-300S.

  • E-Series requires a USB dongle license to activate the same functionality.