Collaborative robots, or cobots, are the next step in the evolution of factory automation. As autonomous machines that operate in open environments also occupied by humans, they represent unprecedented opportunity for productivity and efficiency gains. They also demand unprecedented advances in design engineering.The first in a multi-part series on building safe, secure, and intelligent industrial robots for Industry 5.0, "Robots, Cobots & You: Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Next-Gen Tech" outlines the challenges and potential of cobots, as well as foundational technologies for building autonomous machines.