Universal Robots' Gen 7 Platform Ships with CRA-Ready Cybersecurity

Universal Robots designed its PolyScope X software platform from the ground up to comply with the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), which the company expects European enforcement to reach in 2027. The company showed the software, running on its Gen 7 robotics platform, at PACK Expo in Chicago last month, pairing safety certifications with cybersecurity certifications that few cobot vendors currently hold together.

The Gen 7 platform combines four elements: the CB7 Core controller, the TP7 Core teach pendant, the SP7 Smart Panel tool-flange interface, and the PolyScope X software platform. Cognex 2D and 3D industrial vision systems run directly on the platform rather than through a separate controller. The demonstration targeted semiconductor manufacturing, though Silas Neale, regional sales manager at Teradyne Robotics — which owns Universal Robots — said the configuration fits many other applications.

What do the certifications actually cover?

The safety functions run on a PLd Category 3 safety system, TUV certified to ISO 10218 and UL 1740, according to Neale. ISO 10218 governs robot safety requirements; UL 1740 addresses robot safety in the U.S. market. Separately, Teradyne Robotics holds certification to IEC 62443-4-1 maturity levels, a standard that evaluates how well a manufacturer implements secure development lifecycle practices across product design — not just the shipped device.

The CRA piece matters because the regulation, which took effect last year in the EU, obliges manufacturers of connected products — from industrial machines to smart sensors — to keep those products secure across their entire lifecycle. Neale tied the compliance work directly to the calendar.

"The Polyscope X platform has been built from the ground up to comply with Cyber Resilience Act, which is being implemented in Europe in 2027, and we suspect that'll soon follow here," Neale said.

Why target first-time automation users?

The platform's design goal is accessibility: reducing the integration burden for manufacturers that have never deployed a robot. A new cabling architecture lets operators attach the teach pendant directly to the cobot, establishing a direct connection for programming and operation without intermediary hardware.

"This new [technology] is intended to be appealing to manufacturers who have never deployed automation before, to be able to embrace it and own it and understand it," Neale said.

"This drastically reduces the complexity there, so it's opening up more and more doors for anybody to be able to do the automation," he said.

Running Cognex vision systems natively on Gen 7 gives implementers one interface instead of two. "What that does is it gives anyone implementing the robots a single unified interface," Neale said.

How does physical AI change the integration picture?

Neale framed the platform around three industry trends: accessibility, connectivity, and physical AI deployment. Unifying vision with the robot platform cuts complexity and shortens deployment time. The added onboard power and communication capacity also widens the range of attachable peripheral equipment.

"When we talk about the physical AI piece [...] we make that handshaking with our equipment and theirs virtually seamless. That's improved tremendously. Now that we have all the communication and additional power on board, we can power and communicate with a lot more peripheral equipment," Neale said.

"As a manufacturer, you can take ownership of that automation. It's rapid to deploy and easy to take ownership," he added.

What does the security timing mean for buyers?

These releases arrive as manufacturers continue to fight ransomware and cyberattacks, with rising concern over supply chain risk, ecosystem exposure, financial impact, and safety consequences of incidents. The CRA's lifecycle-security framework converts what was a best practice into a market-access requirement.

For U.S. buyers, the open question is Neale's own: if an American analogue to the CRA follows, will IEC 62443-4-1 development certification become a procurement prerequisite — and which vendors can already document it today?