KUKA

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KUKA Robotics Corp.

Type	private (Subsidiary of KUKA Roboter GmbH)
Founded	1996 in USA, 1896 in Germany,
Headquarters	Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany Clinton Township, Michigan, USA
Industry	Automation
Products	Industrial robots
Parent	KUKA Roboter GmbH, Germany
Website	www.kuka-robotics.com

KUKA Robotics and its German parent company KUKA is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots and automation systems for a variety of industries - from automotive and fabricated metals to food and plastics. KUKA was founded in 1898 in Augsburg, Germany as Keller und Knappich Augsburg. The company name comes from the initials of its founders, Keller and Knappich. The KUKA Group is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (M-DAX index).

KUKA Industrial robots are used by GM, Chrysler, Ford, Porsche, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Ferrari, Harley-Davidson or Boeing, Siemens, IKEA, Swarovski, Wal-Mart, Nestle, Budweiser and Coca-Cola and many others.

KUKA has subsidiaries and robot integrators in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile and also serves customers throughout Europe (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain, Portugal ...) and Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, India ...).

[edit] Robotics Product Highlights

In 1973 KUKA built its first industrial robot, known as FAMULUS. This was the world's first robot with six electromechanically driven axes. Today the company’s 4 and 6 axis robots range from 3 kg to 1000 kg payloads, and 350 mm to 3700 mm reach, SCARAs, palletizers, gantry and articulated robots, all controlled from a common PC based controller platform.

KUKA robots welding a car body in the white section of a production line.

KUKA's robot products are most commonly used in factories, for welding, handling, palletizing, packaging, processing or other automation tasks, but also in hospitals, for brain surgery and radiography.

In 2001 KUKA developed the Robocoaster, which is the world’s first passenger-carrying industrial robot. The robot provides a roller coaster-like motion sequence to its two passengers; the ride is programmable. The Robocoaster is currently being developed to travel along a track, to create flat rides, Roller coasters and other such themepark and amusement rides that move along a defined pathway

In 2007, KUKA developed the KR1000 "Titan", the first industrial robot with a capacity of 1000 KG. It has a reach of 3.2 meters.

[edit] Trivia

After a KUKA demonstration for the producers of the 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day, the filmmakers added a scene in which Halle Berry fights laser-firing KUKA robot arms.

KUKA robots appeared in 2003 in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and more recently in the Thunderbirds (2005) and The Da Vinci Code movies (2006).

The KUKA Chair of Robotics (Prof. Henrik Christensen) at the Georgia Institute of Technology is one source of KUKA's future robotics developments.

Arc welding robots	Loading Toolingmachine	Robots palletizing food (Bakery)	Manufacturing of steel bridges, cutting steel
Flat-glas handling, heavy duty robot with 1.000 kg payload	Automation in foundry industry, heat resistant robot	Industrial robots engaged in vehicle underbody assembly	Two KUKA robots. In front is shown a 6-axis articulated robot; behind it is a 4-axis palletizer