KUKA

Infobox Company
company_name = KUKA Robotics Corp.
company_
company_type = private (Subsidiary of [http://www.kuka.com/en KUKA Roboter GmbH] )
foundation = 1996 in USA, 1896 in Germany,
location = flagicon|Germany Augsburg, Bavaria, Germanyflagicon|USA Clinton Township, Michigan, USA
key_people =
area_served =
industry = Automation
products = Industrial robots
parent = [http://www.kuka-roboter.de/ KUKA Roboter GmbH, Germany]

subsid =
homepage = [http://www.kukarobotics.com/ www.kuka-robotics.com]

footnotes =

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 (fwbr|IWKG 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 ...).

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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'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.

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 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.

References

* " [http://www.kuka.com/en/company/group/milestones/ History of KUKA Industrial Robots] ". Web page accessed 27 November 2007.
* Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language wikipedia article.
* Robocoaster details come from the [http://www.robocoaster.com KUKA Robocoaster website]
* Wiki CAEX page
* Wiki Georgia Institute of Technology page

External links

* [http://www.kukarobotics.com/ KUKA Robotics Corp. (USA)]
* [http://www.kuka.com/usa/en/products/industrial_robots/ Overview of KUKA Industrial Robots]
* [http://www.kukausa.com/ KUKA Flexible Production Systems Corp. (USA)]
* [http://www.kuka.com/usa/en/company/system_partner/partner_list/ KUKA Robot Integrators and System Builders(USA)]