KUKA
1920674
225874626
2008-07-15T20:25:57Z
84.155.190.243
{{Infobox Company
| company_name = KUKA Robotics Corp.
| company_logo = [[Image:KUKA-logo.svg|220px]]
| 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]], [[Germany]]
{{flagicon|USA}} [[Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan|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|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 '''''K'''eller '''u'''nd '''K'''nappich '''A'''ugsburg''. 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 [[General Motors Corporation|GM]], [[Chrysler]], [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], [[Porsche]], [[BMW]], [[Audi]], [[Mercedes-Benz]], [[Volkswagen]], [[Ferrari]], [[Harley-Davidson]] or [[Boeing]], [[Siemens AG|Siemens]], [[IKEA]], [[Swarovski]], [[Wal-Mart]], [[Nestle]], [[Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|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 ...).
__NOTOC__
==Robotics Product Highlights==
In [[1973]] KUKA built its first industrial robot, known as [[FAMULUS]]. This was the world's first robot with six [[electromechanical]]ly driven [[degrees of freedom (engineering)|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, [[SCARA]]s, palletizers, gantry and articulated robots, all controlled from a common PC based controller platform. [[Image:KUKA robots in car production.jpg|thumb|'''KUKA''' robots welding a car body in the white section of a production line.]]
KUKA's robot products are most commonly used in [[factory|factories]], for welding, handling, palletizing, packaging, processing or other automation tasks, but also in [[hospital]]s, 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 coaster]]s 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 [[Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life]] and more recently in the [[Thunderbirds (film)|Thunderbirds]] (2005) and [[The Da Vinci Code (film)|The Da Vinci Code]] movies (2006).[[Image:rimLogo-stroked.gif|right|200px|RIM@GT logo]]
*The KUKA Chair of Robotics (Prof. Henrik Christensen) at the [[Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines#Mission|Georgia Institute of Technology]] is one source of KUKA's future robotics developments.
<gallery>
Image:Arc welding of metall parts with industrial robots (KUKA).jpg|Arc welding robots
Image:5-Achsen Bearbeitungszentrum.jpg|Loading Toolingmachine
Image:Factory Automation Robotics Palettizing Bread.jpg|Robots palletizing food (Bakery)
Image: Robotics Cutting Bridge Building Parts.jpg|Manufacturing of steel bridges, cutting steel
Image:KUKA robot for flat glas handling.jpg|Flat-glas handling, heavy duty robot with 1.000 kg payload
Image:Automation of foundry with robot.jpg|Automation in foundry industry, heat resistant robot
Image:Industrial Robotics in car production.jpg|Industrial robots engaged in vehicle underbody assembly
Image:Industrial_robots.gif| Two '''KUKA''' robots. In front is shown a 6-[[degrees of freedom (engineering)|axis]] [[articulated robot]]; behind it is a 4-axis palletizer
</gallery>
==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 [[:de:KUKA Roboter|German-language wikipedia article]].
* Robocoaster details come from the [http://www.robocoaster.com KUKA Robocoaster website]
* [[CAEX|Wiki CAEX page]]
* [[Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines#Mission|Wiki Georgia Institute of Technology page]]
==External links==
{{Portal|Companies|Factory.svg}}
{{commonscat|KUKA}}
* [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)]
{{MDAX companies}}
[[Category:Companies based in Detroit, Michigan]]
[[Category:Industrial machine manufacturers]]
[[Category:Robotics companies]]
[[Category:Companies of Germany]]
[[Category:Production and manufacturing]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1898]]
[[Category:German brands]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Engineering companies of Germany]]
{{coor at dm|42.625086|N|82.884657|W|type:landmark|region:US}}
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