KUKA showcases two premieres at CIIF 2018
At the China International Industry Fair in Shanghai from 19 to 23 September 2018, KUKA will be demonstrating how traditional mechanical engineering can be successfully interwoven with digital expertise. Besides this, visitors to KUKA’s booth E174 in Hall 8.1 can even experience two world premieres.
3 September 2018
Companies are increasingly turning to intelligent, automated concepts for their production. The key elements here are the use of new technologies, easy-to-operate robots and mobile, autonomous systems.
KMR CYBERTECH nano perceives its environment using laser sensors
At CIIF, KUKA is presenting the KMR CYBERTECH nano in a global premiere. The prototype is the second mobile robot unit after the KMR iiwa. The KMR CYBERTECH nano can exploit its strengths particularly in the loading and unloading of machine tools.
In the mobile unit, a KUKA robot from the KR CYBERTECH nano product family is installed on the KMP 1500 mobile platform. The robot from the low payload category is perfectly tailored to handle small components. The KMP 1500 is an omnidirectional, mobile platform that navigates autonomously and flexibly. Laser sensors perceive the surrounding area and thereby ensure safety.
If an employee enters the defined safety zone around the mobile unit, the robot stops moving immediately. Thanks to the omnidirectional drive technology and laser-based, autonomous navigation which are also characteristic of all other mobile systems from KUKA, the KMR CYBERTECH nano can be very easily integrated into production environments.
Deliveries of the KMR CYBERTECH nano are scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2019, initially with a payload capacity of 10 kg.
Easy-to-use solutions are paving the way for robotics in everyday working life
At CIIF, KUKA is presenting the new LBR iisy lightweight robot in Asia for the first time. With its new sensitive robot, KUKA is paving the way for robotics in day-to-day work: easily learned, simply understood and immediately deployable. The prototype on display at CIIF expands the product portfolio for collaboration with humans – without the need for any safety fencing.
With the easy-to-operate LBR iisy, KUKA is aiming at a target group that knows the pro-cesses in manufacturing very well, but is not necessarily capable of programming a robot. At CIIF, KUKA is also showcasing its comprehensive robot portfolio in the low payload range – a sector which is gaining increasing importance as it pertains to future markets such as electronics.
Designing the factory of the future with 3D technologies
3D simulation plays a crucial role in designing the factory of the future. KUKA’s partner, Visual Components, offers innovative solutions in this area. The Finnish company special-izes in software solutions for the 3D simulation of factory planning. For KUKA, the simu-lation tool is an important milestone with great potential for solutions centered on KUKA’s simulation ecosystem. After all, simulation is one of the key elements for technological innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, cloud technology and the Internet of Things.
Smart logistics forms the link between the virtual world and the real world
The Swiss logistics expert Swisslog invites CIIF visitors to the KUKA booth to take a trip into the future where the boundaries between physical and virtual reality are becoming increasingly blurred. Trade fair visitors can experience an integrated virtual reality solution with Swisslog SynQ at CarryPick workstations. The SynQ-based application demonstrates SynQ picking processes for customers at a CarryPick station.
Beyond this, the exhibit shows how augmented reality can assist service technicians in their daily work. To achieve this, Alexa (a voice control system from Amazon) was devel-oped further by Swisslog within an in-house software competition. Visitors can ask Alexa questions, quickly find out the status of an order or place orders directly. For service technicians, the application offers great potential since voice commands can be used and additional information can be obtained from the system while repairing a component.
Smart Factory enables networked production
Remote access thanks to networked connectivity – the smart home solutions that are already possible in many households are increasingly making their way into industrial settings. Digitization and networking are blurring the boundaries between the digital world and the real world – merging IT, software and hardware. For KUKA, Industrie 4.0 stands primarily for networking of automated processes. Intelligent machines will soon collaborate in global networks. KUKA Connect is a cloud-based platform that affords customers easy access to the data of their KUKA robots and allows them to analyze the data – from anywhere, at any time and on any device. The machines that are networked via KUKA Connect collect and exchange data and thus offer transparent information concerning status and processes. As soon as a robot is interfaced to KUKA Connect, users receive real-time warnings and Big Data analyses in order to avoid the risk of unplanned downtimes.
Integrated, harmonized automation concepts: the KUKA die casting cell
Foundry products are the basis of an endless variety of everyday items – from smartphones to vehicle transmission housings. For the most part, these kinds of components are manufactured in die casting processes. Here, KUKA offers integrated, harmonized automation concepts. KUKA has all die casting tasks covered from the die casting machine onwards: starting with foundry-compliant unloading from the die casting machine through to mold spraying and the cooling of components and on to deburring using trimming presses and trimming tools. From process simulation and visualization to downstream machining, including cell control and quality assurance, proven integrated in-house solutions are available to meet all needs – from the unloading of castings to finishing operations.
