Social Engagement

Getting pupils from all types of schools interested in science and technology – that is the goal of the AeroSpace Lab, a youth research center in southern Germany. Based on the five guiding principles – a holistic approach, fascination, cooperation, identification, and transfer – young people can experiment for themselves in this center and explore the world of science and technology.

KUKA supports this initiative that exposes young people to science and technology from an early age on.

In the RoboCup, held at different venues each year, robots do battle with a soccer ball. Around 2,000 scientists and students from all over the world build, program and optimize their robots with the goal of reaching the final. A scientific robotics conference is held at the same time.

KUKA supports the hosting of the competitions in Germany – RoboCup German Open – in which teams compete for the championship titles in the junior leagues Rescue, Soccer and OnStage.

As a driver of innovation, KUKA uses its in-house Corporate Research department to bolster Germany as a business location and to push back the frontiers of research. Furthermore, KUKA is heavily involved in national and international research meetings, conferences and the exchange of scientific views, and is in close contact with numerous educational and research institutions.

With over 3,200 members, the VDMA (German Engineering Federation) is the largest network organization of mechanical engineering in Germany. The association represents Germany's largest industrial employer sector with 1.35 million employees in mechanical and plant engineering. KUKA is a member and active in various committees, e. g. in the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association with its three specialist departments Robotics, Machine Vision and Integrated Assembly Solutions. The robotics department brings together players in the industry and focuses on important future and trend topics such as national and international security standardization, OPC UA and human-robot collaboration.

We are Alliance Member of the Sustainability Initiative Blue Competence. Blue Competence is an initiative of the VDMA for promoting and communication of sustainable solutions for the Mechanical Engineering Industry. By using the trademark “Blue Competence”, we commit ourselves to these twelve Sustainability Guidelines of the Mechanical Engineering Industry (www.bluecompetence.net/about).

The European robotics association EUnited Robotics represents the robotics industry in Europe. Members include manufacturers, component suppliers and system integrators. KUKA is a member of the association and represented on the executive board.

EUnited Robotics was founded in 2004 with the aim of encouraging economic progress, high production quality, cost efficiency, improved quality of life and job creation. The association serves as a cooperation platform for decision-makers and market leaders from research and industry. The cooperation partners include the Fraunhofer Institute and the Technical University of Munich.

KUKA is also active in the European non-profit organization EFFRA (the European Factories of the Future Research Association). EFFRA connects leading representatives of European production technology with the aim of supporting key industries in Europe. KUKA champions topics of key significance for robot-based automation.

Uniting private and public resources, EFFRA jointly develops calls for proposals together with the European Commission, for example, relating to funded projects on application-oriented research topics.

As a robot manufacturer, KUKA is involved on an international level in the global robotics umbrella organization IFR (International Federation of Robotics) and has been in leadership roles there for decades. Beyond this, KUKA is a member of the respective national robotics associations – such as the RIA (Robotic Industries Association, North America), JARA (Japan Robot Association), CRIA (China Robot Industry Alliance) and VDMA (Robotics + Automation, Germany). The goal is the further development, promotion, networking and representation of the robotics industry as well as research and development in the areas of industrial and service robotics.

Each year, the IFR Statistical Department publishes the World Robotics statistics – a detailed statistics report on robot installations, user industries, applications and robot types in around 50 countries. The IFR is also the coordinator of the International Symposium on Robotics (ISR), which has taken place annually since 1970. This is one of the oldest robotics research conferences dedicated to showcasing technology trends in robotics and Industrie 4.0.

How can Germany become the factory supplier for Industrie 4.0 as well? How can Germany further boost its competitiveness as a production location with Industrie 4.0? Industrie 4.0 Platform was founded to answer such questions. Here, companies like KUKA want to make a major impact together with their employees, trade unions and associations as well as the scientific and political communities.

KUKA is involved particularly in Working Group 5, addressing the topics of work, education and training.