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Additional KUKA omniMove transports upper shell of wing for A350 XWB

The requirements for production processes at Airbus are growing. In order meet increasing demands, Airbus has ordered a further KUKA omniMove heavy-duty mobile platform, which is now being delivered. The flexibly adaptable special vehicle will transport the molds together with the upper shell of the wing for the A350 XWB at the Airbus plant in Stade.

14 November 2016

Another KUKA omniMove leaves the plant of the Augsburg-based robot and system builder for Airbus in Stade, Germany.

Transportation of tooling for aircraft components weighing up to 75 tonnes 

To transport the upper shells of the wings for wide-bodied aircraft at the Airbus plant in Stade, two KUKA omniMoves will now be used instead of just one. The guided heavy-duty transporter is 34 meters long and four meters wide. It also has 56 wheels and can transport a load of up to 100 tonnes. With its modular system, it is precisely tailored to the specific task and spatial properties on site. At the same time, KUKA also continues to use purely electric drives – including for the lift tables specifically designed for this vehicle. These can precisely lift loads as high as 2.5 meters in accordance with customer requirements. Using its camera systems, the vehicle is guided and positioned with millimeter precision.

Now the third KUKA omniMove at Airbus in Stade

With omnidirectional drive technology thanks to the omniMove wheel system, autonomous navigation without the risk of collision and enormous payloads, the KUKA omniMove serves as a mobile heavy-duty platform wherever heavy parts need to be transported precisely and reliably. Airbus has already been using the KUKA OmniMove in the production of aircraft since 2010. The technology has proven successful and has now led to a follow-up order. In 2016, Airbus ordered further omniMove vehicles for the expansion in production of the A350 XWB at its European plants. One of these vehicles – which is unique for KUKA in terms of its dimensions and payload – is for the plant in Stade, Germany. “The KUKA OmniMove is also impressive because, as a freely scalable modular system, it can be precisely adapted to the given requirements for height, length and width. As a result of the positive experience, Airbus signaled that they would continue to turn to KUKA for automated processes within production,” notes Robert Witte, Industrial Business Development Manager for Mobile Robotics at KUKA Roboter GmbH.