KUKA

KUKA is one of the oldest brands in automation, but it started with lighting. In 1898 in Augsburg, Johann Josef Keller and Jakob Knappich founded a company making cheap lamps for homes and cities. Robotics only arrived in 1973, when KUKA developed FAMULUS, the first industrial robot with six electromechanically driven axes. In 2004 the company presented the LBR 3, ancestor of today's cobots, designed to work directly alongside people, and in 2007 the KUKA Titan entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest industrial robot. In 2016 and 2017 the Chinese group Midea acquired 94.55% of the shares, and in 2022 it completed the takeover of the remainder. Today the headquarters is still in Augsburg, and according to Wikipedia the company employs more than 14,000 people and has revenue of about EUR 3.9 billion. In June 2023 the autonomous mobile platform KMP 1500P was unveiled. Two lines appear in our coverage: the KMP mobile platforms and the lightweight LBR iisy and iiwa cobots. KUKA's classic industrial robots, known from automotive plants, are not yet described here, because this site focuses on collaborative and mobile robots.

Ten models are covered, arranged in two families. The first is the KMP transport platforms for in-plant logistics: KUKA KMP 600P (up to 600 kg, only 27 cm tall), KUKA KMP 1500P (up to 1.5 t, inductive charging) and KUKA KMP 3000P, which is omnidirectional, carries up to 3 t and, coupled with a second vehicle, even 6 t. The second family is the LBR cobots. The iisy series is simpler and meant for light assembly: KUKA LBR iisy 3 R760 (3 kg, 760 mm), KUKA LBR iisy 6 R1300 (6 kg), KUKA LBR iisy 8 R930 (8 kg), KUKA LBR iisy 11 R1300 (11 kg, a cleanroom variant) and KUKA LBR iisy 15 R930 (15 kg, the largest in the family). The iiwa series is the older, seven-axis force-sensitive class: KUKA LBR iiwa 7 R800 and KUKA LBR iiwa 14 R820, on sale since 2014. Prices are known for only two iisy models: EUR 23,445 net for the iisy 3 and EUR 28,085 for the iisy 6. Categories: “Cobots” and mobile robots. The difference is simple: a KMP is a vehicle that carries goods around the plant, while the iisy and iiwa are arms that stand at a workstation. The iiwa is the older, pricier class, with seven axes and a torque sensor in each one.

KUKA is a high-end company in terms of brand and scale, but in the cobot segment it plays as a challenger. The market for lightweight collaborative arms is shaped by Universal Robots and FANUC, and from Asia by Doosan Robotics; among the giants of classic robots, ABB Robotics and Yaskawa Electric must be named. In in-plant transport, the KMP platforms compete with Mobile Industrial Robots, the Danish leader in mobile robots. A strong card is the capital of its Chinese owner Midea and its long presence in the automotive industry; a weaker one is the lack of a single flagship product in the simple-cobot segment, of the kind the UR5e is for UR. Funding in the startup sense does not apply here; this is a corporation with an established position. On the differences between robot classes, see [[wiedza:cobot-czy-robot-przemysłowy]]. The headcount and revenue figures come from Wikipedia and cover the whole group, which also includes Swisslog logistics and medical automation, not just the robots we describe on this site.

KUKA has its own representation in Poland: KUKA Polska Sp. z o.o. is listed as the sales channel for the KMP platforms. The iisy cobots are offered by zapamet.pl, and among integrators Rob Expert of Szubin appears. We found no named deployments in verified sources, and prices for models other than the two iisy are not public. If you are planning a project, start with an inquiry to KUKA Polska; a useful list of Polish companies is in “Polish Robotics Companies”. Note that there are no published list prices for the KMP platforms, so every project begins with a request for quotation.

KUKA is a safe brand for a company that wants to buy a proven system with service backup in Poland. The KMP platforms and iisy cobots are worth comparing with the offerings from UR and FANUC, because prices are not public. Anyone looking for the cheapest cobot will find it elsewhere. Who it suits: plants that combine internal transport with light workstation automation and want a single supplier for both. If your budget is tight, request competing quotes in parallel.