KUKA LBR iisy 15 R930

What it's for

Fifteen kilograms of payload at 930 mm reach: that is the calling card of the KUKA LBR iisy 15 R930, and also the answer to why such a cobot exists at all. In the iisy family, which also includes the KUKA LBR iisy 3 R760 and the KUKA LBR iisy 11 R1300, it is the strongest model, but with a shorter arm than the R1300 versions. The manufacturer points to two tasks: palletizing and machine tending.

In palletizing at the end of a packing line, a robot with a 15 kg payload lifts the carton, gripper included (the gripper's mass has to be subtracted from the payload), and stacks it on the pallet. The torque sensors in the joints let it sense contact with a person, so the cell does not have to be caged, provided the risk assessment of the whole application allows it. How this works in practice is covered in the article on “Robot Safety Standards”.

The second task is machine tending: the robot at a press or a machine tool takes out the finished part and loads the raw one. The short reach is no problem, because the machine and the feeder stand close together. The same model is also available in a cleanroom version, so it can go into a laboratory or onto a line where air cleanliness matters.

The most common industries are factories and warehouses; the cleanroom variant opens the door to laboratories. The general split between a cobot and an industrial robot is explained in “Cobot or Industrial Robot”.

Who it's for

Makes sense for: A plant that has already decided to use a cobot for palletizing or machine tending and needs maximum payload in a compact body. An integrator building cells with heavy cartons, molds or semi-finished parts who doesn't want to jump straight to a classic fenced industrial robot. Companies that already use KUKA software and want a uniform machine park.

Less suited to: Cells that need long reach: a pallet standing far from the robot is a problem, and the KUKA LBR iisy 11 R1300 (11 kg, 1300 mm) is the better choice there. Anyone looking for the lowest entry price into cobots: KUKA does not publish a price, and talking to the distributor is the beginning of the calculation, not the end. It is also not a robot for learning or a small workshop where 3 to 5 kg of payload is enough.

Before you sign the order, read “How to Buy a Cobot Step by Step” and check how to read the parameters in “How to Read a Robot Datasheet”.

Deployments

The information we have is limited to the KUKA product sheet and the fact that the robot is offered by the distributor zapamet.pl. We therefore name no plants and give no installation counts.

In this class, cobots with a 15 kg payload today handle palletizing and machine tending in many factories; alternative models with a similar payload, such as the UR15 or the Doosan M1509, have official distributors in Poland. The overall market picture is in cobots, and integrator companies are collected in “Polish Robotics Companies”.

If 15 kg is too much or too little, or the 930 mm reach limits you, consider:

KUKA LBR iisy 11 R1300: same manufacturer, 11 kg and 1300 mm. It wins where the cell is spread out and the parts are lighter; it loses on payload.

UR15: Universal Robots also offers 15 kg and it is available in Poland through elmark.com.pl; an interesting option when a UR ecosystem is already running in your company (series comparison: “Universal Robots UR5e, UR10e and UR20 Compared”).

Doosan M1509: 15 kg and 900 mm reach, in Poland through coboty-doosan.pl; a similar class, but a different manufacturer and a different service path (see “Doosan Robotics: Cobots from the Korean Maker in Poland”).

Techman TM14: 14 kg and 1100 mm with built-in 2D vision; sensible if the robot also has to recognize parts.

KUKA LBR iiwa 14 R820: an older, seven-axis KUKA design with a 14 kg payload; it gives more freedom in tight spaces.

The KUKA LBR iisy 15 R930 has been sold since 2022 and is the most powerful member of the iisy family. The family began with the KUKA LBR iisy 3 R760 (3 kg, 760 mm, since 2019) and then grew to include 6, 8, 11 and 15 kg versions. The iisy is a cheaper, six-axis alternative to the older seven-axis iiwa series, which KUKA showed as early as 2013 (KUKA LBR iiwa 7 R800).

In the background the maker's whole ecosystem was growing: in June 2023 KUKA introduced the autonomous mobile platform KMP 1500P (KUKA KMP 1500P), which opens the way to combining an arm with a mobile base. Brand profile: KUKA.