KUKA Deploys Over 50 Robots for E-Mobility Provider’s Production Lines
A new project from KUKA and one of his partners, SAR Elektronic GmbH, will help build production and inspection lines for a German automotive supplier.
Despite the supplier not being named, it is understood the five fully-automated lines for inverters will see the deployment of around 50 robots from Kuka.
These will include fully-automated handling machines, plasma cleaning and bonding processes robots, and an integrated functional inspection device.
Developing Cells for New Production
The SAR Group is a conglomerate focusing on the production of engineering services. The firm specializes in the development of customized system solutions, and in the case of its current partnership with KUKA, SAR developed the cells for the new production and inspection lines.
KUKA robots used at a SAR facility. Image used courtesy of KUKA.
Particularly, the robots utilized as a part of this joint effort will be KUKA’s KR QUANTEC, KR CYBERTECH, and KR AGILUS series.
According to the robotics’ giant, the finished inverters will be automatically handled through over five labeling and inspection steps, including a cycle time of 50 seconds.
Electromobility and Beyond
Inverters are modules used in electromobility, and KUKA said SAR is producing the systems’ cells for these lines under a standardized cleanroom concept in Dingolfing, a city in Southern Germany. After the testing and functional inspections, the cells will be delivered to one Chinese plant and two European plants of a German automotive supplier.
There, two unnamed automotive manufacturers will install the inverters in various electric vehicles.
KUKA: Leading Global Robotics Efforts
One of the leading suppliers of intelligent automation solutions, KUKA claims overall sales of 3.5 billion euros. The firm counts over 40 branches across five continents and employs roughly 14,200 people. Beyond the monetary value of the company, however, KUKA’s impact on the international robotics industry is substantial.
KUKA robotics machinery in action. Image used courtesy of KUKA.
KUKA has, throughout the years, spearheaded various robotics solutions, raging from welding systems to the world’s first industrial robot with six electric motor-driven axes.
The company was also the mind behind the world’s first robot-controlled radiation surgery system (the “Cyberknife”) and has since led the development of collaborative robots in healthcare as well as various industrial settings.
Today, KUKA counts 682 different industry partners, ranging from automotive to aerospace ones, but also electronics, pharmaceuticals, and more. As for its latest collaboration with the SAR Group, Control.com will follow up on further developments.
What do you think about KUKA’s latest project? Let us know in the comment section down below.
