Internet meets manufacturing

Designing a product yourself and then going online to directly order its manufacture by a robot, until now, that always belonged to the realm of science fiction. At this year’s CeBIT, that tool place from 16 to 20 March in Hannover, the ROBOCHOP factory in Hall 16 was presenting a very special look into the industrial production of the future: across the globe, internet users and even the visitors to the trade fair could create seating furniture using a mobile phone app and watch it be produced live at the fair. KUKA was part of the team: at the center of the installation were four highly flexible KUKA robots from the KR QUANTEC series.

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Direct access to an industrial production system by means of the internet – the ROBOCHOP application at CeBIT provided a foretaste of what is possible in the production of the future. Commissioned by GFT Group, the installation was developed by designers Clemens Weishaar and Reed Kram. The designers see the installation as a harbinger of Industry 4.0,  turning consumers into producers. Users from around the world could access the production system online at CeBIT and design small items of furniture using a 3D web app. These were produced during CeBIT and right now are shipped to the users. In total, 2,000 cubes were produced at the trade fair over the course of five days.

Maximum flexibility in each individual component

2,000 cubes, 2,000 design ideas, each one different from the other, ranging from stools to side tables to abstract objects – this demands maximum flexibility in the production process, not to mention in each individual component of the production system.

 This was also the reason why the creators of the installation opted to use KUKA industrial robots. The six-axis robots from the KR QUANTEC series effortlessly handle the 40 x 40 x 40-centimeter rigid foam cubes and use a hot wire cutting unit to shape them to the user’s specifications.

Robot-based automation for the production of the future

The robot system is the focus of attention in the CODE_n innovation competition, initiated by the GFT Group. In Hall 16 at CeBIT, 50 international start-ups had the opportunity to present their solutions in the field of the Internet of Things to a specialist audience. As a strategic partner, KUKA supported this initiative for young companies. The innovations of 13 start-ups alone are specialized in the field of Industry 4.0. In the same manner, the ROBOCHOP installation combined modern automation technology with virtual systems. In so doing, it shows that robot-based automation is indispensable for the flexible and adaptive production of the future – and that the robots from KUKA play a decisive role.

Experience KUKA at HANNOVER MESSE 2015

At the KUKA booth (Hall 17, booth G04), the visitors of this year’s Hanover Fair can deal with the increasing digitization of production and cooperative network of employees and machines. Across the more than 1000 square meters of space at Booth G04 in Hall 17 in the Industrial Automation area, KUKA will be presenting innovative solutions that have one key characteristic in common: they are all designed to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 and bring flexibility in the utilization of production capacity, in logistics, in the sustainable use of resources. KUKA achieves this by merging the IT world and conventional high-tech industry solutions into complete Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS).