KUKA

The Chinese appliance manufacturer Midea Group acquired a majority stake in KUKA, finalizing the takeover around 2017. Despite the acquisition, KUKA still operates as a distinct brand and maintains its headquarters in Augsburg, Germany.

The KUKA KR QUANTEC series is heavily used for high-payload industrial applications like automotive manufacturing, while the LBR iiwa is famous for sensitive, collaborative robotics. The KR CYBERTECH series is also highly popular for medium-payload handling and spot welding tasks.

KUKA robots are programmed using a proprietary controller software interface commonly referred to as KRL (KUKA Robot Language). Modern KUKA controllers, like the smartPAD, run on a Windows Embedded operating system to handle the robot's kinematics and logic.

Although KUKA was founded in 1898, it did not develop its first industrial robot, the FAMULUS, until 1973. This six-axis, electromechanically driven robot was a major milestone in the history of factory automation.