Home > European Design Engineer Magazine > Automotive Design
An inside view of international standards
Within the context of a diminishing role for national standards, Jon Severn discusses the influence of international standardisation with Ronnie Amit, the general secretary and chief executive officer of the International Electrotechnical Commission.
PC shipments rise to 69.9m units
Intel adds momentum; AMD makes long-term gains in Q1 microprocessor market, according to iSuppli Corp
Surging demand for valves and actuators
Rising demand from diverse process industries supports steady growth in global valves and actuators market
Electric motors and gearboxes may never look the same again
Jon Severn meets Justin Levine, the managing director of Parvalux Electric Motors,  the man for whom design is a mainstay of his strategy to rejuvenate the company
Bi-stable displays gain momentum
Despite LCD dominance, opportunities remain for emerging display technologies
Airlines assess carbon costs
Only around 40 per cent of the 20 carriers surveyed currently monitor and report emissions data, Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Six-axis robot: ‘the world’s strongest’

Kuka Roboter is introducing the Titan robot that boasts a payload capacity of 1000kg and a reach of 3200mm. As such, it is claimed to be the largest and strongest six-axis industrial robot in the world. Kuka says this is fresh proof of the company’s innovative drive, earning it a place in the Guinness Book of Records. At a special event, guests helped to load up the new robot with a total of 1000kg, thereby demonstrating that it really is the strongest. For customers, the Titan opens up many new fields of application – wherever power, reach and precision are required.

According to Kuka, customers are looking for solutions, not individual products. They know exactly what they want: market-orientated solutions, not off-the-shelf products, but tailored to the precise needs of the company. With the Kuka Titan, the development team at Kuka took up the challenge of combining power, speed, reach and precision into a single high-technology, high-performance machine.

The Kuka Titan has been developed for really heavy tasks. It will therefore find its place in such sectors as the building materials, automotive or foundry industries.

For example, it is capable of moving whole car bodies entirely unaided. Hitherto this was only possible using at least two robots – or more usually with complex special kinematic systems for heavy loads. In the building materials sector it can lift concrete staircase segments, taking the place of a crane weighing many times more than the Titan. Metre-thick panes of glass or large castings are likewise no problem for the heavyweight robot.

Titan is strong and robust, without compromising on precision or accuracy. At full stretch, it reaches a height of over 4m. Next to this giant, its predecessor, the KR 500 – a powerful lifter in its own right – appears almost small and delicate.

A total of nine motors are installed, which together deliver the power of a mid-sized car.

As a result, its design called not only for a robust steel base frame but also for a completely new drive concept. In axes 1 and 3, two motors feed into a single gear unit. Axis 2 is likewise powered by two motors, each with its own gear unit. Furthermore, the Kuka Titan can withstand a static torque of 60000Nm. This is all the more remarkable if you consider that a powerful car has a maximum drive torque of only 600Nm (just one per cent of the torque of the Titan).

From its modular construction to programming and intuitive control, the KR 1000 has all the standard features.

For more information, visit www.kuka.com