Robotics for bakeries, bending processes or clothing companies: In the current round of the Kuka Innovation Award, creativity in the field of robotics for trade and SMEs is in demand. The three final teams have now been chosen. They will present their ideas at the Hannover Messe in April. Kuka's annual innovation competition is based on the motto "Robots for the People" in 2024 and aims to make robotics and automation easily accessible to everyone. Research teams and young entrepreneurs worldwide were invited to submit creative ideas for collaborative robotics for small and medium-sized companies. The aim of the challenge: to develop innovative applications, technologies and software based on the Kuka cobot LBR iisy and the iiQKA robot operating and ecosystem. The jury decided on three final teams:

A robot apprentice for the trade

Team Yantra is developing an LBR iisy robot apprentice to assist in the skilled production of sustainable, hand-woven textiles in micro-factories to reduce production times while preserving the creative aspect of the craft. Within the team, members of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are working on collaborative robotics for individual robot programming, complemented by a language-to-motion model developed in collaboration with Reverie Language Technologies (RLT). The National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC), India, will advise the project on the handloom processes.

Automation for small bakeries

At Team Collaborative Deliciousness, the IISYest Baker is a user-friendly automation solution for smaller artisan bakeries and is based on iiQKA.OS and the KUKA LBR iisy Cobot. It has an intuitive user interface that allows the baker to perform thousands of repetitive tasks that are currently done manually.

A buddy for production

Team Ricobb presents the LBR iisy Cobot "Buddy", which is designed to enable small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe to bring back manufacturing processes that would otherwise be located in low-wage countries. This is the ambitious goal of the LVD Robotic Solutions and Acro research group. The finalists will present their ideas at the Kuka stand at the Hannover Messe.

Hall 5, Stand D12