KR FAMULUS: Technological robotics adventure

"The KR FAMULUS was programmed on the control panel of the control system using a hand-held programming device, which was called a "programming pear" due to its shape. Due to the low computing power and low memory capacity at the time, coordinated movements within the 6 axes were not possible. The number of possible spatial points was also limited by the sparse memory capacity. Today, a single spatial point requires many times more memory than the KR FAMULUS had available as a complete memory. The drive points generated the signals, which the computer then stored - bit by bit," says Schwarz. The effort required for the control system was enormous, as each movement had to be specified individually - and, if possible, at the exact speed that was later required during operation.

When Richard Schwarz thinks back to the beginnings of industrial robotics from today's perspective, he has to smile. "Those were very different times back then," he says. "We thought we could do everything ourselves. Our sporting ambition was coupled with an occasionally somewhat arrogant belief in our own ability. Every time the smoke went up, we thought: that's it, we can't do it. That was one side of it. But the other was the great joy when something went better or right after we had made a change." For him, this is precisely the German engineering spirit that makes innovations and constant leaps in innovation possible.

Richard Schwarz and his colleagues felt a little queasy when the KR FAMULUS celebrated its world premiere after three years of development. It was used for the first time as a welding robot in a production line at a German industrial company. "The workers didn't want the KR FAMULUS," recalls Schwarz. They thought the robot would take their work away. In the beginning, inexplicable malfunctions kept occurring as soon as the KUKA assembly team left the factory. "But at some point, the tide had turned. The workers now had other, physically much easier tasks. The KR FAMULUS had suddenly become a very welcome helper in production," reports Schwarz. "Today, I have to smile at how the view of the robot and the associated humanization of jobs could quickly turn 180 degrees."

However, the KR FAMULUS did not achieve its major breakthrough even after its first public appearance at the Hanover Trade Fair in 1974. No more than a handful of the innovative industrial robots were built. It was not until 1977 - almost 5 years after its first presentation - that a well-known German car manufacturer ordered 20 next-generation robots from KUKA for a new plant. A major order that was to be followed by many more. "Our robot factory with 10 to 20 people soon became a corporate and production division with over 100 employees," says Richard Schwarz.

Today, KUKA robots are in use all over the world in a wide variety of industry and industrial applications. As with the KR FAMULUS, the KUKA mission of making people's work easier and being "at their service" with intelligent automation solutions continues to be confirmed every day. In its anniversary year, this is a real reason to celebrate: "Progress and innovation never stand still," confirms Bahr.