Want To Use Robotics, But Safety Is a Concern? See How Siemens Did It!

Siemens runs a lead factory for electric motors in Bad Neustadt, Germany. About 1,700 people build high-performance motors there, including the motors that drive many KUKA robots.

(Heh! KUKA robots building robots!)

Still… one key job kept burning time. Staff had to handle stator lathe machining and assembly continuously.

They needed to automate these processes. And they had to keep the workspace open: no safety fences, no barricades.

“We wanted more flexibility so the worker can always step in,” said Jochen Weber, production-tech lead at Siemens.

So they teamed up with KUKA Systems and rolled in a lightweight LBR iiwa cobot on a mobile “Knight” carriage. This concept proved more than functional, allowing them to also perform quality checks with the cobot, not just the menial labor.

The Stator Challenge

Moving raw stators to the lathe was busywork.

Workers had to lift each stator from its carrier, load the lathe, check the barcode, blow the chips away, run a measurement, and pack the part. Simple work, but nonstop.

Quality checks consumed even more time.

Every extra second mattered in a factory producing thousands of motors.

Why Use a Cobot In Large Manufacturing? Isn’t This a Prime Area For Traditional Robots?

A classic industrial robot is fast. But it needs a cage, extra sensors, and big programming budgets. So, it wasn’t a fit.

But above all… handling the stator parts during production wasn’t ergonomic, so it was a pain to automate. Siemens needed flexibility. The KUKA cobot implementation solved this in a cost-effective, functional way.

Keeping People In The Loop, Not Separated By Fences

Siemens wanted automation, but not at the cost of flexibility. Operators still had to reach the part, tweak a program, or grab a sample on the fly.

“At first, we were thinking about having the process carried out by a conventional industrial robot. However, this would have meant building a protective fence around the cell for safety reasons. We wanted more flexibility, though, so that the worker can also intervene at any time and take over from the robot depending on the situation,” said Jochen Weber, in charge of the product launch and developing production technology at the Siemens lead factory.

How LBR iiwa Works At Siemens

1. Pick. Cobot lifts a stator from the carrier.

2. Machine. It feeds the lathe and waits.

3. Clean + ID. It blows air and scans the barcode.

4. Measure. It tilts the part into a gauge. Any deviation? Data loops back and the process corrects itself.

5. Place. Good parts land in a box. Re-checks go to a shared buffer where humans and the cobot stand side by side.

The LBR iiwa is in the center of the process, handling the repetitive parts with the equipment surrounding it. It’s flexible enough to control the sensitive part movements and be adapted for each step of the process. It allows the operator to be physically present and collaborate with the process when necessary.

No quality or safety compromise while the complex processes are completely automated. The cobot functions as a centralized multitasker, earning it the title of the “Knight” as anointed by KUKA. 🙂

Learn more about the successful KUKA cobot application at the Siemens production line below:

• Siemens is relying on a flexible KUKA cell for human-robot collaboration in electric motor production

• KUKA “Knight” concept in the production of electric motors at Siemens

• KUKA LBR iiwa lightweight cobot

Enjoy your week!

The Cobot Spotlight Team