BMW Group (Munich, Germany) produces both 1 Series compact cars and 3 Series sedans at its plant in Regensburg, Germany. Long committed to automated assembly, the company recently decided to automate the handling of its front and rear axles, as well as the doors for both types of automobiles. Among other goals, BMW wanted a system that would be flexible enough to adapt to changing product requirements.
For handling the front and rear axles, BMW installed three heavy-duty, six-axis robots from Kuka Robots (Augsburg, Germany): a KR 500 model and two KR 360s. The KR 500, which has a payload of 500 kilograms, takes the assembled front axles from the production line and sets them down on an assembly aggregate carrier (known as a MAT). The KR 500's combination gripper is capable of working with the different axles that go into the 1 Series and 3 Series. It also secures the moving parts on the each axle during transport, so the various parts will be correctly position on the MAT for processing.