mobile platform

The KUKA youBot has become indispensable in the area of research and teaching. It consists of an omnidirectional mobile platform on which a five-axis robot arm with a two-finger gripper is installed. The arm and mobile platform can also be used individually. The KUKA youBot targets research institutes and universities which can easily implement their own controllers and application ideas with the robot.
In order to allow researchers, teachers and students maximum experimental freedom, the KUKA robot is supplied entirely without a proprietary controller. Instead, it is equipped with a powerful PC board and an EtherCat-based interface to the electronic drive system. The KUKA youBot can be controlled using a wide range of open-source software packages as well as other software ( C++ API, ROS, Orocos, LabView and many more). The open interfaces additionally allow the users to equip the KUKA youBot with sensors and to develop complex applications.
The KUKA youBot offers researchers, teachers and students along with industry-based research and development departments the hardware basis for testing new ideas and scaling the acquired knowledge to other applications. The KUKA youBot therefore allows researchers to work on a small scale on major topics that impact the “factory of the future” and continue on course towards Industry 4.0.