Until now, it has primarily been used by the plastics industry. Now it is available for use in all branches of industry: the new graphical user interface from KUKA Roboter. The KUKA.SmartGUI graphical user interface enables a wide variety of robotic handling, pick-and-place, manipulating and finishing tasks to be set up and controlled extremely easily - as easily as was previously only possible with linear robot solutions.

Flexible and child’s play to operate, KUKA.SmartGUI brings advantages for increasing customers’ productivity. The new graphical user interface, the KUKA.SmartGUI (Graphical User Interface), enables a wealth of different handling, pick & place, manipulation and finishing tasks to be operated and controlled with KUKA robots just as quickly and easily as with the linear robot solutions traditionally used in these segments.

With this new development, KUKA Roboter continues its course towards greater robot efficiency and user-friendliness, for example in the plastics industry. The KUKA.SmartGUI can be tailored to specific customer requirements.

“This is a graphical user interface that is designed above all for those who have to use it day in, day out,” explains Product Manager Alexander Bay. And that means the operators. “They need to be able to handle the robot without having to attend lengthy training courses.” The graphical user interface from KUKA Roboter provides precisely the robot functions and settings they need for their daily use of the robot. All the tools that are relevant for the given application are displayed on the KCP. “The user-friendliness starts with simple program selection, which is supported by additional information such as images or descriptive texts and can therefore be performed by the operator without error, and continues with the control of the robot,” explains Rüdiger Sonntag, Key Technology Manager at KUKA Roboter, who has already had good experiences with the technology in the plastics industry.

Pressing a “Homedrive” button, for example, makes the robot move to its home position on a previously defined safe path.

A further core function of the KUKA.SmartGUI is the possibility of correcting points on the robot’s path. Supported by graphical control elements, the operator can move any point in the robot program (within a user-defined tolerance range). This procedure is called “online correction”. All functions are represented simply and intuitively. It is thus possible to start operating the robot straight away, after only brief instruction.

Generating user-friendliness - with Smart GUI Studio

The user-friendliness of the graphical user interface must, of course, first be programmed for the specific application. This is done in KUKA.SmartGUI Studio, which itself brings further advantages. Customers and system integrators of KUKA robots now have a new programming and configuration environment in which they can freely customize both robot programs and the user interface itself to meet their own requirements.

They are supported in this work by KUKA.SmartGUI Libraries. “These are programming databases containing predefined subfunctions, macros or program modules for specific applications,” explains Alexander Bay. These modules allow fast, efficient, application-oriented programming.

First practical experience

In actual practice, the Smart GUI translates above all into extremely short start-up times. In practical training courses for plastics applications held at KUKA College, participants have already tested the KUKA.SmartGUI in a robotic cell equipped with an injection molding machine from Battenfeld. In actual fact, training is hardly necessary for the user interface, since it is self-explanatory for the operator.

Furthermore, the technology is not only in use at KUKA College, but also at customers’ plants. “For example, the handling of injection molded parts is carried out by KUKA shelf-mounted robots, programmed and set up using KUKA.SmartGUI,” says Rüdiger Sonntag. In fact, the graphical user interface was a major reason for the customer’s decision to opt for KUKA robots. “The KUKA.SmartGUI is also well-suited for use in other industries,” clarifies Alexander Bay. “Wherever handling, pick & place, manipulation and finishing tasks are required, KUKA.SmartGUI can be used.”