The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2022
KUKA LBR iisy: torque sensors in every axis and gentle edges you can see but not feel
A compact robot for narrow spaces gets certified collision protection from six-axis sensors and a gentle look people can trust.
KUKA
What it had to solve
KUKA wanted automation that is intuitive and safe for narrow spaces — unloading, packaging, precise mounting and demanding research tasks — where a robot works close to people.
How it works
KUKA's brief for the LBR iisy was a robot that makes automation intuitive in places where people and machines share tight quarters — unloading, packaging, precise mounting and demanding research tasks. In such spaces a machine must be not only capable but trustworthy at arm's length.
The answer engineered safety twice. Joint torque sensors in all six axes react to minor external forces and give the robot certified collision protection, within a compact body that carries a 3 kg payload and reaches 600 mm. Then the design language does the emotional work: gentle edges are clearly visible but cannot be felt, so the robot reads as soft without being soft.
The Red Dot jury praised the small robot's sleek, emotionally appealing appearance and judged that it fulfils all critical requirements for human-robot collaboration. The project is preserved in the Red Dot Design Award archive as KUKA work.
Why it lands
- Collision protection is certified in the hardware itself, so the safety promise does not depend on the operator behaving perfectly.
- Visible-but-untouchable edges make approachability a deliberate design decision rather than an accident of engineering.
- A 3 kg payload and 600 mm reach size the robot for real narrow-space tasks rather than a showpiece.
- The signature look gives an industrial tool an identity, which matters when people must feel safe working beside it.
What it did
The Red Dot jury called the design language sleek and emotionally appealing and said the small robot fulfils all critical requirements for human-robot collaboration; the project is archived as a Red Dot Design Award winner.
What you can take
Safety can be designed in two layers: sensors make the robot physically safe, and visible gentle edges that cannot be felt make that safety legible before anyone reaches for it.
Since then
The Red Dot archive page records the product and jury statement but no sales figures, so the case stands on the design idea: for a robot that shares space with people, safety is both physical and emotional. KUKA engineered certified collision protection into six axes of sensing and a gentle, visible design language on top, and the Red Dot jury judged the result to fulfil all critical requirements for human-robot collaboration.
Sources
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