Kuka Robotics Highlights Advanced Robotics at IMTS 2026
Kuka Robotics will showcase its advanced robotic automation solutions for machine tool tending, material handling and robotic milling with the company’s OEM and integration partners at IMTS 2026. Visitors to Booth #236807 in the North Building will experience live demonstrations that showcase how Kuka is making automation easier and how its industrial robots, autonomous mobile platforms and partner technologies work together in real-world production environments.
Kuka will highlight robotic machine tool automation through a series of integrated demonstrations featuring multiple CNC machine tool OEM partners. These applications will include EMAG, Matsuura and SYIL machines, each paired with a standardized KUKA robotic system to deliver flexible machine-tending solutions that simplify deployment across a range of production environments.
For enhancing ease of operation for job shops, the SYIL machine tool will leverage Siemens Sinumerik software with Kuka’s mxAutomation to enable seamless control of both the CNC machines and Kuka robots from a single interface. Kuka will also demonstrate a full-service automation model in collaboration with Formic Automation to highlight how manufacturers can adopt robotic machine tending through a scalable, service-based approach that reduces complexity and supports evolving production needs.
As part of the machine tending demonstrations, Mairotec’s MairoFlex Compact 8 system, which features Kuka’s KR Cybertech nano robot and AI vision technology, will pick large-diameter parts from a randomly assorted bin and place them onto the portable trays of Kuka’s autonomous mobile platform, the KMP 600P. The system will then demonstrate automated machine tool tending by transporting the tooling to a lathe to illustrate a standardized robotic solution that combines 3D bin picking, mobile automation and seamless machine interaction within a single production cycle.
Kuka’s material handling and finishing demonstration will showcase a fully integrated, multistep process developed in collaboration with Specialty Tooling Systems (STS). The KR Titan ultra industrial robot will lift and position a large, heavy cast part, demonstrating high-payload handling capabilities for demanding industries such as automotive and heavy machinery. Supporting the process, the KMP 3000P will autonomously transport the part to a robotic finishing cell, where the KR Titan will position it for processing.
The KR Fortec MT will then perform a robotic grinding application using advanced tooling to showcase high-performance surface finishing of large components.
