After the traffic we hit on our way to Munich yesterday, it was so nice to have a later wake up and take the train in Augsburg to KUKA!

Before even arriving to the site visit, I thought the background of the name “KUKA” was so interesting. It stands for “Keller and Knappich Augsburg” and was founded in 1898 as a mechanical engineering company. It was also very cool to have seen their robots in action the day prior to have a better idea of how their product is applied in the automotive industry.

Just like the University, the site visit was directly off of the train tracks. We started our visit with a talk in front of a display with information about the company and its history. The speaker introduced us to their own AI agent that we could talk to and ask anything, and then he brought us over to a wall with a large screen and two of the biggest robots I’ve ever seen. We then watched their programmed music video of sorts where the robots were synced up to the big screen and were a visual aid in the dancer’s performance. I was blown away by the scale and preciseness of the entire video!!

Something I learned at this site visit is that KUKA robots are not used selectively for the automotive industry, and that they can even be used in medical procedures. This brought up an interesting thought for me to consider whether I would prefer a human or a robot to operate on me. Before this trip, I would have definitely been against a robot, but after witnessing the streamlined ability of these machines, I have been rethinking my answer.

The factory tour compared to BMW was far more industrial and hands-on which really surprised me. There were way more people completing physical labor, whereas at BMW, they had KUKA robots doing most of their work.

With our free time after KUKA, I really wanted to make a trip to the grocery store to grab some snacks and experience Rewe. I got all sorts of choclates, sour cream and onion chips, protein bars for bus rides, and then went home and did a taste test of it all!

Henrik, one of the graduate students that will be studying at Pitt during the fall semester, invited our whole group to his apartment to play games and hangout that night! It was some of the most fun I’ve had, and it made me so excited for the upcoming school year I’ll get to share with so many new friends from this trip!