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KUKA industrial robots and cobots

Where a written procedure fits around a KUKA robot

Section titled “Where a written procedure fits around a KUKA robot”

KUKA robots do the moving, and KUKA’s own software programs them and watches the fleet. The steps people take around the robot are a separate matter: who checks the cell before a run, who approves a changeover and who signs off after a fault. A Tallyfy template could hold those steps.

Outside software can read a KUKA robot’s status. Sending it work takes an add-on package that KUKA sells.

What KUKA makes today

Section titled “What KUKA makes today”

KUKA’s robot finder ↗[1] lists 25 robot families as of October 2026, carrying from 3 kg to 1500 kg. Among them:

KUKA also makes mobile robots, including an autonomous forklift ↗[10] introduced in September 2026.

What outside software can and can’t do

Section titled “What outside software can and can’t do”

Reading a robot’s status

Section titled “Reading a robot’s status”

The OPC Foundation listing ↗[11] for the KR C5 controller says it comes with KUKA.DeviceConnector, which shares robot data over OPC UA, a standard for machine data. KUKA’s cloud service, KUKA iiQoT ↗[12], shows a whole fleet on one dashboard and logs changes to each robot’s software and programs. Its Basic version is free.

iiQoT asks for KUKA System Software (KSS) 8.3 or higher. Neither source mentions the newer iiQKA.OS2 operating system, so ask KUKA what your controller supports. The iiQoT page describes no way to send robots work, and no API (a way for one program to talk to another).

Sending a robot work

Section titled “Sending a robot work”

You need an add-on package that KUKA sells separately, such as KUKA.Ethernet KRL ↗[13] or KUKA.PLC mxAutomation ↗[14]. With Ethernet KRL you also need a KRL program on the controller written to act on what arrives. mxAutomation instead runs KUKA’s own interpreter on the controller and takes its commands from a PLC.

What we couldn’t find

Section titled “What we couldn’t find”

As of October 2026, KUKA’s public pages show no REST API for the controller. That’s the web-style interface most business software expects. We found no KUKA Python package either. KUKA AMP ↗[15], announced in March 2026 as an open API platform, has no public documentation that we could find.

Where Tallyfy could fit

Section titled “Where Tallyfy could fit”

Launch a Tallyfy template and its steps become tasks assigned to people, with form fields for readings and approve or reject steps for decisions. Each running process keeps an activity log of what happened and who did it.

Linking that to a robot means writing a small program of your own to sit between the two. Tallyfy doesn’t supply one.

Where Tallyfy could fitKUKA controllerYour own programTallyfy processYour team Reports statusLaunches a processAssigns tasksCompletes tasksSends a webhookPasses job data
  • The solid arrows use what exists today: OPC UA from KUKA, and from Tallyfy the API and the webhook (a message Tallyfy sends to another system when a task is completed).
  • The dashed arrow needs a KUKA add-on package, and with Ethernet KRL a robot program written for it.

Start with reading only. Your program watches for a fault or a finished job and launches a Tallyfy process, so the follow-up lands with the right person.

Technical details

Section titled “Technical details”

(Skip this unless you’re setting up the technical side.)

Controllers and system software

Section titled “Controllers and system software”
  • KUKA’s controller page ↗[16] lists the KR C5 and KR C5 micro, both for iiQKA.OS2, as of October 2026. The KR C2 generation is discontinued ↗[17].
  • iiQKA.OS2 ↗[18] is KUKA’s Linux-based robot operating system, with a web-based user interface and a virtual robot controller. It builds on KUKA’s older system software, KSS.
  • An optional NVIDIA expansion board adds AI for vision on the KR C5 and KR C5 micro, according to KUKA’s launch notice ↗[19].
  • The OPC Foundation listing ↗[20] was published in 2022 and last certified in March 2026. It also covers the KR C4 on KSS 8.3 or higher. Ask KUKA whether the OPC UA server needs its own license.

Robot programs and tools

Section titled “Robot programs and tools”
  • Robots on KUKA System Software ↗[21] and iiQKA.OS2 are programmed in KRL, the KUKA Robot Language. KSS fieldbuses such as PROFINET and EtherCAT are set up and mapped in KUKA.WorkVisual.
  • Wikipedia ↗[22] calls KRL similar to Pascal. Each program is a .src file of movement commands and a .dat file of data with the same name.
  • Programs sit in the controller’s KRC:\R1\Program folder, according to a public driver guide ↗[23].
  • Projects reach the controller over the network from KUKA.WorkVisual on KSS, or iiQWorks.Sim on iiQKA.OS2, according to a ROS 2 driver guide ↗[24].
  • You can also program on a teach pendant ↗[25]. KUKA lists the smartPAD pro and smartPLUG for iiQKA.OS2, and the smartPAD for KSS.
  • iiQWorks.Sim ↗[26] covers simulation and virtual commissioning.
  • ready2_pilot ↗[27] is a wireless add-on for guiding a robot by hand with a 6D mouse.
  • The LBR iiwa ↗[28] has its own controller, the KUKA Sunrise Cabinet.

Ways to send work to a robot

Section titled “Ways to send work to a robot”

KUKA sells each of these as an option. We found no public prices.

KUKA’s mobile robots take orders another way. The KMP 250P ↗[34] platform is controlled through the KUKA.AMR Fleet manager and the VDA 5050 standard.

KUKA’s manuals are in KUKA Xpert ↗[35], free with a my.KUKA account.

Section titled “Related articles”

Integrations > Robotics

Tallyfy has no integration or partnership with any robot maker. This concept section shows how a…
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