KUKA

KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and solutions for factory automation. The KUKA Robotics Corporation has 25 subsidiaries worldwide, mostly sales and service subsidiaries, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India, Russia and most European countries. The company name, KUKA, is an acronym for Keller und Knappich Augsburg.

History

The company was founded in 1898 in Augsburg, Germany, by Johann Josef Keller and Jacob Knappich. At first, the company focused on house and street lights, but soon expanded to other products (welding equipment and solutions; big containers), to become the market leader in communal vehicles in Europe by 1966. Keller & Knappich GmbH merged with part of Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe AG to become Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe Augsburg Aktiengesellschaft, eventually KUKA for short.

In 1973, KUKA created its own industrial robot FAMULUS. At this time, the company belonged to the Quandt group. However, in 1980, the Quandt family withdrew and a publicly owned firm was established. In 1995, the company was split into KUKA Robotics Corporation and KUKA Schweißanlagen (now KUKA Systems), now both subsidiaries of KUKA AG. The company is a member of the Robotics Industries Association (RIA), of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and of the German engineering association VDMA. Today, KUKA concentrates on solutions for the automation of industrial manufacturing processes.

Robot

A robot is a mechanical or virtual artificial agent, usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry. Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids such as Honda's Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (ASIMO) and TOSY's TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot (TOPIO) to industrial robots, medical operating robots, patent assist robots, dog therapy robots, collectively programmed swarm robots, UAV drones such as General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and even microscopic nano robots. By mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating movements, a robot may convey a sense of intelligence or thought of its own.

The branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots, as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing is robotics. These technologies deal with automated machines that can take the place of humans in dangerous environments or manufacturing processes, or resemble humans in appearance, behavior, and/or cognition. Many of today's robots are inspired by nature contributing to the field of bio-inspired robotics. These robots have also created a newer branch of robotics: soft robotics.

Robot (CNBLUE song)

"Robot" is a song by the South Korean rock band CN Blue, written and produced by Jung Yong-hwa and Kosuke Oba. It was released in December 19, 2012 in three different editions as the group's fourth major single under Warner Music Japan and seventh overall. It follows previous singles "Where You Are" and "Come On".

Background

The single was announced by their Korean agency, FNC Media, on November 14 along with the tracklist of the single and editions. In November 22, an image was released on their Japanese official website, revealing the jacket covers, producers, prices and bonus gifts included in every edition. The song was chosen as opening theme for Nippon Television's TV show Happy Music during December.

Editions

The single was released in three editions, two limited and a regular edition:

A limited CD+DVD edition, including the CD single and a special DVD with the music video of "Robot", a special feature from the recordings of the music video and performances from the show "Code Name Blue release live at Pacifico Yokohama", realized in September 9, 2012.

Robot: Super Color Comic

Robot is a series of books containing the art of various Asian artists, created by Range Murata and published by Wanimagazine. Volume 1 was released on October 21, 2004, and ten volumes have currently been released.

Digital Manga Publishing was originally responsible for the North American distribution, with the first volume being released August 6, 2005. However, due to talks over publishing negotiations breaking down, DMP stopped publishing Robot after Volume 3. Rights were picked up by UDON Entertainment who began distribution on December 24, 2007 with Volume 4, with the plan of releasing all subsequent releases on a quarterly basis, but has since halted after releasing volume 5.

Artists involved

Bergsala Lightweight

Bergsala Lightweight (バーグサラ・ライトウェイト), formerly LightWeight Co., Ltd, is a developer of video games. While LightWeight Co. developed innovative fighting games with samurai themes, such as the Bushido Blade series and the Kengo series, Bergsala Lightweight is currently known for its Hello Kitty games.

History

The company was founded on November 22, 1995 in Meguroku, Tokyo under managing director Tetsuo Mizuno. The developer Square Co., Ltd. initially had a 40% stake in Lightweight. Lightweight cut its ties with Square in 1998, and in March 1999, Takashi Ueda was appointed as CEO and director of the company. The following month, developer Genki acquired a 40% stake in the company. In March 2001 Lightweight became a wholly owned subsidiary of Genki, but dissolved this connection on March 31, 2006 when Lightweight was bought by Index Visual & Games, Ltd. Ueda retired in his position in November 2007.

Games