With extensive hands-on experience in industrial automation and collaborative robotics, Hakan Türkekul is a technology entrepreneur, the Founder & CEO of KLUG Robotics and the creator of COBOMOTION.
Growing up in a family whose professional background was rooted in engineering and industrial technology, Türkekul was introduced to machinery, automation and manufacturing from an early stage of his life.
Over the years, he built his experience directly in the field, working alongside engineers, technical teams and manufacturers and developing a deep understanding of how automation technologies perform under real production conditions.
Today, his primary focus is collaborative robotics.
Through KLUG Robotics, Türkekul and his team develop cobot-based industrial applications, with particular expertise in cobotic welding and flexible manufacturing.
Through COBOMOTION, they develop motion technologies designed to expand the reach, mobility and capabilities of cobots beyond their standard six axes.
His long-term vision is to help make collaborative robotics more flexible, more capable and accessible to a much wider range of manufacturers.
Building a Career around Industrial Technology
The Worlds Times: Who is Hakan Türkekul, and how would you describe your role in the collaborative robotics industry?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “I describe myself first and foremost as a technology entrepreneur who grew up in the world of engineering and industrial automation.
Engineering and industrial technology have been part of my family’s professional background, so machinery, production and technology have always been familiar to me.
My own experience, however, has been built primarily in the field.
Over the years, I have worked closely with engineers, technicians, manufacturers and automation teams and gained extensive hands-on experience in industrial automation, motion control, manufacturing technologies and, eventually, collaborative robotics.
Today, the area I am most passionate about is cobots.
Through KLUG Robotics, we focus on developing practical cobot solutions for industrial production.
With COBOMOTION, we take that philosophy one step further by developing technologies that expand what cobots can physically do.
My role is to bring together technology, manufacturing requirements and business vision and turn them into solutions that create measurable value in production.”
From Industrial Automation to Collaborative Robotics
The Worlds Times: How did your journey toward collaborative robotics begin?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “My professional journey developed within the industrial automation sector.
During my years working with automation technologies, including my experience with Fatek Automation, I became familiar with PLC, HMI, SCADA, motion control, multi-axis servo systems and industrial process automation.
More importantly, I had the opportunity to observe these technologies operating in real factories.
That experience taught me something very important: technology alone does not solve a production problem.
The mechanical system, control technology, software, production process and people operating the system must all work together.
As robotics became more accessible and flexible, I became particularly interested in collaborative robots.
I saw that cobots had the potential to bring robotic automation to manufacturers and applications that traditional robotic automation could not always address efficiently.
That realization gradually became one of the main directions of my professional life.”
KLUG Robotics: Specialized in Collaborative Robotics
The Worlds Times: What is the vision behind KLUG Robotics?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “KLUG Robotics is increasingly focused on one field: collaborative robotics.
We want to become highly specialized rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
Our objective is not simply to supply cobots. We develop complete cobot applications around real manufacturing processes.
This means understanding the workpiece, process, tooling, motion requirements, safety, programming and operator interaction as one complete system.
One of the areas where we have developed particularly strong experience is cobotic welding.
Welding is a very good example of why system knowledge matters.
Simply mounting a welding torch on a cobot does not create a successful welding system.
The cobot, welding power source, torch, fixtures, positioners, welding parameters, programming, external axes and production workflow must operate together.
That complete-process approach is what we are building KLUG Robotics around.”
Why Cobots?
The Worlds Times: Why have you chosen to focus so strongly on collaborative robots?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “Because I believe cobots are changing who can use robotics.
Traditional industrial robots are extremely powerful and will remain essential in mass production.
Cobots address a different need.
They are flexible, relatively easy to deploy and reprogram, and can be particularly valuable for manufacturers with changing products, smaller batches and high product variation.
For many small and medium-sized manufacturers, this is extremely important.
Automation no longer has to mean building a large, fixed robotic cell for a single product that will remain unchanged for years.
A cobot can potentially be moved, reprogrammed and adapted to different production requirements.
That flexibility is one of the reasons I believe collaborative robotics will continue to grow significantly.”
Cobotic Welding
The Worlds Times: Why is cobotic welding such an important part of your work?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “Welding is where we have accumulated some of our strongest practical experience with cobots.
Manufacturers around the world are facing similar challenges: finding skilled welders is becoming more difficult, maintaining consistent quality is critical, and production volumes are becoming more variable.
Cobotic welding can address an important part of this challenge.
It combines robotic repeatability with a more flexible automation architecture.
This can be particularly valuable for manufacturers producing many different parts in low-to-medium volumes.
But our philosophy is very clear:
We do not see cobotic welding as simply putting a cobot next to a welding machine.
We look at the entire welding process.
The objective is to create a system that operators can actually use, manufacturers can adapt to different products, and production teams can depend on every day.”
The Idea behind COBOMOTION
The Worlds Times: What is COBOMOTION, and how does it fit into your collaborative robotics vision?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “COBOMOTION was born from a very simple idea:
A cobot’s capabilities do not have to be limited to its own six axes.
A cobot is an incredibly flexible machine, but when it is fixed to one point, its physical working envelope is naturally limited.
We asked ourselves: what happens if we give the cobot more freedom to move?
Place it on a linear axis and it can travel several meters.
Add a positioner and the workpiece can continuously be presented at the optimal angle.
Add vertical or multi-axis motion and the same cobot can operate across a much larger production environment.
This is the philosophy behind COBOMOTION.
We develop motion technologies specifically around the needs of cobot applications, including linear axes, positioners, mobile solutions and multi-axis motion systems.
In simple terms:
KLUG Robotics develops the cobot application. COBOMOTION expands what the cobot can do.”
Giving Cobots More Than Six Axes
The Worlds Times: Is expanding the cobot beyond six axes central to COBOMOTION’s strategy?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “Absolutely.
The six axes inside a cobot provide extraordinary freedom of movement, but there is no reason why the complete production system should stop at six axes.
The seventh axis might allow the cobot to travel along a large workpiece.
Another axis can rotate the workpiece.
Additional motion can raise, lower or reposition the cobot.
When these movements are properly integrated, you stop thinking about the cobot as an isolated six-axis machine.
You begin thinking about a complete cobot motion system.
That is where I believe COBOMOTION has an important opportunity.
Our ambition is to create a modular motion ecosystem capable of working with different cobot brands and different industrial applications.
If the cobot is the brain and arm of the system, COBOMOTION can become part of the musculoskeletal structure that gives it a much larger world in which to work.”
Making Cobot Automation Practical
The Worlds Times: What have you learned from deploying automation in real factories?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “One lesson has remained with me throughout my career:
The most advanced technology is not always the best technology.
In industry, technology must work.
A technically impressive system has little value if operators cannot use it comfortably, maintenance teams cannot support it or the manufacturer cannot adapt it to changing production requirements.
This becomes even more important with cobots.
One of the major promises of collaborative robotics is simplicity and flexibility.
We should not destroy those advantages by surrounding a cobot with unnecessary complexity.
Our objective is therefore to develop systems that are technologically capable but also practical, understandable and sustainable in everyday production.”
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Cobots
The Worlds Times: How do you believe artificial intelligence will change collaborative robotics?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “I believe AI will be one of the technologies that significantly expands the capabilities of cobots.
Today, most robotic systems still depend heavily on predefined programming.
The next generation of systems will increasingly use machine vision, sensing technologies and production data to understand what is happening around them.
For me, the important equation is:
Cobots + Motion + Sensing + Machine Vision + AI.
Imagine a cobot that does not only follow programmed coordinates but can identify variations in a workpiece, understand where a weld seam is located, evaluate process data and adapt its operation within defined safety and production limits.
That is where things become very interesting.
AI alone is not the future of robotics.
The real transformation will come from combining AI with physical robotic systems, motion technology and industrial process knowledge.”
Cobots and People
The Worlds Times: Do you think cobots will replace people in manufacturing?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “I do not see the future in such simple terms.
There are tasks that machines perform extremely well and tasks where people remain much better.
Repetitive operations, physically demanding work and processes requiring high consistency are natural areas for automation.
But people bring experience, judgement, creativity and adaptability.
Collaborative robotics creates an interesting bridge between these two worlds.
The objective should not simply be to remove people from factories.
It should be to use technology where technology creates value and allow people to focus on tasks where human capability creates greater value.
That is a much healthier way to think about automation.”
Building a Global COBOMOTION Ecosystem
The Worlds Times: What are your international ambitions for COBOMOTION?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “Our ambition is to make COBOMOTION a globally recognized technology brand in the collaborative robotics ecosystem.
Cobot manufacturers are developing increasingly capable machines, but those machines still need an ecosystem around them.
They need motion systems, positioners, application technologies and integration expertise.
This creates an important opportunity for specialized companies.
Our strategy is therefore to develop COBOMOTION as a modular, robot-brand-independent motion platform and expand through international distributors and system integrators.
We are not interested simply in shipping equipment to another country.
We want local partners who understand cobots, understand their manufacturers and can build a sustainable market together with us.
That is how I believe a specialized industrial technology brand becomes truly global.”
Advice to Manufacturers Considering Their First Cobot
The Worlds Times: What advice would you give a manufacturer considering its first cobot investment?
Hakan Türkekul replied, “My advice is simple:
Do not start with the cobot. Start with the production problem.
Ask where you have repetitive work.
Where do you have quality variations?
Where are skilled workers becoming difficult to find?
Which operations are physically demanding?
Where do you need more production flexibility?
Once you understand the problem, then determine whether a cobot is the right solution.
If it is, design the application as a complete system around that problem.
A cobot should never be purchased simply because cobots are popular.
It should be purchased because it solves a measurable production problem.”
The Future of KLUG Robotics and COBOMOTION
Lastly we asked, “What is your long-term vision for KLUG Robotics and COBOMOTION?”
“I want the two brands to grow around one common world – collaborative robotics – but with clearly different roles.
KLUG Robotics will continue to develop as our cobot application and integration technology company.
Our objective is to deepen our expertise in cobotic welding and other industrial cobot applications and continue developing practical solutions around real manufacturing requirements.
COBOMOTION has a different mission.
We want COBOMOTION to become a global motion technology brand for cobots.
Today that includes linear axes, positioners, mobile solutions and external motion systems.
Tomorrow, I believe these systems will become increasingly intelligent through deeper integration of motion control, software, sensing and AI.
Our long-term objective is not simply to put more cobots into factories.
It is to help cobots do more.
Give them greater reach.
Give them more movement.
Give them greater flexibility.
And ultimately, give manufacturers a much wider range of possibilities with collaborative robotics.
I believe cobots are still at the beginning of their industrial journey.
Our ambition is for KLUG Robotics and COBOMOTION to be among the specialized technology companies helping shape what comes next.” Hakan Türkekul concluded
Connect with Hakan Türkekul on LinkedIn
For more information visit KLUG Robotics & COBOMOTION
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