Gura Corporation

The Gura Corporation, stylized as GURACORP®, and commonly just GURA, is an advanced robotics and engineering company based in Thessia Province, Caphiria. Founded in 1976 by world-renowned robotics engineer Paulo Gura, the company develops robotic systems and applications in the industrial, agriculture, transportation, defense, and medical industries. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Silver Lineworks - itself a subsidiary of Quicksilver Industries under its 'QS Innovations' division.

GURA is best known for designing, engineering, and manufacturing tactical robot systems for law enforcement and military personnel under its MPDU product line (Multi-Purpose Deployment Unit), as well as products and services for task automation in the industrial processing of metallic and non-metallic materials for various industries including automotive, energy, aerospace, rail vehicles, and agricultural machinery. The company also develops a line of dynamic highly-mobile robots used in various applications. Over 5,000 of the company's robot systems have been deployed or are under contract.

The Gura Corporation is the largest subsidiary of Silver Lineworks with over 5,000 employees across four divisions - GURA-HARDWARE, GURA-SOFTWARE, GURA-TECH, and GURA-LABS. Upon its acquisition by Silver Lineworks, Paulo Gura was given his own autonomous research laboratory called Gura Advanced Design Solutions (GADS). While the projects it works on are secretive, it focuses on artificial intelligence, computational neuroscience, and biotechnology.

History
The company was founded on March 22, 1976, by Pauló Mesik Gurá. Inspired by the ability of animals to move with agility, dexterity, perception, and intelligence, Gurá set out to design and produce intricate animatronics for commercial use. After only 3 years, however, the company's burn rate was over $110,000 a month. With about 18 months of cash remaining, the company pivoted to producing low-cost domestic and municipal lighting and household appliances. By 1985, the company had doubled its workforce and made innovations in developing spot welding equipment and laser-roof-seam welding systems. These welding systems were then further expanded to adhesive bonding and sealing technologies the following year. In 1990, the company began creating robotic toys, such as a robotic eagle and a programmable Kikpari. These toys proved to be a massive financial success, and it allowed the company to hire Olfražetro Andonapaci as its CFO. Andonapaci was integral in landing the company its series A funding, raising $175 million in 1993.

In 1995, the company released its first automated product - BRACHI. The original BRACHI (BRACHI I) was a 4-axis robotic arm designed to achieve human-like dexterity and work safely around people. It has a wide range of motion, backdrivable actuators, and a hand that can grasp almost anything. Today, the BRACHI VIII system is highly configurable and available in 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12-axis systems and features custom high-performance servo-electronics that are the lightest in the world - at 35 grams. The BRACHI system has utilized interchangeable components since BRACHI II, making it versatile in specialized industries. Today, the company maintains exclusive licenses with many of the top medical, scientific, and industrial corporations in the world.

To meet the demand for its products, the company began to develop internal tools, software, and robotic modules that could assemble small goods, such as household appliances, tools, and electronics. The modules could be plugged together to create a small assembly line, and the robots could be programmed through the company's software to follow instructions. During a financial audit in 2004, the company was valued at $2 billion and was restructured; all of the consumer hardware teams would merge under the GURA-HARDWARE division, as well as the company's "micro-factories"; a GURA-SOFTWARE division would be created to develop software tools to improving efficiencies in the manufacturing process, as well as maintaining its open control architecture across its hardware products and even provides source code for customers who wish to develop software for different platforms, or to modify the code for their own use cases. A third division, GURA-TECH was formed to offers standard and customized products for industrial production automation; joining technologies and component handling are amongst their activity. The technologies are tested and the production processes are fully optimized prior to the development. In addition, GURA-TECH offers engineering consultations to individuals and corporations.