There is also a lively robotics landscape in Germany, but it is spread over many locations. In Saxony, however, there are great ambitions to play a role similar to Odense. “Saxony can become a leading location for robotics in Europe,” said Thomas Horn, head of Saxony’s economic development agency, the Handelsblatt.
Today there are already more than 330 companies and institutes with 35,000 employees that are involved in projects relating to robotics and automation in Saxony.
The industry is currently repositioning itself, said Horn. Thanks to 5G and the improvement of sensor technology, robotics is getting a boost worldwide. “There is now new potential for use that would previously have been seen as science fiction.”
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Saxony now wants to make the leap forward under the label “Robot Valley Saxony”. In addition, the sponsors help with investor acquisition, market development and networking with universities. “We are the carers,” says Horn.
PowerON wants to teach robots to feel
One of the promising start-ups on site is PowerON. “Dresden is on the way to becoming the ‘place to be’ in robotics,” says co-founder and managing director Markus Henke with conviction. “It’s a great microcosm with a community that is mutually beneficial.”
PowerON wants to solve one of the big problems in robotics. “We want to make robots more human and teach them to feel,” says Henke. Because robots still find it difficult, for example, to grasp various objects with the necessary sensitivity.
To change this, PowerON has developed a plastic that deforms when electrical current flows. A human muscle can be imitated and linked to sensors. The bionic robot muscle gets reflexes and tactile sensitivity.
Many companies around the world are working on such a technology, but PowerON has developed a solution that uses artificial neurons without the complex conventional electronics. “This opens up a huge market for processes that previously could not be automated,” says Henke.
In his opinion, the Dresden location offers many advantages. There is now a close network between universities and companies. PowerON has just hired TU graduates. “We also benefit from the experience of other start-ups that are already a step further.”
Wandelbots: The robotics star from Saxony
Henke got tips from Wandelbots, one of the most successful robotics start-ups in the region. The company has developed what is known as a TracePen, with which robots can be operated very easily. The technology is in use at VW – and has convinced Siemens and Microsoft so much that they joined Wandelbots.
Wandelbots have “proved as a beacon that central players can emerge here,” says business developer Uwe Lienig. That also gave the other start-ups a boost.
The strength of Saxony is to make the new collaborative robots usable for the application. There is no manufacturer of industrial robots in the region. Nowadays, however, the systems around them and the software are decisive.
In the new robotics there is still no clear regional focus in Germany. Munich, for example, has a strong position with many activities at the Technical University of Munich and robot builders such as the shelf robot specialist Magazino and Coboworx, which develop process-ready robot cells. In addition, Karlsruhe, for example, with the Institute for Technology (KIT) and Stuttgart have strong positions.
So far no leading location in Germany
Maybe it’s a good thing that there isn’t one central location in Germany, says Olaf Gehrels from the German Robotics Association. “A bit of competition between the individual locations is not wrong and pushes robotics with a number of thematic focuses.” In his opinion, a central robotics cluster would not be agile enough.
Right from the start, there was great permeability between university research and the private sector. “The network in Saxony has developed an exemplary dynamic of its own.”
One advantage for the location is that there are also many projects in industrial applications. At the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau, 1,800 robots are used in the body shop alone. At the medium-sized VW supplier Meleghy Automotive in Reinsdorf, 80 robots weld, glue and clip in four lines. The chip industry in the Dresden area is also interested in robot automation.
Several thousand robots work in the VW factory in Zwickau.
(Photo: dpa)
A scene has also developed in Saxony in the growing segment of service robots. The “Anna Constantia” robot, which can be used in dementia therapy, was developed in the Artificial Intelligence / Cognitive Robotics department at HTW Dresden. It contains assistance systems such as face recognition, which were developed together with the company Cognitec Systems.
The field is considered attractive. According to the IFR, the international industry association, sales of professional service robots rose by 41 percent to almost 132,000 machines last year alone.
Universities are becoming more attractive through start-ups
“The collaboration works very well,” says HTW Professor Hans-Joachim Böhme, referring to the interaction between research and industry. There are now a huge number of outsourcing in the field of universities. “There’s a lot going on there.”
The universities strive to support the region and the economy, for example by training highly qualified graduates. In return, universities would also become more attractive to young talent if they keep generating start-ups.
The Institute for Robotics and Human-Machine Interaction at the Technical University of Chemnitz also plays a central role in Saxony. For example, the scientists are working on the question of how robots can grip more sensitively and run more stably. The use of artificial intelligence also plays a central role.
The “Hybrid Societies” collaborative research center deals with an exciting field. Scientists from all faculties of Chemnitz University of Technology are investigating how spontaneous encounters between people and machines equipped with intelligent digital technologies such as robots, drones or highly automated vehicles in public spaces can be organized smoothly.
Other research institutions deal with specific applications. Scientists at the Institute for Agricultural Systems Technology at TU Dresden are developing the Elwobot plantation robot for viticulture and fruit growing.
Graduates will soon no longer be able to meet staffing needs
It has not yet been decided which robotics location will develop the greatest attraction in the next few years. Saxony is in competition with locations like Munich and Stuttgart, which have great charisma, says University Professor Böhme. “That doesn’t make it easier for the East to set up consortia.” Therefore, the region must emphasize its strengths.
Business developer Horn is convinced that Saxony is attractive to both domestic and foreign talent. “We have had an increase in migration for years.” The cost of living is still in balance here with income. Education and childcare systems were among the best in Germany.
The search for skilled workers in all regions is becoming more and more difficult. Horn’s colleague Lienig says there is still a large flow of graduates who are leaving the universities. “But we will have to use the pool of people who have not been trained at the university even more.”
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