Shaping the future of automation through pioneering spirit

Die automatica 2022 bietet eine Start-up Arena mit 44 Teilnehmern. / automatica 2022 offers a start-up arena with 44 participants.

Ganz neu auf dem Markt: der siebenachsige Cobot Franka Production 3. © Franka Emika / Brand new on the market: the seven-axis cobot Franka Production 3. © Franka Emika

Dank der KI-basierten Robotersteuerung Mirai können Industrieroboter ihren Arbeitsbereich mit Kameras wahrnehmen und ihre Bewegungen an die Gegebenheiten anpassen. © Micropsi Industries / Thanks to the AI-based robot controller Mirai, industrial robots can perceive their work area with cameras and adapt their movements to the circumstances. © Micropsi Industries

Mit dem Tracepen einfach die Schweißbahn abfahren und schon ist der Roboter programmiert. © Wandelbot. / Simply follow the welding path with the tracepen and the robot is already programmed. © Wandelbot.

– Start-Up Arena with more than 40 participants
– Trending no-code robotics and cobots
– AI development on the upswing

They are quick, innovative, and unconventional. This is one reason why start-ups are considered drivers of change. They will prove that they deserve this reputation at automatica, which will be held in Munich from June 21 to 24. Whether in the Start-up Arena, the AI.Society special show, or at their own exhibition stands: An impressive number of young technology companies will present visionary developments and meet potent investors in Munich.

There are many good reasons to visit the numerous start-ups at automatica. Perhaps the most important one: The innovative energy of this exhibitor group willing to take unconventional action and risks that established companies tend to shy away from. Start-ups can focus on their development projects and—provided they can secure the necessary funding—get groundbreaking solutions off the ground without having to go through complex hierarchies and overcome internal resistance.

No-code robotics make programming child's play

automatica will show just how revolutionary such solutions can be. One example comes from the Dresden-based company wandelbots, which, like many other manufacturers, is working on the trend topic of no-code robotics. With its novel pen-based programming, wandelbots demonstrates what happens when you approach robot programming with an open mind. Their solution allows users to simply program a robot travel path by drawing it with the so-called TracePen. wandelbots will demonstrate the convenience and speed of this method at the stand of the Japanese robot manufacturer Yaskawa.

Start-Up Arena with 44 participants

Trade fair visitors looking for the innovative strengths of young companies will find the concentrated innovative power of 44 exhibiting participants at the Start-up Arena in Hall B4. One of them is andugo GmbH, which focuses on platform economics for mechanical and plant engineering. It operates GO2automation.de, an industry-specific B2B portal for effective collaboration and digital business development.

Another manufacturer-independent robotics platform will be presented by the Paderborn-based startup Unchained Robotics. It helps companies find suitable components for their process automation efforts and to get an idea of the investment costs to be expected. Mladen Milicevic, Co-Founder of Unchained Robotics, comments: “We provide technology and make sure every company is enabled to use suitable robotics technology.”

Node Robotics is dedicated to an entirely different topic: autonomous intralogistics. The young scientists of this company, which is a spin-off from Fraunhofer IPA, offer innovative plug-and-play software solutions. These enable holistic fleet operations of autonomous mobile robots from different manufacturers using the NODE.OS operating system – from receipt and assignment of pending transport orders to controlling individual vehicles.

Those three examples indicate the innovative strength inherent in all young companies involved in the Start-up Arena. These newcomers provide insights into the future of automation here and at the Odense Robotics joint stand. And that is also where innovators meet investors as representatives from the financial world are looking for profitable investments through participation on the Start-up Arena knowledge stage.

Young companies fuel AI development

automatica shows a trend in this respect: Many newcomers apply themselves to software-related topics in robotics and automation, and to artificial intelligence in particular. A number of start-ups are focusing on qualifying standard robots for AI applications using the simplest possible solutions.

The specialists from Micropsi Industries and Robominds demonstrate how much progress has already been made. Micropsi's AI-based Mirai robot controller lets industrial robots perceive their work area with cameras and to adapt their movements to the prevailing conditions. No programming skills or prior AI knowledge is required to program the robots.

Robominds will also use its automatica trade fair stand to demonstrate how robots can be upgraded for AI applications using high-performance controllers and machine vision systems, thus enabling particularly easy operation. Many solutions of the Munich-based start-up have already been implemented in practice with great success.

Another exhibitor is, of course, the robotics unicorn (company with a valuation above one billion US dollars) Agile Robots. This company, a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) by Zhaopeng Chen and Peter Meusel, also sees the future of robotics in AI support and aims to close the gap between robotics and AI with groundbreaking developments.

As enthusiasm for new possibilities unlocked by AI applications rises, anyone trying not to lose overview of their security aspects should take a look at Lakera AI. The Swiss security company develops solutions combining the latest findings in AI to guarantee error prevention and reliability in artificial intelligence applications.

The cobots are coming

More established start-ups such as Neura Robotics, Kassow Robotics, and Franka Emika will offer demonstrations of their cobot development and production skills at automatica. The new Franka Production 3 is a good example of this: With the launch of this high-tech cobot, Franka Emika introduces a highly performant seven-axis robot. This sensitive cobot can be used for a wide range of applications without requiring any programming skills – thanks to an AI-based learning platform.

But of course visiting professionals can expect more than just product presentations from a trade fair like automatica. “We have put together a dedicated supporting program for the start-up community, including the Odense Investor Summit, the robo.innovate panel discussion, presentations at the automatica Forum, and various pitches in the Start-up Arena and i_space, the AI.Society stage”, explains Anja Schneider, automatica Exhibition Director. “This enables us to provide a comprehensive overview of the start-up scene and bring together potential collaboration partners from the technology and finance sectors.”