When the employees of fruitcore robotics show “HORST” at trade fairs, they they meet an enthusiastic audience. Because the intelligent industrial robots from the pioneer of intelligent automation solutions and digital robots from Constance are not only made in Baden-Württemberg. They are also very easy to operate and equipped with the latest technologies as well as artificial intelligence.

Thanks to the innovative approach, industrial companies of all sizes can easily and quickly automate their production processes - be it machine loading and unloading or quality assurance - without extensive experience or programming knowledge and increase their productivity. Users receive extensive support for automation with HORST through the robots' new operating system, which even includes an AI Copilot. The intelligent assistant helps in natural language and in real time to successfully master the challenges of automation.

“Many enterprises continue to see obstacles to automation, especially as industrial robots have to date been so expensive and difficult to program. But the potential of robotics is increasingly being recognised, and digital robots such as HORST offer the ideal starting point.”

fruitcore robotics GmbH was founded in 2017 by Jens Riegger, Patrick Heimburger, Tim Schmiedl, Manuel Frey and Tobias Kuentzle, as a spin-off from the Constance University of Applied Sciences (HTWG – Technology, Economy and Design). The origin of the name is still the subject of some discussion among the staff: What came first? The name or the technology? The fact is that HORST stands for Highly Optimised Robotic Systems Technology. It is a robotics solution that revolutionises automation with robots by overcoming what have up to now been the biggest obstacles: complex programming and high costs over the entire life cycle of robots.

“Baden-Württemberg is a highly modern and innovative technology location with an inspiring environment, as many of our partners are also located here.”

Support was provided initially by the university, and later, cooperation with other local partners helped. In the meantime, fruitcore robotics has successfully filled a previously open market niche and is catching the spirit of the times – which is why the company was awarded the Dr. Rudolf Eberle Prize in 2020. This innovation prize is awarded to small and medium-sized companies from industry and trade for unconventional solutions that are open to technology and lead to innovative products, processes or services.“

The company has grown, now employing around 100 people, and is getting closer and closer to its goal of being able to make robotics and automation solutions available to the broad masses in the manufacturing sector. Anyone wishing to be a part of this is welcome. This deep-tech company aims to grow strongly in the future, especially in the area of software development.

Interested applicants to fruitcore robotics will find the company in two particularly attractive regions of the state: in the region of Lake Constance around the headquarters in Constance, and on the eastern edge of the Black Forest, where the production site is located, in Villingen. And not too far away is the Kaiserstuhl mountain – an excellent tip for an excursion, offering a unique landscape for hiking, cycling and relaxing.