On 28 May, the 2019 German Innovation Award was presented at the German Museum of Technology in Berlin. The Austrian intralogistics specialist TGW Logistics Group was delighted to receive the prestigious gold award in the B2B category Logistics & Infrastructure for Rovolution. This innovative robotics solution for fully automatic single-piece picking succeeded in convincing the distinguished panel of experts from the fields of research and industry.
Stefan Holzner, Managing Director at TGW Robotics, and Maximilian Beinhofer, Head of Cognitive Systems Development, accepted the award at a grand ceremony attended by 350 specially invited guests. The jury's reasoning was as follows: “A remarkable industrial robot that is not only intelligent, but that can also be put to highly flexible use and therefore has the potential to revolutionize industrial logistics.”
A total of 695 companies and start-ups submitted their products in various categories this year – including such well-known brands as ABB, Bosch, and Samsung. After having been awarded the Austrian Robotics Award in 2018, TGW was now proud to receive the German Innovation Award – the second top-class award for Rovolution that TGW received within only a few months.
New Age of Robotics in Intralogistics
The German Innovation Award is given for products from all sectors that stand out due to their user-orientation and which provide added value compared to previous solutions. The aim of the award is to make great achievements visible to a broad audience – and to bring pioneers to the fore. The prize was initiated by the German Design Council, which was founded by the German Parliament.
“The German Innovation Award is a great acknowledgement for all the work done over the past months. With Rovolution, we are ushering in a new era of robotics in intralogistics,” underscores Harald Schröpf, CEO of the TGW Logistics Group.
While robots have been state-of-the-art in automotive manufacturing for many years now, bin-picking has long been regarded as one of the greatest challenges in robotics. Main difficulties are the reliable detection of items and costly programming. However, picking robots have a high market relevance – not least because of both the e-commerce boom and the resultant increase in the amount of individual orders.
Powerful and flexible
Rovolution combines two key features: Performance maximization and flexibility. Maximizing performance does not mean simply enhanced kinematics, but the total elimination of downtime. “This is based on expertise from the area of cognitive robotics, machine learning, and image recognition. Rovolution corrects unexpected events autonomously and without human intervention”, confirms Markus Gusenbauer, Director Group Technology of TGW Logistics Group.
The second big advantage is its enormous flexibility. In comparison to other systems, Rovolution can handle a huge variety of different article types. Both rigid and soft packs are securely gripped – be it T-shirts in polybags, food bags, or toy boxes.
More information about the German Innovation Award
