Cobots maker Rethink Robotics moves into new German HQ, partners with Siemens

Photo Credit: Rethink Robotics

Collaborative robots maker Rethink Robotics has moved into a new company headquarters and production facility in Germany, and has a new shareholder in Siemens Technology Accelerator.

Rethink Robotics, a subsidiary of the Hahn Group, moved into the new facility in Bochum, Germany in the summer of 2020.

The premises are part of the new Hahn Group Technology Center, described as a meeting point for customers and partners.

In a Sept. 30 statement, Rethink Robotics said that it has created 30 jobs in Bochum so far. Thir collaborative robot systems, which will be produced on-site, are used in manufacturing companies, as well as in service applications for laboratory environments.

“The opening of the new corporate headquarters and production facility of Rethink Robotics symbolizes the transformation of the mining region into a location for future technologies,” said Bernd Tönjes, CEO of the RAG-Stiftung, which holds a majority stake in the Hahn Group.

On the heels of this move, Siemens Technology Accelerator (STA) has acquired a minority of the shares in Rethink Robotics as part of a technology contribution including know-how, patents and designs in the field of innovative hardware solutions for lightweight robots and cobots.

In addition, a development cooperation between Rethink Robotics and Siemens Corporate Technology was agreed upon, in which the Siemens Corporate Technology hardware solutions are to be further developed in a transition period so that their strengths are optimally combined with the Intera software from Rethink Robotics. The first studies on this are already running.

“With the technology from Siemens, we are getting closer to the start of a new series of robots very quickly and will be presenting a first prototype in spring 2021,” said Daniel Bunse, CEO of Rethink Robotics GmbH.