The company was founded by Oliver Petrovic, Manuel Belke and Christoph Susen. All three have many years of experience in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, simulation and production, which they acquired as part of their scientific work at the WZL. With their spin-off, they are responding to a growing need in industry: companies are under increasing pressure to automate, are looking for answers to the shortage of skilled workers and have to assert themselves in an increasingly competitive international environment.

However, this has been a well-known dilemma in the industry for years. There has been considerable progress in AI research, but many applications remain at the experimental stage. What works under controlled laboratory conditions often proves to be too unstable, too complex or simply not scalable in the rough and tumble of industrial production.

"Many AI approaches work very well in the laboratory today, but fail to meet the requirements of real industrial applications," says Oliver Petrovic, co-founder of Athenyx Robotics and senior engineer for automation and control technology at the Chair of Machine Tools at the WZL at RWTH Aachen University. "We are addressing precisely this gap by developing a platform that reliably combines learning robotics, perception-based systems and modern AI methods under real-life conditions."

Intelligent software solutions for robot systems

The company's claim is ambitious: Research results from robotics should no longer remain in scientific publications, but should be transferred to real production environments. New fields of application for intelligent robotics are to be developed and existing automation solutions enhanced.

It is no coincidence that the spin-off comes from Aachen. The Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL has been one of the most influential institutions in German production technology for many years. With basic research, industry-oriented development and consulting projects, the institute works on solutions for more efficient manufacturing processes. Research focuses include machine tools, production systems, gear technology and information, quality and sensor systems in production.

Athenyx Robotics is now continuing a trend that is becoming increasingly important at German universities: The aim is to translate scientific findings into marketable business models more quickly.

The company develops intelligent software solutions for robot systems, focusing on the combination of perception systems, learning-based processes and simulation. The aim is to create robust overall systems that work reliably in industrial applications.

The fields of application extend beyond traditional industrial robots. According to the company, the technologies developed will also be used on new platforms in the future - including humanoid systems.

The vision behind it is great. However, the real challenge is probably that machines not only have to learn, but also have to survive under the conditions of industrial reality. This is precisely what will determine whether technological progress turns into economic success.