Mr. Krinke, a temporary employment agency for robots - that sounds very 'adventurous'. What are the details behind it?
The idea is as follows - investors buy a humanoid robot and agree an employment contract with the temporary employment agency. You receive 8.50 euros net for every hour worked. The temporary employment agency guarantees a return of at least 1% per year, so the owner of the robot does not have to worry about 'unemployment'. The company that hires out the robot pays 16 euros net per hour and must conclude an employment contract for at least six months and two shifts. After six months, a notice period of four weeks applies.

The concept has three particularly exciting aspects: Firstly, it is a democratization of the means of production. Secondly, it is the ultimate flexibilization of work performance in terms of quantity and activities and thirdly, it also gives smaller companies the opportunity to use means of production that would be too expensive to purchase if they were only used temporarily or for specific orders.

What should prompt a company to lend out its robots? - As a rule, they are needed for their own production.
The robots are procured as temporary workers from the outset. This means that the owner of the robot is primarily interested in the return on investment. But of course, companies that own a humanoid robot and do not need it temporarily in production could also make it available to the temporary employment agency.

But you only provide the so-called Workerbot3 robots from the company pi4_robotics, which you also own?
In principle, the temporary employment agency is open to all robot manufacturers. However, we have not yet found another robot on the market that could take over the work placed here in two days. This is due to the unique combination of simple training and the robot's visual capabilities. Using its 'seeing' hands, it can autonomously supply itself with parts.

A stumbling block for many companies is still the fact that the issue of safety is quite complex when it comes to human-robot cooperation or collaboration. How do you deal with this?
The topic of collaboration in particular - i.e. direct cooperation between humans and robots at shared workstations without separating protective equipment - is currently somewhat 'overhyped' and, in my opinion, is unfortunately communicated in a dubious manner by some players. This has given rise to false expectations among many users:

An example: a customer wants a robot that is as fast as an employee, can lift 3 kg continuously, uses a scalpel for cutting and yet is supposed to work next to a human without risk. Show me a serious concept on the market that meets this requirement according to current standards without additional category 4 protective measures! One thing is clear: safety is a top priority for humanoid robots - there can be no compromises here! However, I consider direct hand-in-hand work to be neither sensible nor necessary for most requirements.

Robozän was founded in November 2015. How many Workerbot3 robots do you generally already have on the market via pi4_robotics and how many of them have you already been able to get 'into work' via the temporary employment model?
The sales figures for pi4 are approaching 100 units. After many discussions, Robozän has now specified the needs of those involved and identified both temporary employment customers and potential robot buyers. We are currently in the process of implementing the first pilots and - to speed things up - have also ordered workerbots ourselves as an exception.

At the recent Automatica, you presented the fourth generation of the Workerbot - what exactly distinguishes it?
The fourth generation is actually a functional addition to the third generation, which will be available in modified form for some time to come. There are different equipment variants depending on the task. In my opinion, the variant with the greatest potential is the Workerbot4-Security. It can be used as a concierge at reception, for example, or detect radioactivity, explosives or other risks at critical entrance areas using special sensors. The robot also has facial recognition and can therefore distinguish between employees and visitors.