Robots are leaving the factory floor and entering our lives. Whether they are smart household helpers, care assistants or autonomous logistics systems, they are becoming more versatile and accessible, and are getting closer to people. This is demonstrated by the winners of the German Innovation Award.
by Armin Scharf
Industrial applications continue to dominate the robotics market. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the market value of all industrial robots installed worldwide rose to US$16.5 billion last year – an all-time high. South Korea has the highest robot density in manufacturing, with 1,012 industrial robots per 10,000 workers, followed by Singapore with 770 and Japan with 470. Germany is not far behind with 429 units. Japan is also the world’s leading manufacturer of industrial machinery, while most new installations are in China, according to the IFR.
Rationalisation and Labour Shortages
Manufacturing robots are essentially a mature technology: back in 1957, the US company Ultimation introduced the first robot of this kind – the ‘Ultimate‘, which began welding car bodies at Ford in 1961. The basic structure of industrial robots has changed little since then: they consist of a multi-jointed arm with several degrees of freedom and tools known as manipulators. Their application also remains largely the same – repetitive, predefined processes are still their domain. Design in this context is purely functional, serving mainly to aid brand recognition or reduce moving mass. For safety reasons, industrial robots operate in separate zones that humans cannot enter.
Historically, the main driver behind the use of industrial robots was process rationalisation. Today, other factors like labour shortages, shrinking populations and even comfort considerations are becoming more relevant. As a result, robotics is moving into new industries and everyday environments – boosted by technological breakthroughs, AI integration and a multitude of start-ups addressing exciting niche applications. Robots are also becoming more human-like, especially in the form of service robots.
Vacuuming, Mopping, Interacting
Unlike their larger industrial counterparts, service robots do not produce anything – they work in direct contact with people. This category includes cleaning robots, transport robots and care assistants. Socially interactive robots, such as those that assist the elderly, also fall into this group. Service robots are equipped with a wide range of sensors that allow them to navigate autonomously, avoid collisions with objects, animals or people, and perform specific tasks safely.
Because service robots work so closely with people, their design must focus on usability and “soft” factors such as trust. As robots become larger and more personalised, these factors become more important. This is even true of lawnmower robots, which roam private gardens or sports fields and have traditionally shown little regard for animals. The latest generations seem to have solved this problem: Mammotion’s ‘Luba2‘, winner of the German Innovation Award 2024, maps the lawn itself, uses GPS and detects objects and small animals – such as young hedgehogs – using cameras and lidar. With four-wheel drive and a sleek Formula 1 look, it can even cope with slopes of up to 80 per cent.
Robots have also become part of the smart home. These include vacuum robots that operate autonomously, much like their lawnmower cousins. Key technologies include indoor mapping, collision avoidance and adaptive suction depending on the type of floor.
The next step is to combine vacuuming and mopping. Typically, two rotating mop pads clean hard floors with moisture and vacuum dirty water at the same time. A docking station charges the batteries, disposes of dust and dirty water and refills with clean water. Ideally, it also dries the mop pads while charging. Unsurprisingly, such docking stations are larger, such as Narwal’s ‘Freo’ or EVZIZ’s ‘RS20 Max’. The latter, winner of the German Innovation Award 2025, navigates using lidar and cameras, recognises pets and responds to Alexa voice commands. According to the manufacturer, it can even surveil the house when no one is home. The Freo, winner of the 2024 award, claims to detect dirty areas and clean until the mess is gone – although Narwal doesn’t specify which sensors make this possible.
Compact for Domestic Use
The shape of these vacuum mop robots is similar to traditional vacuum cleaners: round and flat. However, Zaco’s ‘X1000’ is taller and bulkier – built for commercial use in a variety of spaces, offering higher performance over a larger area. It has a touch display at the top and stylised eyes at the front to indicate its status. Navigation is provided by lidar and laser sensors, while the front camera detects obstacles. Also a winner of the German Innovation Award 2025.
Scrubbing machines without human operators are now cleaning large areas in commercial and public buildings – and not just during the quiet night shifts. The Ulm-based manufacturer Adlatus and, of course, Kärcher both produce such robots. Kärcher’s ‘Kira B 50‘ can autonomously clean up to 3,200 square metres per hour. Its compact, highly functional design doesn’t try to hide the fact that it’s a machine. It uses a 360-degree laser scanner, as well as 3D and ultrasonic sensors, to detect large obstacles and people – an essential feature when working in public areas. It can also detect overhangs, reverse and perform recovery manoeuvres if stuck.
Pallet Loaders and Order Pickers
While such robots are likely to become a more common sight in public spaces in the future, logistics robots tend to remain behind the scenes. These systems go far beyond the traditional automated high-bay warehouse machines and now include indoor transport vehicles and picking assistants that assemble shipments.
Austrian manufacturer Agilox specialises in autonomous transport robots that move pallets or other containers within companies. Its ‘OCF’ model, for example, operates without the central control unit of earlier systems, navigating independently, optimising its routes and avoiding obstacles. Formquadrat’s design is clear and rational, incorporating brand-specific elements and visual indicators to show what the robot is doing. This last feature is particularly important when robots and humans share the same environment – it allows them to work together smoothly and even understand each other to some extent. Ideally, this will also encourage people to stop seeing robotics as an untouchable, expert-only technology and instead question it, experiment with it and help to democratise it.
This approach is supported by educational robots that are easy to program, modify and use for individual purposes. A good example is ‘pib‘ – the printable intelligent bot developed by isento GmbH. Its components, including arms and hands, can be produced using 3D printing. As an open source project, pib offers a wide range of possibilities – no wonder it is one of the winners of the German Innovation Award 2025.
The next big thing has two arms and two legs – and moves as swiftly as a human.
Unregulated Environments and Humanoids
While logistics robots operate in structured environments, current technology struggles with less structured environments – such as fields or construction sites. The integration of AI, which enables robots to better perceive and interpret their environment, could lead to major breakthroughs. The aim is to create robots that don’t just process sensor data using fixed algorithms, but really understand it, categorise it and act on their own – even solving tasks they haven’t been trained to do.
This brings us closer to the idea of the universal robot: a machine that can mow the lawn, screw parts together, take out the rubbish, clean underpasses or even do the ironing. And these robots will probably look less like machines and more like humanoids walking on two legs. This makes sense: no one wants to redesign their home or workplace to suit a robot. Humanoids are expected to become a reality within the next few years – and the hype is already well underway. The next big thing has two arms and two legs – and moves as nimbly as a human. “We are at the iPhone moment,” said David Reger, CEO of Neura Robotics, in a recent interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
German Innovation Award 2025 – The Winners
The internationally renowned award is a celebration of innovation that drives real progress. The German Innovation Award stands for forward-looking developments with substance – socially relevant, economically effective – and is organised by the German Design Council.
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