Wandelbots GmbH was founded in Dresden in 2017, stemming from a research idea at the Technical University of Dresden that aimed to make industrial robotics accessible to non-programmers. Among the founders were Christian Piechnick and Georg Püschel, who recognized early on that the main barrier to automation in many cases lay in complex traditional programming.

In the early years, the team developed solutions such as the TracePen: a wireless stylus that allowed users to intuitively demonstrate motion sequences instead of translating them into machine-readable code. This no-code concept quickly became the startup’s hallmark and attracted significant investment—including from Insight Partners, Microsoft, and other top investors.

Wandelbots grew rapidly in terms of personnel and internationally, and partnerships with major robotics and manufacturing companies were established. In the course of this development, the company underwent a strategic shift: away from hardware-centric tools like the TracePen, toward a purely software-based platform vision.

Today, Wandelbots focuses on two central technological pillars: the NOVA Operating System (NOVA OS) and NOVA Cloud. NOVA OS is a vendor-neutral operating system for industrial robotics that connects various robot and automation components via open, modular interfaces. Among other things, it enables the simulation, programming, and real-time control of robots from different brands within a unified software environment—a kind of “Android” or “Windows” for factory floors.

The operating system is cloud-native and can be flexibly deployed on local servers, private clouds, or virtualized environments. Developers and integrators are provided with APIs (such as Python SDKs) and modular tools to implement their own applications or automation workflows. This openness is intended to significantly reduce the complexity of the previously fragmented robotics landscape.

In addition, NOVA Cloud extends the platform with key functions for data aggregation, AI-powered analysis, and digital twins. The cloud component collects real-time data from production, visualizes it, and uses it for optimization loops, performance monitoring, and robot-assisted simulation via digital twins. This enables companies to control robot fleets across manufacturers and locations, roll out changes centrally, and make data-driven decisions faster.

With this approach, Wandelbots addresses a key need of modern industry: more flexible, software-defined automation without proprietary siloed solutions and with intelligent scaling. NOVA OS and NOVA Cloud reflect the startup’s strategic shift—toward a platform that places robotics software at the center of production.

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