Albert Groz and his colleagues from TruPhysics certainly knew how to catch the eye of trade visitors with their stand. A cocktail mixing robot proved popular, not only among the big robot constructors. Stuttgart-based TruPhysics exhibited for the first time at HANNOVER MESSE, together with DXC Technology.

For company founder Groz it was a hectic week at the trade show as he was not there simply to meet customers and investors, but also answered questions in a livestream interview. “The sheer dimensions of the trade fair and the many parties at the stands are a lasting memory”, explains Groz. As the entrepreneur, who was looking for industrial clients, reported with a grin: “We made the most and the best contacts at the parties.” TruPhysics was set up in 2014 as an initiative that emerged from the Institute for Automation and Software Technology at Stuttgart University. Today, Albert Groz works with seven colleagues on some exciting VR simulation technology. The future, he says, lies in VR engineering.

“Of course, VR engineering goes a step further than what many VR studios and designers offer”, stressed Groz in a video interview with this magazine. “Other studios simply deliver finished images, whereas,” he added confidently, “in our case the operative or process planners create the factory environment themselves.” He has every reason to sound confident. According to the TruPhysics website, the company already boasts clients such as Porsche, Daimler, Festo, measurement and analysis specialists Faro, the surgical instrument company Aesculap, its partner B. Braun and Schunk, the global leader in gripper systems based in Lauffen am Neckar.

Groz was able to find his core target groups in Hannover, proudly reporting: “We made many contacts among potential investors and customers. We even finished some projects at the show, while others are still in progress.”

Describing the company product in the interview, Groz said: “We realized it was important to develop a tool for consultants or industrial users in order to ensure that factory and process planning and the simulation of material f low is fast, precise and realistic.” What makes the solution special is that Groz and his team have 3D models of Kuka and Universal Robots stored in the database. As Groz explains: “We don’t only have 3D models. We offer cinematic VR, which facilitates accessibility studies in a 3D environment.” Thus the VR user can program the robots and export the paths into real-time controls or cycles. “Our solution is not a design studio, but the Proof of Concept.”

He wants to exhibit this proof at HANNOVER MESSE 2019. “We hope there will be more focus on cooperation with big companies and that we can exhibit together with them at the same stand.” So what does he think needs improving in the Startup Area in 2019? “I would like to see more scope for cooperation between the young companies there and the big names in the industry, as well as better catering.”