New category, new face: We were delighted to get to know pi4 and its robotics innovation. With the Workerbot9 Care-Home, it is bringing a breath of fresh air to the care sector and providing much-needed support for carers. Find out more about how pi4 can shape the future of care in the interview.
Congratulations you are one of the finalists of the 9th Deep Tech Award! What does the Deep Tech Award mean to you and what was the motivation behind your application?
To our surprise, we received the information that we had been nominated and were then asked to submit an application. The Deep Tech Award is a great honor for us and we hope that it will help to raise awareness of robotics as a possible support in elderly care.
Berlin is said to be one of the few German hubs for technological innovation. How do you experience the local tech infrastructure and how is it influenced by the Deep Tech Award?
Answer: Berlin is a strong location in the field of research, and quite ok as far as suppliers/production companies are concerned. There should certainly be more happening here through good framework conditions.
Your category robotics was opened for the first time in the Deep Tech Award 2024. Why do you think this is important for the robotics scene in Berlin?
Robotics will be bigger than the automotive industry in the future, and Berlin has the opportunity to play an important role here.
Let’s shift the perspective and talk about you a little more. You applied with your product/ solution Workerbot9 Care-Home. Please give us a little glimpse into your founding story and your key motivation to build this product.
The pi4 has now been on the market for more than 30 years. The aim of pi4 was and is to build robots that support people and work hand in hand with them.
Why do you think Workerbot9 Care-Home made the finalists list and why is it Deep Tech?
The robot is the only one of its kind in the world, i.e. currently without a competitor product, and can help to relieve the global staffing problem in the increasing care of the elderly as well as in other service tasks. Added to this is the modularity of the hardware and software, which enables the robot to be quickly adapted to new tasks.
What is the key technological innovation within Workerbot9 Care-Home and why does it advance the state of the art?
Thanks to its integrated AI, it can recognize people, speak and, to a certain extent, understand speech. It has telepresence functions that make it possible to use the robot as an avatar from a distance. It can be operated from any computer or cell phone via a browser.
What was the biggest obstacle in your developing process? How did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge with such a product is to focus the concept as effectively as possible on the customer group and to understand the customer requirements well and correctly. The concept was developed in the BMBF-funded research project ROMI. Here we had ideal partners with whom we could ensure exactly that.
How does Workerbot9 Care-Home enhance the interaction between humans and robots, and what measures have you taken to ensure safety and efficiency?
In line with the target group, we have voice recognition, voice output, facial recognition and a large screen with very large font, iconography and touch interface. The robot has redundant safety technology to ensure that no one is harmed.
How does Workerbot9 Care-Home impact the health sector, and what feedback have you received from industry partners?
The robot offers a real relief for the nursing staff, so far we have only received positive feedback and enthusiasm.
How does your Workerbot9 Care-Home contribute to sustainability, and what metrics do you use to measure its success?
The robots can be easily repaired, and at the end of their life they can be easily dismantled into individual parts that can then be recycled. But the most important point is a product design that is geared towards a long life.
Where do you see the future of robotics heading, and how does your project align with or shape that vision?
Robotics really is “the next big thing” – we will have 1-2 robots per household in the future, which is why we are talking about an important future market here. But it’s not just about the economic perspective, we should also think about when or what we bring into our homes.
What do you wish for in our technological or digital future?
More openness and a playful approach instead of reservations and fear.
What advice would you like to pass to young entrepreneurs and tech innovators who want to reach their goals and maybe also want to take part in the Deep Tech Award 2025? Since out of 100 applicants you made it into the finalists, we figure you have some real pro-tips here.
Everything almost always takes much longer than you plan, but you definitely want it to. Despite all the ambitious planning, you should always have a very sober and longer plan in mind, otherwise you might not reach your goal because you run out of money or motivation.
Thank you so much for all your fascinating insights!
