VEB Robotron

This article is about the East German company. For the Australian company, see Robotron Group. For the arcade game, see Robotron: 2084. For other meanings of the word, see Robotron (disambiguation).

Wordmark of VEB Kombinat Robotron

One of the 17,000 workers at the Kombinat Robotron in the German Democratic Republic in 1987 working during the weekend to produce typewriters

A worker at an assembly plant producing the ES 2655 mainframe.

VEB Kombinat Robotron was the biggest East German electronics manufacturer. It was based in Dresden and employed 68,000 people (1989). It produced personal computers, SM EVM minicomputers, the ESER mainframe computers, several computer peripherals as well as home computers, radios and television sets,.

Robotron managed several different divisions:

• VEB Robotron-Elektronik Dresden (headquarters) — typewriters, personal computers, minicomputers, mainframes
• VEB Robotron-Meßelektronik Dresden — measurement and testing devices, home computers
• VEB Robotron-Projekt Dresden — software department
• VEB Robotron-Buchungsmaschinenwerk Karl-Marx-Stadt — personal computers, floppy disk drives
• VEB Robotron-Elektronik Hoyerswerda — monitors, power supply units
• VEB Robotron-Elektronik Radeberg — radio receivers, portable television receivers
• VEB Robotron Vertrieb Dresden, Berlin and Erfurt — sales departments
• VEB Robotron-Elektronik Zella-Mehlis — computer terminals, hard disk drives
• VEB Robotron-Büromaschinenwerk Sömmerda — personal computers, printers, electronic claculators (Soemtron 220, 222, 224), invoicing machines (EFA 380), punched card indexers and sorters (Soemtron 432).
• VEB Robotron Elektronik Riesa — printed circuit boards

On 30 June 1990 the Kombinat Robotron was liquidated and the divisions were converted into corporations. In the 1990s these companies were sold, e.g., to Siemens Nixdorf, or also liquidated.

The Robotron database software company was newly-founded on 23 August 1990, just before German reunification.

Rebranding activities

Robotron printers were sold in Western Germany as "Soemtron" or "Präsident", and the West German branch of Commodore used some Robotron parts for their printers.

In Eastern Germany the Epson printers were sold under the Robotron brand (but the technical description on the back side was with the "Epson" logo).

Robotron computers

Robotron A 5120 office computer, 1982

Robotron KC 87 home computer, 1987

Robotron A 7100 and EC 1834 (XT-compatible) personal computer, 1986

Robotron RVS K 1840 (SM 1710), DEC VAX-11/780 Clone, 1988, recorded in the Technical Collections Dresden

File:K1822 prototyp.jpg Prototype of Robotron RVS K 1820 (SM 1720), DEC MicroVAX II Clone, 1990, recorded in the Technical Collections Dresden

See also

• Rolanet

External links

• robotron.foerderverein-tsd.de — The History of Robotron narrated by former staff members. German language site.
• computer-archiv.de — On-line generalised list of computers including Robotron. German language site.
• robotrontechnik.de — On-line museum of Robotron companies and products. German language site with some English translations.
• soemtron.org — Technical data for the Soemtron 22x series (220, 222, 224) desktop calculators manufactured by VEB Robotron Büromaschinenwerk Sömmerda.