Editing VEB Robotron

{{Short description|East German manufacturer of computers and consumer electronics}}
{{About|the East German computer company|other uses|Robotron (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Infobox company
| name                = VEB Kombinat Robotron
| logo                = VEB Robotron.svg
| image               = VEB Kombinat Robotron Dresden 1990.jpg
| type                = [[Volkseigener Betrieb]]
| industry            = [[Electronics manufacturer]], [[computer software]]
| fate                = Liquidated / converted into corporations
| founded             = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1969|04|01}} in [[Dresden]], [[German Democratic Republic]]
| founder             =
| defunct             = {{End date|df=yes|1990|07|01}}
| hq_location_city    = [[Dresden]]
| hq_location_country = German Democratic Republic
| key_people          = Friedrich Wokurka
| products            = [[A 5120]], [[PC 1715]], [[Robotron K 1840]], [[Robotron KC 87]], …
| num_employees       = 68,000
| num_employees_year  = 1989
| revenue             =
| homepage            =
}}
'''VEB Kombinat Robotron''' ({{IPA|de|vaʊ eː beː kɔmbɪnaːt ʁobotʁɔn|lang}}) (or simply '''Robotron''') was the largest [[East Germany|East German]] electronics manufacturer. It was headquartered in [[Dresden]] and employed 68,000 people in 1989. Its products included [[personal computer]]s, [[SM EVM]] [[minicomputer]]s, the [[ESER]] [[mainframe computer]]s, various computer [[peripherals]] as well as [[microcomputers]], radios, television sets and other items including [[cookie press]] ''Kleingebäckpresse Typ 102''.<ref>{{Citation|last=Ersetzlich|title=Deutsch: Kleingebäckpresse Typ 102 vom VEB Robotron in Sömmerda|date=2019-01-14|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robotron_Typ102.jpg|access-date=2021-03-01}}</ref>

==Divisions==
Robotron managed several different divisions:
*VEB Robotron-Elektronik Dresden (headquarters)&nbsp;— [[typewriters]], personal computers, minicomputers, mainframes
*VEB Robotron-Meßelektronik Dresden&nbsp;— measurement and testing devices, home computers
*VEB Robotron-Projekt Dresden&nbsp;— [[software]] department
*VEB Robotron-Buchungsmaschinenwerk [[Chemnitz|Karl-Marx-Stadt]]&nbsp;— personal computers, [[floppy disk|floppy disk drives]]
*VEB Robotron-Elektronik [[Hoyerswerda]]&nbsp;— [[computer monitor|monitors]], [[power supply unit (computer)|power supply unit]]s
*VEB Robotron-Elektronik [[Radeberg]]&nbsp;— mainframes, radio receivers, portable television receivers, directional radio systems
*VEB Robotron Vertrieb Dresden, [[Berlin]] and [[Erfurt]]&nbsp;— sales departments
*VEB Robotron-Elektronik [[Zella-Mehlis]]&nbsp;— [[computer terminal]]s, [[hard disk drive]]s
*VEB Robotron-Büromaschinenwerk [[Sömmerda]]&nbsp;— personal computers, [[printer (computing)|printers]], electronic calculators (Soemtron 220, 222, 224), invoicing machines (EFA 380), punched card indexers and sorters (Soemtron 432).
*VEB Robotron Elektronik [[Riesa]]&nbsp;— [[printed circuit board]]s
*VEB Robotron-Anlagenbau [[Leipzig]]&nbsp;— general contractor, design and assembly for computer and process calculation systems in the GDR and export, training center

On 30 June 1990, ''Kombinat'' Robotron was liquidated and its divisions were converted into corporations. In the 1990s, these companies were sold, e.g. to [[Siemens Nixdorf]] and [[IBM]], or liquidated. Less than five percent of the employees were able to switch to successor companies. However, the abundance of highly qualified workers promoted the subsequent settlement of various companies in the region.

''Robotron Datenbank-Software GmbH'' is a company which emerged from one of the former divisions of ''Kombinat Robotron''. It was newly founded on 23 August 1990, just before [[German reunification]].

<gallery>
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-Z1102-008, VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, Endmontage.jpg|Final assembly at VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, 1981
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1984-1128-002, VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, Qualitätskontrolle.jpg|Quality conformance testing at VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, 1984
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1985-0211-022, VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, Computer EC 2655M.jpg|A worker at an assembly plant producing the ES 2655 mainframe in 1985
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0125-004, VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, Endmontage.jpg|One of 17,000 assembly workers at Robotron in 1987 working a weekend to make [[typewriter]]s
</gallery>

==Robotron hardware and software==
Robotron product series include:
* ''Midrange computer'' EDVA {{ill|Robotron 300|de|Robotron 300}} (based on [[IBM 1401]]),
* ''R 4000'' and ''R 4200'' computers (based on [[Honeywell 316|Honeywell Series 16]]),
* [[ES EVM]] systems {{ill|EC 1040|de|EC 1040}}, ''EC 1055'', ''EC 1056'', ''EC 1057'' (based on  IBM [[System/360]], IBM [[System/370]]),
* [[Minicomputer]] and [[Superminicomputer]] {{ill|K 1600|de|K 1600}} (DEC [[PDP-11]]), [[K 1840]] ([[VAX 11/780]]), [[K 1820]] ([[MicroVAX II]]),
* Office and personal computers [[A 5120]], [[PC 1715]], {{ill|A 7100|de|A 7100}}, {{ill|A 7150|de|A 7150}}, {{ill|BIC A 5105|de|Bildungscomputer robotron A 5105|lt=BIC A 5105}}, {{ill|EC 1834|de|EC 1834}} ([[IBM XT]]), {{ill|EC 1835|de|EC 1835}} ([[IBM AT]]),
* [[OEM]] modular microcomputer systems ''K 1510'', {{ill|K 1520|de|K 1520}}, ''K 1700''
* Operating systems such as [[Single User Control Program#Derivatives|Single User Control Program]] (based on CP/M), {{ill|JAMB (operating system)|de|JAMB (Betriebssystem)|lt=JAMB}}, ''Disk Control Program'' [[:de:Disk Control Program|[de]]] (based on [[MS-DOS]]), {{ill|KOBRA (operating system)|de|KOBRA (Betriebssystem)|lt=KOBRA}} and SIOS (an in-house development).

<gallery>
File:Robotron A 5120.jpg|Robotron [[A 5120]] office computer, ''1982''
File:Robotron-KC87-2.jpg|[[Robotron KC 87]] microcomputer, ''1987''
File:A7100EC1834.jpg|Robotron ''A 7100'' and ''EC 1834'' (XT-compatible) personal computer, ''1986''
File:RobotronPC1715.jpg|Robotron [[PC 1715]] office computer, ''1985''
File:Robotron K1840.jpg|Robotron RVS [[K 1840]] (SM 1710), DEC [[VAX-11]]/780 Clone, ''1988'', recorded in the Technical Collections Dresden
File:Robotron 204.jpg|A Robotron Optima 204 electric typewriter from the 1980s
File:VEB Robotron K8911.jpg|VEB Robotron K 8911 terminal, ~1981
File:Robotron calculator in the Pořežany museum.jpg|Robotron calculator with a printer
File:Z1013 Hauptplatine.jpg | [[Robotron Z1013]] single-board microcomputer kit, ''1985''
</gallery>

==Rebranding of products==
Robotron printers were sold in Western Germany as ''Soemtron'' or ''Präsident'', and the West German branch of [[Commodore International|Commodore]] used some Robotron parts for their printers.

In East Germany, [[Epson]] printers were sold under the Robotron brand that still had the Epson logo on the back.

==K 1520 bus standard==
The K 1520 bus was an early [[computer bus]], created by VEB Robotron in 1980 and specified in TGL 37271/01.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://katalog.ub.uni-weimar.de/tgl/TGL_37271-01_07-1980.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205171144/https://katalog.ub.uni-weimar.de/tgl/TGL_37271-01_07-1980.pdf|title=TGL 37271/01 - Microcomputer System Bus line Interface BUS K 1520 System Bus|archive-date=December 5, 2022}}</ref> It was the predominant computer bus architecture of microcomputer-sized systems of [[East Germany]], whose industry relied heavily on the [[U880]] microprocessor, a clone of the [[Zilog Z80]].

Among the large number of boards developed using the standard<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.robotrontechnik.de/index.htm?/html/standards/k1520.htm | title=www.robotrontechnik.de - K1520-Standard }}</ref> were CPU modules, [[Random Access Memory|RAM]] modules, graphics cards, [[Magnetic-tape data storage|magnetic tape]] controllers and [[floppy disk controller]]s.

It was originally intended to be used to connect boards to backplanes, as in the {{ill|Mikrorechnersystem K 1520|de|Mikrorechnersystem K 1520|lt=K 1520}} modular microcomputer system,  [[A 5120]] office computer, A 5130 office computer<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.robotrontechnik.de/index.htm?/html/computer/a5130.htm | title=www.robotrontechnik.de - Die Geschichte der Computertechnik der DDR }}</ref> and the [[Poly-Play]] arcade cabinet.

But it was also used as an expansion bus for computers that featured a [[mainboard]] such as 
* [[PC 1715]] office computer - with 2 internal slots, one being occupied by the floppy disk controller
* [[KC 85]]/2, KC 85/3, KC 85/4 [[microcomputer]]s - with two internal slots for expansion cartridges and one back-side connector for:
** D002 - expansion unit for 4 additional expansion cartridges
** D004 - a floppy controller subsystem plus 2 cartridge slots
* [[Robotron KC 87|KC 87]] microcomputer - a.k.a. Z 9001 and KC 85/1
* [[Robotron Z1013|Z 1013]], a [[home computer]] - consumer product in kit form
* BIC A 5105 [[:de:Bildungscomputer robotron A 5105|[de]]] educational microcomputer - not produced in significant quantities
* [[Amstrad CPC#KC compact|KC compact]] late home computer - not produced in meaningful quantities

[[File:Bauelementeträger Z 1013.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|K 1520 bus expansion for Z 1013]]
The bus had 58 pins and was commonly physically represented by a two-row connector with 29 pins each. The following signals and connections were used:
* DB0 ... DB7 (bidirectional data bus)
* AB0 ... AB15 (address bus)
* /MREQ, /IORQ, /RD, /WR, /RFSH, /M1, /WAIT, /HALT, /INT, /NMI, /BUSRQ, /RESET (Z80 control signals)
* /BAI, /BOA /BUSACK (bus priority chain)
* /IEI, IEO (interrupt enable priority chain)
* /IODI, /MEMDI, /RDY (access control)
* clock, +5V, -5V, +12V, ground

==See also==
* [[Rolanet]] - East German networking standard
* VEB [[Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt]] - East German manufacturer of active electronic components
* [[Electronics industry in East Germany]]
* [[Economy of East Germany]]
* [[History of computer hardware in Eastern Bloc countries]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Robotron}}
*[http://robotron.foerderverein-tsd.de/ Robotron.foerderverein-tsd.de]&nbsp;— The History of Robotron narrated by former staff members. German language site.
*[http://www.computer-archiv.de/comp0049.htm Computer-archiv.de]&nbsp;— On-line generalised list of computers including Robotron. German language site.
*[http://www.robotrontechnik.de Robotrontechnik.de]&nbsp;— On-line museum of Robotron companies and products. German language site with some English translations.
*[http://www.soemtron.org Soemtron.org]&nbsp;— Technical data for the Soemtron 22x series (220, 222, 224) desktop calculators manufactured by VEB Robotron Büromaschinenwerk Sömmerda.
*[http://www.ddr-museum.de/de/museum/objektdatenbank/1003600/schreibmaschine_erika Typewriter "Erika"]&nbsp;— DDR Museum, Berlin
*[http://fesararob.de/ Company History]&nbsp;— Company History Robotron Radeberg.

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[[Category:Volkseigene Betriebe]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of Germany]]
[[Category:Home computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct computer systems companies]]
[[Category:Science and technology in East Germany]]