VEB Robotron

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This article is about the East German computer company. For other uses, see Robotron (disambiguation).

VEB Kombinat Robotron
TypeVolkseigener Betrieb
IndustryElectronics manufacturer, computer software
Founded1 April 1969; 55 years ago (1969-04-01) in Dresden, German Democratic Republic
Defunct1 July 1990 (1990-07-01)
FateLiquidated / converted into corporations
Headquarters
Dresden
,
German Democratic Republic
Key people
Friedrich Wokurka
ProductsA 5120, PC 1715, Robotron K 1840, Robotron KC 87, …
Number of employees
68,000 (1989)

VEB Kombinat Robotron[needs IPA] (or simply 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, television sets and other items including the cookie press Kleingebäckpresse Typ 102.[1]

Divisions

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 — mainframes, radio receivers, portable television receivers, directional radio systems
  • 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 calculators (Soemtron 220, 222, 224), invoicing machines (EFA 380), punched card indexers and sorters (Soemtron 432).
  • VEB Robotron Elektronik Riesa — printed circuit boards
  • VEB Robotron-Anlagenbau Leipzig — general contractor, design and assembly for computer and process calculation systems in the GDR and export, training center

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.

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.

  • Final assembly at VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, 1981

    Final assembly at VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, 1981

  • Quality conformance testing at VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, 1984

    Quality conformance testing at VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, 1984

  • A worker at an assembly plant producing the ES 2655 mainframe in 1985.

    A worker at an assembly plant producing the ES 2655 mainframe in 1985.

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

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

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

Robotron computers and typewriters

Robotron product series:

  • Robotron A 5120 office computer, 1982

    Robotron A 5120 office computer, 1982

  • Robotron KC 87 home computer, 1987

    Robotron KC 87 home computer, 1987

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

    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

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

  • A Robotron 204 electric typewriter from the 1980s

    A Robotron 204 electric typewriter from the 1980s

  • VEB Robotron K8911

    VEB Robotron K8911

  • Robotron calculator with a printer

    Robotron calculator with a printer

K1520 bus standard

The K1520 bus was an early computer bus, created by VEB Robotron in 1980 and specified in TGL 37271/01.[2] 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[3] were

It was originally intended to be used to connect boards to backplanes, as in the

but was also used as an extension bus for computers that featured a main board

  • KC 85/2, KC85/3, KC85/4
    • 2 internal slots for extension cartridges and one back-side connector
  • D002
    • expansion unit for 4 additional extension cartridges
  • D004
    • floppy controller subsystem for KC95 based systems. 2 internal cartridge slots
  • PC 1715
    • 2 internal slots, one being occupied by the standard issue floppy disk controller
  • A 5105 (not produced in significant quantities)
  • KC 87 (a.k.a. z9001 or KC85/1)
  • Z1013
  • KC compact (not produced in meaningful quantities)

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 priority chain)
  • /IEI, IEO (interrupt enable priority chain)
  • /IODI, /MEMDI, /RDY
  • clock
  • +5V
  • -5V
  • +12V
  • ground

See also

References

  1. ^ Ersetzlich (2019-01-14), Deutsch: Kleingebäckpresse Typ 102 vom VEB Robotron in Sömmerda, retrieved 2021-03-01
  2. ^ https://katalog.ub.uni-weimar.de/tgl/TGL_37271-01_07-1980.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "www.robotrontechnik.de - Die Geschichte der Computertechnik der DDR".
  4. ^ "www.robotrontechnik.de - Die Geschichte der Computertechnik der DDR".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robotron.
  • 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.
  • Typewriter "Erika" — DDR Museum, Berlin
  • Company History — Company History Robotron Radeberg.
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