Odense in Denmark has over 150 robotics, automation, and drone companies, with a particular focus on “cobots” that work alongside humans safely.
The city’s prowess in the industry grew out of its shipbuilding heritage in the 1980s, when Lindø shipyard developed welding robots with help from the University of Southern Denmark.
The partnership was cemented in the 1990s with the creation of the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Institute to study autonomous systems, and students took an interest in robotics.
Star Wars fan Niels Jul Jacobsen, who had worked on the shipyard’s robot welding project as a university student, founded Universal Robots, Odense’s first major robotics success, in 2005.
The company makes flexible, easy-to-use industrial robot arms and was acquired by US firm Teradyne for $285m in 2015, making it a catalyst for further investment in Odense’s robotics scene.