Project RoX: Dürr drives AI innovation

24.07.2025

Development of an AI tool for more efficient planning and implementation of paint shops

Artificial intelligence (AI) promises many advantages. To take advantage of these, around 30 German companies and research institutions have joined forces in a consortium project. Together, they want to build an ecosystem for the secure exchange of digital data and services for AI-based robotics. This will be driven forward and tested using selected use cases. Dürr manages its own use case. The aim is to develop an AI tool that can be used to plan and realize paint shops more efficiently.

To kick off the cross-industry project “Digital Ecosystem for AI-based Robotics,” also known as RoX, Dürr invited guests to Bietigheim-Bissingen last fall. At the two-day working meeting, representatives of the participating organizations presented the individual sub-projects, formed working groups, and agreed on initial work packages and process flows.

Using the wealth of knowledge

During the two-and-a-half-year project period, the focus is on practical use cases that are geared toward the needs of the industry. Dürr has an enormous wealth of knowledge in the form of practical experience and data. This data forms the basis for Dürr’s use case. An AI assistant that builds on this knowledge base is designed to provide the knowledge intuitively and in a targeted manner. This is intended to make the entire implementation process, from planning to commissioning of robot lines for seam sealing and painting, faster and more efficient. “Such intelligent assistance systems are finding their way into more and more areas.

They reflect the changing distribution of roles and tasks between people and their digital development tools,” explains Dr. Florian Jaensch, project manager and head of AI robotics simulation at Dürr’s Automotive division. In the future, it will be possible to increasingly formulate requirements to AI, which will then independently generate proposed solutions.

Agile and interdisciplinary

Florian Jaensch, RoX project manager and head of AI robotics simulation, and Dr. Lorenz Halt, project manager and head of AI-supported robotics at the Digital Factory, are working on the development of the AI tool.

Dürr uses a special approach for the project. This is characterized by close collaboration between various specialist departments and the development department of the Digital Factory. Dürr’s Digital Factory is a cross-departmental organization with the aim of driving forward the digitalization of systems, machines, and processes. The Planning & Simulation Robotics specialist department provides the requirements and works on finding and implementing solutions. Dr. Florian Jaensch and an agile project team of process experts collaborate closely on this with the research partners and the Digital Factory. The Digital Factory contributes the necessary expertise in IT infrastructure and application development.

The project manager and head of AI-supported robotics at the Digital Factory, Dr. Lorenz Halt, forms the agile project team on the development side together with employees from Development and IT. “After all, this ambitious, interdisciplinary research project can only be realized together,” says Dr. Lorenz Halt. In doing so, the teams use methods such as SCRUM, which means they work in short development cycles and engage in regular exchange in order to review progress and make adjustments where necessary.

Expanding AI capabilities

After the two-and-a-half-year project period, all RoX use cases are to be integrated into a cross-industry AI infrastructure, from which the German industry can benefit. Such a cloud-based ecosystem promises greater efficiency in production and development as well as more independence and data sovereignty toward international competitors. In addition, by participating in the project, Dürr can expand its own expertise in the field of AI and use it as a driver for future innovations.