Germany's Heilbronn humanoid test hub plans €70 million, more than Berlin's €50 million for the whole Robo-Hub contest

Germany's research ministry has picked ProLog, a consortium led by Fraunhofer IPA, as one of seven pre-projects in its competition for innovation labs in AI-based robotics, Fraunhofer IPA said on Nov. 10. ProLog would test humanoid robots, vision-language-action models and new grippers on real production and logistics tasks in a 13,000 square-meter lab that is under construction on the IPAI campus in Heilbronn and can be occupied from 2028. From Dec. 1 the consortium has nine months and €500,000 of federal money to write its implementation plan.

The plan is already bigger than the competition. If ProLog is chosen, it foresees a volume of about €70 million for 2028 to 2030, according to Fraunhofer IPA. The ministry's call sets aside up to €50 million for the competition and the implementation phase together, and the ministry will pick up to three hubs. At its planned size, the Heilbronn test bench would be paid for mostly by Baden-Württemberg and industry, not by Berlin.

Half the budget from others still leaves little for two more hubs

Hub concepts must aim for 30% to 50% co-financing from industry and the states, the University of Osnabrück said; its agricultural robotics hub OSCAR is another of the seven. The seven pre-projects can take up to €3.5 million of the federal €50 million. If the €70 million is ProLog's whole budget and half of it came from others, Berlin's share would be €35 million, leaving at most about €11.5 million for up to two other hubs.

Baden-Württemberg's state ministry and its economy and science ministries back ProLog politically "and, in prospect, financially," Fraunhofer IPA said, and more than 175 companies and organizations signed letters of support, among them Bosch, Siemens, Trumpf, Festo and SAP. The concept phase ends on Aug. 31, 2027, and the ministry chooses after that.

The lab is aimed at what, according to Fraunhofer IPA, still often stops wider robot use: many product variants, limp materials such as cables and textiles, tight cycle times and heavy integration work. Werner Kraus, who coordinates the hub at Fraunhofer IPA, put the aim plainly: "We test humanoid robots and new AI models on real industrial tasks, independent of manufacturers and with an eye on safety and economics. That way companies can make an informed decision instead of chasing a hype."