Lindøværftet, a shipyard that was part of the larger A.P. Møller concern, was one of the first corporations to start robotics research in Denmark. The work with robots at Lindø was gradually expanded and the need for control and handling of increasing complexity grew as the years went by.
In 1986, the education in computer technology was established in a collaboration between the industry and Odense Technical University, and this “encounter” between scientists and Lindøværftet created the cooperation “AMROSE.” The purpose of AMROSE, which was based in Forskerparken, focused on the development of robots that had to work in complex structures and with soft movements. This development was predicted to be of great value to Danish businesses, leading Maersk to invest millions in developing and promoting this initiative.
2001 witnessed the end of AMROSE and further research in robotics became more difficult and the cooperation with the industry suffered. This led to both the county and the municipality joining forces in a new initiative, RoboCluster, which was supposed to bring researchers and people from the industry on Funen together again.
RoboCluster was organized as a section under MMMI for a couple of years, but in 2018 RoboCluster and Odense Robotics merged with the aim of further strengthening Odense’s robotics cluster.
The A.P. Moller Foundation finances a new institute
In 1995-1996, work was focused on a plan to establish a new international institute with a focus on robotic controls, applied mathematics, and technical solutions for automation. The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute (MMMI) was thus born in 1997 and inaugurated in 1999, when the institute also moved into its own building, which was donated by A.P. Moller and wife Chastine Mc-Kinney Moller's Foundation for General Purposes. In 2019, the institute was granted another building from The A.P. Moller Foundation, which was ready for occupancy in September 2023.