Bosch Rexroth offers designers the option to quickly and easily obtain access to automation solutions or create apps themselves with ctrlX AUTOMATION. The open automation platform adopts an approach similar to that of smartphones. Customers can now purchase apps in the ctrlX Store, manage software licenses through the Bosch Rexroth Licensing Center and assign them to a ctrlX CORE unit. This works both for apps developed by Bosch Rexroth and for those from third-party providers.

Bosch Rexroth has developed a marketplace in line with the app-based control platform ctrlX CORE which features apps developed both by Bosch Rexroth and third-party providers and includes the option for users to create their own customized applications and libraries. As such, new automation and control functions can be added to ctrlX CORE at any time. The ctrlX Store provides users with a broad range of apps and enables them to set up a customized software system. Users can purchase any app in the ctrlX Store and install it on ctrlX CORE.

In addition to apps developed by Bosch Rexroth, the ctrlX Store also features an increasing number of apps from third-party providers. As such, customers can, for example, integrate apps with artificial intelligence (AI) for production and process improvements or use smart software expansions for mechanics such as gearboxes or gripping and clamping systems. The portfolio of apps also covers areas such as IT security, connectivity, manufacturing IT, voice recognition, and visualizations, to name a few.

Customers purchase apps directly online. The required apps are then supplied digitally either by an online update or by download. This means that, similar to smartphone technology, users can directly launch applications anywhere, anytime.

Pedro Reboredo, Head of Digital Platforms within the Automation & Electrification Solutions Business Unit at Bosch Rexroth, explains: “Our ctrlX Store is part of the ecosystem surrounding our automation platform. The related ctrlX World for partners and the ctrlX AUTOMATION community are continuing to grow. The aim of the ctrlX Store is to make functionalities and apps easy for users to access, in a way which is familiar to them from the world of smartphones. We want to make users’ day-to-day work easier, literally at the press of a button.”

The ctrlX Store provides all app-related content and helps to ensure that users are always up to date. The latest information regarding apps, the Software Development Kit (SDK) and other services can be easily accessed. Notifications of updates and corresponding changes are also provided. As such, transparency, centralized access and information on demand ensure the perfect digital customer journey.

For more information, visit www.boschrexroth.com/ctrlxautomation.