Robotron Pty. Ltd. is an Australian research & development and manufacturing company of various specialty high-technology equipment. The company was founded in 1983 by Czech-born engineer Milan Hudecek. Its products include assistive technology equipment for the blind, such as reading machines, navigational and word-processing tools. Hudecek's inspirational meetings with executives of various blind support and consumer organizations, discussing development of the Robotron equipment, for example, the Eureka A4 computers are described in various sources such as The Braille Monitor. The company also pioneered the development of

speech synthesis Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal languag ...

products for non-European languages, for example Thai language 'Aria' computer. The Robotron Rainbow and TR320 are reading machines for the blind. In 1989, the company won the Australian Export Award. In 1990, the company was awarded the annual Canadian ''Winston Gordon Award of Excellence in Accessible Technology'' in the field of blindness and visual impairment for their Eureka A4 device. The award "recognizes an individual or group who has made significant technological advances benefiting people with sight loss." The Eureka A4 attached to an early 1990s PC "to utilise screen orientated programs. It had sockets for telephone lines, a Braille keyboard, an inbuilt disk drive, speed and volume controls as well as outlets for data ports and headphones."

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, sou ...

and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

both used Robotron equipment. In 1991 the company founded a subsidiary called Rosetta Laboratories Pty. Ltd. (later renamed to Radixon Group Pty. Ltd.) to concentrate on development and marketing of specialty PC peripherals. One of its first products was the

WiNRADiO Winradio (stylized WiNRADiO) is the brand name for the radio communication equipment and the name of the commercial division of Radixon Group in Melbourne, Australia, a subsidiary of Robotron Group. It includes computer-based radio receivers, s ...

PC card which provided the initial impetus for the development of the entire

range of PC-based

radio receiver In radio communications, a radio receiver, also known as a receiver, a wireless, or simply a radio, is an electronic device that receives radio waves and converts the information carried by them to a usable form. It is used with an antenna. T ...

s and accessories.

References

External links

Robotron radio technology website

Robotron assistive technology website
Electronics companies of Australia Assistive technology Australian companies established in 1983 Technology companies established in 1983