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About us
Founder – Dr.-Ing. Alexander Lutz
Dr.-Ing. Alexander Lutz is the founder of Argonics. He is a former employee of the Institute for System Dynamics and Control Engineering at the University of Stuttgart (now ISYS).
"The Argonauts sailed the seas with their ship Argo (lat. Argo Navis) in search of the Golden Fleece. With Argonics, we want to help make such ventures no less exciting in the future, but much safer."
Dr.-Ing. Alexander Lutz
Our team
At the site in Vaihingen (Stuttgart), we currently employ a total of 18 people, 10 of whom work for Argonics and 8 for the subsidiary Argonav.
Pictured (from left to right): Alexander Lutz, Axel Lachmeyer, Marten Eger, Kristy Lutz, Nico Eichler, Marvin Holzer, Florian Gschwandtner and Steven Dropiewski.
Our mascot
New to the team since 2023: our mascot "Tracky".
Tracky is a Eurasian otter. He is an excellent swimmer and knows his way around the water.
History
First steps – TGU 3G-Navigation
In December 2010, Dr.-Ing. Alexander Lutz founded the company "TGU 3G-Navigation" under the umbrella of tti GmbH (Technology Transfer Initiative) of the University of Stuttgart.
- „TGU" stands for transfer and start-up company, a simplified form of company formation.
- „3G" refers to the third generation of navigation: from handwheel to autopilot to TrackPilot.
With this company, more than 60 control systems have been installed on over 30 large ships.
Foundation of the company Argonics
Dr.-Ing. Alexander Lutz founded the company Argonics on January 20, 2014. In the same year, the company had already grown by two employees. The first orders included drive controls of rudder propellers.
In November 2017, the company launched a track keeping system for inland vessels, which has since become an indispensable component on several hundred ships: the argoTrackPilot.
Argonics has always been able to show products for several divisions in the field of automation, covering navigation and monitoring as well as simulation and control.
Foundation of the company Argonav
At the end of 2020, the company became even bigger. Argonics founded, together with Martin Sandler, the former CEO of in – innovative navigation, the company Argonav. Argonics and Argonav have been working closely together ever since.
10 year anniversary
On Saturday, 20 January 2024, Argonics celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Vacancies
Intern (m/f/d) in the field of ship dynamics
Research Projects
EcoBin - Assistance systems for energy-optimised automated sailing in inland navigation (January 2024)
The overarching aim of the project is to research further energy-efficient methods in inland shipping in line with Germany's endeavours to become greenhouse gas-neutral by 2045. The focus is on two areas: Energy-efficient sailing as a first approach that can be implemented quickly and with low investment, and the research and development of consumption monitoring for energy-optimised scheduling of the fleet.
The "EcoBin" project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. EcoBin started on 1 January 2024 and has a duration of 36 months (3 years).
KoliBRI - Collision avoidance in inland navigation based on radar and the integration of further sensor technology (October 2023)
The goal of KoliBRI is to develop the first level 3 automation assistance system for inland navigation. Together with the project partners Argonav GmbH and the Chair of Automation and Control Engineering at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, we want to take inland navigation to the next level.
HGK Ship Management is supporting the project by providing its motor cargo ship Niedersachsen 22 for sea trials.
The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection is funding KoliBRI for 3 years as part of the Maritime Research Program.
FernBin - Remotely controlled, coordinated sailing in inland navigation (July 2020)
The FernBin joint project started in July 2020 and was successfully completed in March 2024 with a final demonstration in Duisburg.
The aim of the FernBin project was to investigate the coordinated, remote-controlled navigation of inland waterway vessels. The ship was no longer steered by a skipper on board, but from a remote control station. All the tasks required for navigation had to be operable remotely. In order to open up the possibility of being able to steer several ships with just one skipper in the remote control station, navigation was to be further automated beyond the state of the art.
The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
SCIPPPER – Lock assistance system based on PPP and VDES for inland navigation (November 2018).
The Project „SChleusenassistenzsystem basIerend auf PPP und VDES für die BinnenschifffahRt“, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), has been granted and will start on November 1, 2018. Project coordinator: Argonics GmbH.
Novimar – Column driving on waterways (Oktober 2018)
Since May 2017, Argonics GmbH has been involved in the development of an electronic tow train for inland and coastal waters. Read more about this on the official Projekt-Webseite.
The project is funded within the framework of the European Union's research and development program Horizon 2020.