Robotron Z1013
home computer

The MRB Z 1013 (German: Mikrorechnerbausatz, lit. 'microcomputer kit') was an East German single-board computer produced by VEB Robotron Riesa, which was primarily intended for private use and educational institutions. It was powered by a U880 processor (a Z80 clone) and sold together with a membrane (flat foil) keyboard. Initially, the kit was equipped with 16 kilobytes of DRAM, which was later replaced by a 64 KB version.
The kits first became available for sale in 1985 and were distributed in a unique way at the time. To purchase it, buyers had to send a postcard to the Robotron shop in Erfurt and wait six to twelve months and then to pick the kits up in person.
The package contained the assembled and tested motherboard, a membrane keyboard, various small parts and detailed technical documentation. This basic kit was shipped without power supply or casing for the PCB. Most users tended to program the kit using the BASIC interpreter, which was loadable from compact cassette or by using a ROM cartridge. The BASIC interpreter contained a common core binary, which was identical across home computer models. In consequence, programs were widely compatible among different models of GDR-manufactured computers despite differences in capabilities.
Robotron was also the manufacturer of another line of computers, the Z 9001, KC 85/1 and KC 87, which shared some of the same expansion modules – offering more options also for Z 1013.
The public source identifies “Robotron Z1013” as home computer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Robotron, Z1013 and home.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robotron Z1013” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.