29.08.2024

The newly founded Robotics Institute Germany (RIG) has started its work. The aim of the consortium, led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is to establish Germany as the world's leading location for AI-based robotics. The project is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 20 million euros.

Robots are not only improving traditional industrial production, but are also playing an increasingly important role in other areas such as healthcare and nursing. Robotics is considered a key technology for Germany's economic growth and technological development.

Image: Robots interacting with people in a room; Copyright: University of Stuttgart, Institute for Artifical Intelligence

AI-based robots with semantic and social understanding of their environment.

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A strong network as a foundation

The Robotics Institute Germany brings together leading universities and non-university research institutions that want to jointly exploit synergies in order to make research into AI-based robotics in Germany internationally competitive. The focus is on the joint use of resources and infrastructures as well as the promotion of talent. “The RIG is more than just a nationwide network that brings together the best scientists,” says Prof. Kai Arras from the Institute for Artificial Intelligence at the University of Stuttgart. “It is a catalyst for innovation and economic progress.”

Benchmarks and transfer to industry

A central goal of the RIG is the development of benchmarks for the standardized evaluation of new robot systems for practical use. Prof. Arras and his team are focusing on the latest AI technologies that enable robots to understand complex environments semantically and socially.

Research campus and laboratories as the basis for excellent research

The Robotics Institute Germany can draw on a variety of infrastructures, including the ARENA 2036 mobility campus, the construction robotics laboratory of the Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Computer-aided Design and Construction for Architecture” (IntCDC) in Waiblingen and the ISW's Software Defined Manufacturing (SDM) laboratory. These facilities enable application-oriented research and help to strengthen Germany as a location in the field of AI robotics.

Numerous other renowned universities and research institutions are also involved in the RIG, including the University of Bonn, RWTH Aachen University, TU Dresden and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The project is supported by several Fraunhofer Institutes, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), the Cyber Valley Innovation Campus and the University of Tübingen.

With the launch of the Robotics Institute Germany, Germany is joining forces in the field of AI-based robotics. The institute focuses on close cooperation between science, industry and start-ups in order to drive technological development and establish Germany as an international location.

MEDICA-tradefair.com; Source: University of Stuttgart

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