News Archive

Professor Otmar Wiestler, President of the Hermann von Helmholtz Association, visited KIT on November 24, 2022. One of the stops during the visit was the Institute of Anthropomatics and Robotics where he could get an insight to the latest developments in humanoid robotics and robotic artificial intelligence. Professor Asfour and his team demonstrated to him how valuable learning from humans is for robots as well as the enormous contribution humanoid assistance robots and collaborative robots, exoskeletons as well as hand prostheses can make for humans and society.

Yukie Nagai, Project Professor at the International Research Center for Neurointelligence of the University of Tokyo gave a talk on "How to Build Developing Minds" on Friday, December 09, 2022 at 11:00 in bldg. 50.20 room 148.

Together with her group she has been investigating human minds by a computational approach. Her talk shows how artificial neural networks based on predictive coding enables robots to acquire various cognitive functions and will discuss potentials and new challenges in building developing minds in robots.

In 2023 there will be BOGY internships at H²T once more, for which we are excited to announce the date:
From April 17 - 21, 2023 the chair of Professor Asfour will offer internships (German: Berufs- und Studienorientierung an Gymnasien) for groups of school students in the field of robotics.
It is a cooperation between the H²T and the KIT Center Information · Systems · Technologies (KCIST).

On November 23, 2022, Professor Dr. rer. pol. Stefan Asenkerschbaumer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Robert Bosch GmbH, visited the H²T together with his colleagues. The visitors were accompanied by Professor Michael Kaschke, Chairman of the KIT Supervisory Board, and KIT President Professor Holger Hanselka. Professor Asfour and his team demonstrated to the guests the current research topics at the H²T using the example of humanoid assistant robots and collaborative robots, exoskeletons, and intelligent prosthetic hand.

As part of the European Robotics Week 2022, the Chair of High-Performance Humanoid Technologies (KIT, Adenauerring 2, Bldg. 50.20, ground floor) opened its doors on November 25, 2022 from 13:00 - 17:00.

Interested citizens were able to get an insight into the current research on intelligent, humanoid robots to support humans in everyday life and work.

In addition to the laboratory tour, the guests had the opportunity to get hands-on and interact with various humanoid robots.

Flyer for download (German only)

In the Science Camp Robotics a group of school students learned some basic, fundamental concepts of robotics and computer science and put them in practice, by programming the NAO humanoid robot. The camp is a cooperation between H²T, the KIT Center Information ˑ Systems ˑ Technologies (KCIST), the ZML and the Schülerakademie Karlsruhe.

In the summer of 2022, the advisory council "Innovation and Digitization" of the CDU parliamentary group started an "innovation tour" to Karlsruhe, which led it to the KIT, among other places, on August 19, 2022, and in turn to the chair of Professor Asfour on one of its stops. Here, the CDU members were to gain insight into research on robotic artificial intelligence using the example of humanoid robots.

Professor Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Transfer and International Affairs, accompanied the visitors.

Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT

Mario Brandenburg, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research (BMBF), visited the KIT on July 22, 2022, and among others also the H²T, where he was able to see demonstrations on current research topics in humanoid assistive robotics, collaborative robotics, prostheses and exoskeletons, as well as learning from humans.
The visit was accompanied by President Professor Holger Hanselka and Professor Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Transfer and International Affairs.

AImino

Making AI systems more robust and secure with the help of artificial data - this is what the start-up Aimino Tech GmbH, founded in March 2021, is working on. Until now, a lack of data has limited system performance in many AI projects. As a result, they block the use of AI solutions in industry. Aimino's solution closes this data gap by producing synthetic, i.e. artificially generated, data that maximizes system performance. The goal is to increase the technical and economic added value of AI applications based on high data quality and quantity.

On July 18, 2022, the KIT Center Humans and Technology presented its research at Karlsruhe City Hall. Under the title "Wandel gestalten", scientists presented current projects in science slams. In parallel, the MobiLab opened its doors in front of Karlsruhe City Hall on that day. Prof. Asfour and Prof. Hillerbrand were available to answer the questions of citizens at the MobiLab Science Bench on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from 16:00 - 18:00.

DLR

To conclude the Helmholtz Future Project "ARCHES", the demo mission "Space" was conducted on the Sicilian volcano Etna from June 28, 2022 to July 1, 2022. The goal of the mission is to coordinate specialized robotic teams to explore inaccessible environments, such as other planets. In one part of the mission, an exploration of the moon was simulated, where, among other things, rock samples were successfully collected autonomously with the help of a humanoid hand developed by H²T.

The Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics will open its doors on July 1 2022 from 3 - 9 p.m. and will give an insight into its current research.
Get an idea of the research on artificial intelligence and robotics. Get to know humanoid robots of the ARMAR family, prostheses and exoskeletons that support people in everyday life and at work. Try out the Lecture Translator and have your spoken words translated in real time. Learn more about Artificial Intelligence for robotics and speech technologies.

As part of the Campusday at KIT on May 14, 2022, H²T will again provide insight into its High Performance Humanoid Technologies research and teaching at the Institute of Anthropomatics and Robotics. Visitors can experience how ARMAR-6 performs maintenance tasks with a technician, how ARMAR-III helps with daily tasks in the kitchen, or admire exoskeletons and hand prostheses that actively support the wearer in moving, grasping, and lifting through machine learning and highly sophisticated sensors.

Demonstrations at H²T (Building 50.20) will take place from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and are free of charge and without registration.

On Saturday, December 18, 2021, the exhibition "BioMedia - The Age of Media with Life-like Behavior" opened at the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (ZKM). Among the exhibition objects is also the robot "Pepper", which was programmed by scientists in the context of the project RealWorldLab "Robotics AI" at H²T for his appearance.

Pepper is not only a digital entertainment device, but should be perceived in the wholeness of its system. This creates the opportunity to identify with the robot as a digital being and to experience the limitations and possibilities of robotics and artificial intelligence.

In 2022, after the break due to corona , we will finally have BOGY internships at H²T again, for which we are very excited to announce the date:
From April 25 - 29, 2022 we offer internships (German: Berufs- und Studienorientierung an Gymnasien) for groups of school students in the field of robotics. It is a cooperation between the H²T and the KIT Center Information · Systems · Technologies (KCIST).

In the Science Camp Robotics a group of school students learned some basic, fundamental concepts of robotics and computer science and put them in practice, by programming the NAO humanoid robot. The camp is a cooperation between H²T, the KIT Center Information ˑ Systems ˑ Technologies (KCIST), the ZML and the Schülerakademie Karlsruhe.

The KIT Science Week from October 5 - 10 2021 combines a high-level international scientific conference with events for the public. The goal is to put humans back at the center of learning systems by stimulating a discourse on the development of trustworthy, tangible, adaptive, and human-inspired AI technologies.

The scientific conference as well as the DGR Days included in it will take place online in English. Participation is free of charge.

Part of the scientific conference taking place within the KIT Science Week from October 6 - 8, 2021 are the DGR Days, where the interdisciplinary German robotics community consisting of (young) scientists and research institutions in robotics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science will come together.

2020 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots

Scientific contributions of the H2T were nominated for all four awards of the 2020 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots.

Congratulations to all nominees and the winners!

The European project IMAGINE demonstrated how to endow robots with the ability to understand their action effects  in the context of the recycling of electromechanical devices such as computer hard drives (HDD).  KIT developed a multi-function gripper that is able to perform a set of actions, such as pick, drop, lever, unscrew,  etc. that are needed for disassembly tasks. The actions are learned from human demonstration and represented as via-point movement primitives allowing the adaptation to new situations.  See article at CORDIS EU research results.

Together with the team of Prof. Wolfram Burgard from University Freiburg we organized the workshop on "Semantic Representations for Robotics through Continuous Interaction and Incremental Learning" at the 2021 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2021). Detailed information about the workshop can be found at the workshops webpage.

We are pleased to present the results of the last camp in the form of a trailer. The event takes place regularly and in cooperation between the KIT research group H²T, the KIT Center Information - Systems - Technology (KCIST), and the ZML. Here, students can learn basic concepts of robotics and computer science, which they put into practice by programming the humanoid robot NAO.

For more information about our school activities please click here

together.grow.shape – under this motto, key players from research, economy and society from all over Germany will meet on April 21, 2021 for the virtual results conference of the high-tech forum. The high-tech forum is the federal government's central innovation policy advisory body for the implementation of the high-tech strategy 2025.

H²T's research on humanoid robotics and artificial intelligence has also been selected for presentation in an online video. Don't miss it!

Here you can download the full Christmas Card

KIT

With its real-world lab "Robotic Artificial Intelligence", KIT will make artificial intelligence tangible through bidirectional exchange between society and research.

"The exchange of knowledge and experience goes in both directions in a real-world lab: Research and application come together at eye level, so that we can then develop precisely the technologies that people really need and want", says Tamim Asfour about the project.

Press release

The KIT, funded by the Carl-Zeiss Foundation, is researching a new generation of personalized humanoid robots. These helpers are to take over everyday household tasks in order to ensure the independence of elderly people. In addition, exoscellets are being developed that support the personal mobility of senior citizens and enable a targeted training of their motor and cognitive abilities.

For further information, please refer to the public press release of KIT and to the other projects supported by the Carl-Zeiss Foundation.

On October 8, 2020, Dr. Klein from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics, Labor and Housing visited the Chair of High Performance Humanoid Technologies (H²T). Together with Dr. Stefan Suwelack, Managing Director of Renumics GmbH, the progress of the joint MeshAI project was discussed, which investigates the automatic processing of CAD models using machine learning methods.

In the Science Camp Robotics, interested students learn how to program and control a robot themselves. Due to current restrictions, this year's Science Camp had to take place online. More information is available on Twitter and from the ZML.

KIT/Tanja Meißner

On August 10, 2020 the Hessian Minister for Digital Strategy and Development Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus and Katrin Schütz, State Secretary in the Ministry of Economics, Labour and Housing of the State of Baden-Württemberg, visited the Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics. They gained insights into the current state of research in Artificial Intelligence using the examples of humanoid assistive and collaborative robotics, intuitive human-robot interaction, personalized hand prostheses and augmented exoskeletons.

Dipl.-Inform. Markus Grotz successfully passed his doctoral examination.

All colleagues congratulate him warmly.

M. Sc. Samuel Rader successfully passed his doctoral examination.

All colleagues congratulate him warmly.

M. Sc. You Zhou has successfully passed his doctoral examination.

All colleagues congratulate him warmly.

In SS 2020 all lectures at H2T are offered online and as recordings. The lectures are held in German but with slides in English. As in the past, a simultaneous translation of the lectures into English is also offered with the Lecture Translator. With the exception of the "Motion in Man and Machine" seminar, all practical courses, basic practical courses and seminars will also take place.

Further information on the schedule as well as links to the recordings can be found here.

In his new year's speech, Minister President Winfried Kretschmann reports on three encounters that impressed him last year - one of them at KIT, with our robots.

Resource: GovernmentBW@YouTube

Dipl.-Ing. Simon Ottenhaus has successfully passed his doctoral examination.

All colleagues congratulate him warmly.

KIT/ASERV/Crossmedia

On Friday, 22 November 2019, Baden-Württemberg's Minister President Winfried Kretschmann and the Federal Chairman of the Green Party Robert Habeck visited the Chair of High Performance Humananoid Technologies (H²T). During the visit, they gained insight into the current state of research on the topics of humanoid assistance robotics in households, collaborative humanoid robotics for industrial applications and intelligent hand prostheses and exoskeletons.

The TV channel Baden-TV currently reports about our humanoid robots ARMAR-III, ARMAR-6, our intelligent prostheses and our exoskeletons within the scope of the European Robotics Week | Open house 2019 (Resource: Baden-TV)

European Robotics Week 2019

Once again the H²T lab will open its doors and give an insight into its current research in humanoid robot technologies within the framework of the European Robotics Week 2019.

More information

ISRR 2019

The International Symposium on Robotics Research (ISRR) 2019 will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam. General Co-Chair is Professor Tamim Asfour. ISRR is one of the pioneering symposia in robotics worlwide and it promotes the development and dissemination of groundbreaking research and technological innovation in robotics with emphasis on its potential role to benefit humans.
ISRR 2019 website

KIT/IAR/H2T

Last Saturday the KIT Open House Day took place at Campus East. The H2T lab was again part of the KCIST tent with some of its exhibits and gave insights to visitors into current research areas regarding wearable robotics.

Read more

H2T

Dipl.-Ing. Jonas Beil has successfully passed his doctoral examination.

All colleagues congratulate him warmly.

Picture Promotion Jonas Beil

At 25.06.2019 the kickoff event of the project ROBDEKON took place at the Fraunhofer Institute IOSB in Karlsruhe. The aim of this BMBF-funded project is to investigate autonomous and semi-autonomous robot systems for decontamination in misanthropic environments. 

The H2T took part in the festivities on the 50th anniversary of informatics in Germany. We showed some of our robotic systems, exoskeletons and prosthetic hands. The KIT was one of the first German universities including computer science in its teaching. 

Further information can be found in the KIT press-archive

ETH / Cynthia Ruf

Vergangene Woche, vom 17. – 18.05.2019, fand die vom Lehrstuhl für Hochperformante Humanoide Technologien (H2T) des Instituts für Anthropomatik und Robotik (IAR) am KIT in Zusammenarbeit mit der ETH Zürich organisierte CYBATHLON Powered ARM and LEG Prosthesis Series statt.

Weiterlesen

13 students from different schools were at our institute to complete their BOGY internship. Here, the students could work with the humanoid robot Nao and program it graphically or build up the Lego Mindstorms robot and then program it in Java.

more informationen

The Cybathlon Prosthesis Series the AsWeR Symposium on Assistive and Wearable Robotics happen on May

16-18, 2019.  Both events will take place in Karlsruhe at the REHAB exhibition. The Symposium AsWeR 2019 aims to encourage scientific discussions on the development, design, control and application of wearable robotic technologies.

Jonas Rothfuss, H2T Alumnus, will present his research in a talk titled "Algorithms learn to learn" during the Annual Celebration of KIT on May 16, 2019 in the Gartenhalle Karlsruhe.

https://www.irm.kit.edu/kit-jahresfeier.php

The Call for Papers for the Symposium on Assistive and Wearable Robotic Technologies is open. Extended abstracts (max. 1 A4 page) can be submitted under the following link: https://easychair.org/cfp/AsWeR19

More information is available under: http://www.cybathlon-symposium-karlsruhe-2019.org

The final race of the Lego-Mindstorms lecture took place in front of numerous spectators. At the event, the students learn to design a mobile robot using a Lego construction kit and to overcome various obstacles. The students competed in a friendly competition to determine the fastest robot.

M.Sc. Lukas Kaul has successfully passed his doctoral examination.

All colleagues congratulate him warmly.

Foto doctoral examination Lukas Kaul

Auch dieses Jahr gibt das H2T Einblick in seine aktuelle Forschung im Rahmen der European Robotics Week am 21.11.2018.

Weitere Informationen

The CoRL 2018 accepted paper  "Model-Based Reinforcement Learning via Meta-Policy Optimization" from the authors I. Clavera, J. Rothfuss, J. Schulman, Y. Fujita, T. Asfour and P. Abbeel has been discussed in the Import AI Newsletter.

Académie des Sciences / Leopoldina

The French Académie des sciences and the German Akademie of Sciences Leopoldina organize the Symposium "Data Science versus Motion Intelligence" to strengthen the cooperation between France and Germany in Robotics AI. The organizers are Jean-Paul Laumond and Tamim Asfour.

Further information
(German only)

The exam dates for SS 2018 and WS 18/19 are online.

ARMAR-6

The H²T is displaying its humanoid robot ARMAR-6 as part of the KIT stand at the CeBIT in Hannover. In continuous live demonstrations, the robot shows its capabilities to intelligently and proactively assist a human coworker in the context of an industrial maintenance task. We cordially invite you to visit us in Hall 27, Stand G52.

go to the CeBIT Video

http://www.goethe-gymnasium-karlsruhe.de

As part of the MINT congress organized by the Goethe Gymnasium, our 3 PhD students introduced the MINT study programs to the school girls and held two workshops during which the school girls were familiarized with the programming of the humanoid robot NAO.

more information

Prof. Asfour became laureate of the faculty teaching award of the KIT department of Informatics 2018. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, is awarded annually in the faculties of KIT and highlights challenging teaching achievements, including interdisciplinarity, high research experience and research orientation.

During this years' Girls' Day on 27.04.2017, H²T invited interested visitors to our lab.
We explained what is meant by "anthropomatics" and presented our humanoid robots ARMAR-IIIa, ARMAR-4 and the NAO roboters from Aldebaran Robotics.
More information about the Girls'Day at the KIT Department for Informatics can be found here.

Julia Starke got the Dr.-Jürgen-Ulderup-Preis for her outstanding master degree in mechatronics. This price is given to the best graduates of the Faculty of Mechnical Engineering at the Leibniz Universität Hannover. We congratulate her for this award.

Bogy Praktikum 2018

13 Schüler von verschiedenen Gymnasium waren an unserem Institut, um ihr Bogy Praktikum zu absolvieren. Hier konnten die Schüler mit dem humanoiden Roboter Nao arbeiten und diesen selbst graphisch programmieren oder den Roboter Asuro selbst zusammen löten und anschließend in C programmieren.

A group of middle-school students from Tsinghua University High School International (THSI) in Beijing visited our lab. Professor Asfour gave a talk to the research on Humanoid Robot in H2T. The students had a chance to have a close look at Humanoid Robot family ARMAR. 

The final race for the mindstorms practical course took place. In this practical course students build a mobile robot using Lego and program it to master different ostacles. In the last session of the practical course the students robots participated in a well-attended race through the parcours.

Link to the practical course

The CyberForum hosted an event for students, kids, professionals and employers. On this occasion the Robotik-AG of the Goethe-Gymnasium showed what they have learned and programmed during the last two years. The pupils programmed the humanoid robot Nao of Aldebaran SoftBank Robotics. More information for the event can be found here.

"The Guardian" and "The Daily Mail" published in their online news an article about the new ARMAR-6 robot, which can help warehouse workers complete tasks using artificial intelligence.

Go to the Guardian article

Go to the Daily Mail article

The BMBF-Initiative Innotruck visited H2T. The award winner and her daughter came to see our labs and made some experiments with the robot NAO.

Go to the Video

Heise online reports in its newsticker about the new ARMAR-6 robot developed at H2T.

goto article

The first press release featuring the humanoid robot ARMAR-6, developed at H2T, was launched. The robot is part of the EU-funded SecondHands research project and currently being used for research activities at OCADO Technology near London.

Article in IEEE Spectrum

Overview of press coverage

The taxonomy of whole-body support poses developed at H²T has been presented in the article "A whole-body support pose taxonomy for multi-contact humanoid robot motions" published in Science Robotics.

Dipl.-Inform. Peter Kaiser has gained his PhD degree. Congratulations from all his colleagues.

The work "Parameter Space Noise for Exploration" by Plappert et al. has been presented at the Deep Reinforcement Learning Symposium within the NIPS 2017 in Long Beach, California.

Within the European Robotics Week the High Performance Humanoid Technologies Lab invited everybody to an open house day.

The humanoid robots of the ARMAR-family demonstrated their skills in an everyday environment by doing typical tasks and interacting with humans. Besides there was the possibility to interact personally with the humanoid robot NAO.