Welcome to H²T
The Chair of High Performance Humanoid Technologies (H²T) at the Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics researches and develops humanoid robot technologies and systems that perform versatile tasks in the real world in interaction with humans. The research focuses on the mechano-informatics of humanoid robots, visual and haptic grasping and mobile manipulation, learning from human observation, modeling and analysis of human movements, active vision and haptic touch, as well as software and hardware architectures and system integration.
The H²T is headed by Professor Tamim Asfour, who has led the Humanoid Robot Research Group at the Humanoids and Intelligence Systems Lab (HIS) since 2003 and has been developing the ARMAR family of humanoid robots since 1998.

Information about our research focus, our robots and our partners
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Information about our lectures, theses and student activities
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// Change of date!
08.07.2022
On July 18, 2022, the KIT Center Humans and Technology will present its research at Karlsruhe City Hall. Under the title "Wandel gestalten", scientists will present current projects in science slams. In parallel, the MobiLab will open its doors in front of Karlsruhe City Hall on that day. Prof. Asfour and Prof. Hillerbrand will be available to answer your questions at the MobiLab Science Bench on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from 16:00 - 18:00. Come by and talk to them at eye level about research topics at KIT.
To the MobiLab Programm (PDF only German)
08.07.2022
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.
To the Aimino website
06.07.2022
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.
To the press release
27.06.2022
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.

11.05.2022
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.
To the KIT Campusday program
16.12.2021
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.
To the ZKM Exhibition25.11.2021
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).

25.11.2021
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.
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scientific conference and DGR Days:
The Human in the Center of Learning Systems
08.09.2021
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.
To the conference website
The Human in the Center of Learning Systems
08.09.2021
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.
To the DGR Days website
22.07.2021
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!

14.07.2021
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.
To the article in German
31.05.2021
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.
21.05.2021
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
To the video
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!
Further information

24.12.2020

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.

15.10.2020
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.
08.10.2020
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.