A group of eight professors has formed at the Chemnitz University of Technology to work together at the Robotic Institute Germany (RIG). The RIG is a new initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to act as a central point of contact for robotics in Germany. The Chemnitz University of Technology is an associated partner of this network.

The following members belong to the cross-faculty RIG team at TU Chemnitz:

• Prof. Dr. Angelika Bullinger-Hoffmann, Professorship of Ergonomics and Innovation Management
• Prof. Dr. Lewis Chuang, Professorship of Humans and Technology
• Prof. Dr. Fred Hamker, Professorship of Artificial Intelligence
• Prof. Dr. Olfa Kanoun, Professorship of Measurement and Sensor Technology
• Prof. Dr. Bertolt Meyer, Professorship of Work, Organisational and Business Psychology
• Prof. Dr. Klaus Mößner, Professorship of Communications Engineering
• Prof. Dr. Marco Ragni, Professorship of Predictive Behaviour Analysis
• Prof. Dr. Florian Röhrbein, Professorship of Neurorobotics

Prof. Röhrbein is the spokesperson for the Chemnitz RIG team. He will combine the robotics activities of the RIG at the TU Chemnitz. ‘Anyone who would like to participate in our network is very welcome,’ says Röhrbein.

Background: The five strategic goals of the Robotics Institute Germany

1. Making research globally competitive

The RIG aims to promote cooperation between robotics locations and establish research clusters on key technologies in Germany. The goal is to develop globally competitive research for AI-based robotics in Germany – with a clear focus on innovation. To achieve this, the RIG will keep an eye on the specific challenges in Germany and push them forward with mission-oriented research.

2. Joint use of infrastructure and resources

The RIG partners will use their infrastructure and resources for joint research. This includes physical and virtual laboratories, as well as software and research data. In a dynamic, open ecosystem, data and software will be shareable.

3. Promoting talent and offering training in robotics

Developing and finding talent is the focus of the RIG talent programme. The aim is to develop a RIG curriculum for research-oriented teaching in AI-based robotics, a standardised bachelor’s introductory course and new English-language master’s programmes, as well as a RIG doctoral programme in robotics. To attract talent, RIG starts in schools: courses in robotics and AI are to be developed for the upper secondary school level, and talented students are to be supported.

4. Making robotics research comparable with benchmarking and competitions

RIG robotics benchmarks are developed in their own laboratories to enable standardised testing of skills such as object manipulation, navigation in difficult terrain or human-robot interaction. With these benchmarks, RIG is setting new standards for the evaluation of robot systems in areas such as personal assistance, flexible production or logistics. In addition, competitions such as the Autonomous Racing Challenge, the RoboCupHumanoid Soccer or the RoboCupRescue for search and rescue robots will play an even greater role in the future and a separate RIG challenge will be developed.

5. Simplify the transfer of research results for industry

In order to turn research into competitive products, research and industry must work closely together. That is why the RIG innovation programme aims to identify the technical needs of industry and increase the ‘Technology Readiness Level’. RIG wants to promote a start-up culture and also motivate researchers to develop new fields of application for robotics. The benchmark: the number and size of new start-ups, the number of patents and the amount of direct funding from industry will be reviewed year on year.

Translation supported by deepl.com