Make AI usable for robotics

Technologies for cognitive robots enable, for example, tailored automation solutions for logistics. © Fraunhofer IPA, Photo: Rainer Bez

The AI Progress Center "Learning Systems" of the Fraunhofer IAO and Fraunhofer IPA supports companies as part of Cyber Valley to leverage the economic opportunities of AI. In 44 projects, feasibility studies and solutions for practical application have already been developed. With funding totaling €23 million, the "Cognitive Robotics" center of Fraunhofer IPA will expand its service offerings starting March 1, 2021.

Since November 2019, the Fraunhofer Institutes for Industrial Engineering and Organization IAO and for Production Technology and Automation IPA in Stuttgart have been part of Cyber Valley, Europe's largest research cooperation in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The center serves as a central contact point for application-oriented AI research for companies in Baden-Württemberg. It conducts research and transfer projects for production and services. Additionally, it acts as an interface between industry and basic research within the existing Cyber Valley consortium, which includes several research institutions in the Stuttgart and Tübingen areas and renowned industry partners. The AI Progress Center enables technology transfer to industry beyond the existing partnerships.

Wide Range of AI and Robotics Technologies

During the virtual S-TEC summit under the motto "AI – Made in Ländle" on February 25, 2021, Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs of Baden-Württemberg, announced further funding for the AI Progress Center: "The combination of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics opens up great opportunities for the Baden-Württemberg economy. With the expansion of the progress center, we are making a significant contribution to sustainably strengthening the development and successful commercialization of these key technologies in the region. Our goal is to better and faster translate the latest research know-how into innovative products and business models. In doing so, we also aim to help our economy overcome the negative impacts of the Corona pandemic as quickly as possible and emerge stronger from the crisis."

With the second phase of funding, the center will be expanded to include "Cognitive Robotics" from Fraunhofer IPA. Under the new title "AI Progress Center 'Learning Systems and Cognitive Robotics'," it now also supports companies in fully exploiting the potentials of service and industrial robotics and finding answers to megatrends such as demographic change, individualization, sustainability, and digitalization. The center will develop technology from four research fields:

• - Human-Machine Interaction: By perceiving, understanding, imitating, and actively supporting humans, machines become intuitive and easy to operate.
  
• - Cyber-Physical Robotic Systems: Services should help to deploy existing robotic systems faster, make them more precise, easier to program, and easier to operate.
  
• - Perception and Interaction: Robots should be able to autonomously perform tasks in unstructured and partly unknown environments using AI.
  
• - Networked Robotics: Networking facilitates knowledge exchange, mutual learning, and teamwork among robots, as well as between humans and robots.

Making Technologies Usable in Companies

All these developments help to facilitate, simplify, and make the entry into robotics more economical, as well as to improve and further develop existing applications. "With cognitive robotics, we are unlocking forward-looking automation solutions in production, but also in retail, healthcare, and agriculture," explains Dr. Werner Kraus, head of the Robotics and Assistance Systems department at Fraunhofer IPA and co-leader of the AI Progress Center. The institute emphasizes its goal of becoming one of the leading institutes for cognitive robotics within the Fraunhofer Society.

Interested companies can now apply for a funded project related to AI for services and production, as well as cognitive robotics, at the AI Progress Center to explore the potentials of these technologies for their specific applications. The deadline for applications is March 18, 2021. All further information can be found on the website.

AI in Practical Use: 13 Completed Application Projects

The topic "Learning Systems" and direct cooperation with industry companies, as well as networking and knowledge transfer within Cyber Valley, remain part of the AI Progress Center. Since October 2019, the Fraunhofer AI expert teams have prototyped 13 different AI applications in so-called Exploring Projects. These cover a broad spectrum of AI use cases: from text mining and processing for legal documents to demand forecasting for an online bookstore, or combined automation solutions from quality inspection and robot-assisted packaging, up to hazard analysis.

The examples demonstrate that AI offers added value for very different questions. "We not only use the latest machine learning technologies but also focus on making them robust and reliable, and especially on improving their explainability," explains Prof. Marco Huber, head of the Center for Cyber Cognitive Intelligence at Fraunhofer IPA and co-leader of the AI Progress Center. "Because that is often the prerequisite for the technologies to be used." Dr. Matthias Peissner, head of the Human-Technology Interaction research area at Fraunhofer IAO and also co-leader of the AI Progress Center, adds: "The center provides companies with a protected space to test ideas for AI applications without financial risk. This way, they learn to assess and utilize the potentials of machine learning."

Studies on Human-Centered AI at the Interface Between Business and Excellent Research

An overview of which industries and topics are particularly suitable for innovative AI applications in practical business and how they can be implemented is provided by ten studies being developed within the framework of the AI Progress Center. These will be available free of charge on the AI Progress Center's website in the coming weeks.

In Cooperation:

S-TEC Stuttgart Technology and Innovation Campus
To advance future-relevant research topics and bring them quickly to market, Fraunhofer, the University of Stuttgart, and the Baden-Württemberg state government jointly founded S-TEC. The campus hosts flagship research, industry-on-campus projects, startups, as well as training and further education. S-TEC connects companies with the broad research landscape in Stuttgart. The campus is organized into centers focused on future-relevant research topics with high technological innovation potential, such as the "AI Progress Center 'Learning Systems and Cognitive Robotics'".

About Cyber Valley
Cyber Valley is Europe's largest research consortium in the field of artificial intelligence, with partners from science and industry. The state of Baden-Württemberg, the Max Planck Society with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, the universities of Stuttgart and Tübingen, as well as Amazon, BMW AG, Daimler AG, IAV GmbH, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG are the founding partners of this initiative. Additionally, the Fraunhofer Society is a Cyber Valley partner. Cyber Valley is also supported by the Christian Bürkert Foundation, the Gips-Schüle Foundation, the Vector Foundation, and the Carl Zeiss Foundation.