New real-world laboratory for legally compliant AI and robotics at the AI Advancement Center

The AI Progress Center focuses on application development for humanoid robots and makes it tangible in practice. © Fraunhofer IPA/Photo: Rainer Bez

Companies can contact the AI Advancement Center for all questions regarding the safe and standards-compliant use of AI and robotics. © Fraunhofer IPA

The AI Progress Center supports companies, for example, in implementing and further developing AI in business processes. © Fraunhofer IPA / Photo: Phil Aznar / Lukas Zwiessele

The new real-world laboratory at the AI Progress Center in Stuttgart has started. It supports Baden-Württemberg companies in technology development as well as legal and regulatory questions surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. On May 6, 2026, the AI Progress Center will host an Open Lab Day with expert lectures and demonstrations at the Fraunhofer laboratories. Companies can apply for funded "Quick Checks" until May 21, 2026.

Due to the significant impact of the "Learning Systems and Cognitive Robotics" AI Progress Center, the Ministry of Economics, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg is funding the expansion of the AI Progress Center with a real-world laboratory. This builds on the successfully completed pilot project "KIRR Real – Real-world Laboratory for Legally Compliant AI and Robotics" in December 2025 and brings both initiatives into a new phase.

The new "Real-world Laboratory for Legally Compliant AI and Robotics at the AI Progress Center" supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the middle class in developing innovative AI and robotics applications in accordance with the European AI Regulation (EU AI Act) and other relevant legal regulations.

Application deadline for funded "Quick Checks": May 21, 2026

Interested companies can apply until May 21, 2026, with specific, ambitious AI innovation projects for one of the funded Quick Checks by the Baden-Württemberg state government. There are two possible formats:

– Quick Check: This format assesses the technical feasibility of an idea or innovation related to robotics and AI.
– Legal Quick Check: If robotics or AI are already in use or about to be, companies receive an analysis of the application case regarding regulatory questions. Additionally, the next necessary steps for legally compliant implementation are jointly defined.

On May 6, 2026, the next Open Lab Day will take place at the AI Progress Center. Companies will receive, among other things, concrete support for applying for one of the two formats (more information at the end of the press release).

Three technology focus areas for the future

The work of the expanded AI Progress Center focuses on the following three areas:

Generative and Agentic AI: In this work package, participating experts research and develop AI assistance systems for corporate and production processes, synthetic data generation for quality testing, and hybrid AI approaches that combine large language models with expert knowledge. The basis is real use cases from companies.

Humanoid Robots: This focus area addresses the increasing importance of humanoid robotics. The AI Progress Center analyzes available solutions on the market, develops safety concepts, and tests concrete application scenarios. Together with companies, potential use cases are identified, training sessions are conducted, and hands-on experiences with humanoid robots are enabled.

AI Compliance and Regulatory Learning: The work around this third area forms the core of the real-world laboratory at the AI Progress Center. Here, use cases from the aforementioned areas are analyzed regarding the requirements of the AI Regulation and related European legal regulations (e.g., Machinery Regulation, Medical Devices Regulation, or GDPR). The goal is to create practical tools, guidelines, and processes for the legally compliant development of AI systems. By establishing a panel of relevant authorities and supervisory bodies, regulatory questions are clarified through direct exchange, and identified hurdles are fed back into the legislative process.

Diverse participation opportunities for companies

The AI Progress Center offers companies with at least one branch or headquarters in Baden-Württemberg numerous low-threshold formats for participation. The main goal of the new project phase is to achieve broad impact within the local business landscape to significantly strengthen the region's position in the highly relevant future technologies of AI and robotics.

In addition to the Quick Checks and Open Lab Day mentioned above, there are other participation opportunities for companies to benefit from the offerings. These include, for example:

– Online consultation hours for initial contacts and specific questions
– Topic-specific consultation hours for in-depth discussions in smaller groups
– Industry network for continuous needs assessment
– Online presentations on current AI trends
– Training on humanoid robotics
– Experiments and evaluations in the laboratories of the AI Progress Center

All insights and results will be made widely available through handouts, demonstrators, fact sheets, and the project website (www.ki-fortschrittszentrum.de).

Successful knowledge and technology transfer continues

Since 2019, the "Learning Systems and Cognitive Robotics" AI Progress Center has been operated jointly by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Production Technology and Automation IPA and for Work Science and Organization IAO, together with the University of Stuttgart. In December 2025, the successful six-year funding by the Ministry of Economics, Labour and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg ended. During this time, the AI Progress Center collaborated with 375 companies and carried out over 200 funded transfer measures. These ranged from initial idea development to the creation of prototype demonstrators.

Strong consortium and ecosystem

The real-world laboratory at the AI Progress Center is closely networked with Cyber Valley, Europe's center for excellent AI and robotics research, with the AI-MATTERS research project, the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HammerHAI), the IPAI Heilbronn, and numerous regional partners and associations.

With a total funding volume of two million euros, the AI Progress Center again makes an important contribution to the innovative strength and international competitiveness of the Baden-Württemberg economy.

The real-world laboratory at the AI Progress Center invites you: Open Lab Day

– When? May 6, 2026, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
– Where? Fraunhofer Institute Center Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Nobelstraße 12, 70569 Stuttgart
– Who is invited? The Fraunhofer Institutes IPA and IAO with their research teams, as well as the IAT of the University of Stuttgart

Why participate: Interested companies will experience at the Open Lab Day what is technically possible and legally relevant in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics for production and services. A special focus is on personal exchange with experts from Fraunhofer IPA and Fraunhofer IAO. Additionally, information will be provided about the next application round, in which companies based in Baden-Württemberg can apply for a Quick Check. The application deadline is May 21, 2026, at 5 p.m.

– Registration for Open Lab Day: https://www.ipa.fraunhofer.de/de/veranstaltungen-messen/veranstaltungen/2026/open_lab_kirr.html
– All information about the application process: https://www.ki-fortschrittszentrum.de/zusammenarbeit/