The Brazilian Institute of Robotics (now "robotics & autonomous system competence center - RASC") is based on the model of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and opened in October 2013 in Salvador da Bahia. It belongs to Brazil’s national service for industrial apprenticeship SENAI (Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial), where scientists are researching on robotic systems for industrial applications. Scientific Director is Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Frank Kirchner, at the same time head of the DFKI Robotics Innovation Center and of the Robotics Group at the University of Bremen. He is responsible for the scientific and technical guidance at the BIR.
SENAI and DFKI closely cooperate in the fields of education and research, exchanging junior researchers and scientists. The objective is to support the research-orientated teaching and learning on an international level and jointly with industrial partners.
The BIR’s fields of robotics research focus on intelligent mobility, mobile manipulation, architecture and learning as well as human-machine interaction. The BIR is financed by the SENAI "Center for Integrated Manufacturing and Technology" (SENAI CIMATEC), founded in 2002 and located in Salvador da Bahia. It is one of the most important hubs for the implementation of scientific knowledge in industrial applications.
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Frank Kirchner
Scientific Director of Brazilian Institute of Robotics
Head of Robotics Innovation Center
Phone: +49 421 17845 4101
E-mail: Frank.Kirchner[at]dfki.de
The Joint Research Center on Cooperative and Cognition-enabled AI (CoAI JRC) has been set up by the universities of Bielefeld, Bremen and Paderborn. It unites the expertise and experience of the three universities in cognitive interaction technology (at the CITEC Center in Bielefeld), cognition-enabled robotics (including the Everyday Activities Science and Engineering (EASE) Collaborative Research Center in Bremen), and socially embedded intelligent systems (including the Constructing Explainability Collaborative Research Center in Paderborn). Fusing human-informed research on AI, on meaningful interaction between humans and AI systems, and on AI capable of self-aware learning, the CoAI JRC will be a strong hub for AI featuring human-centered real-world agency in Germany. The central hypothesis of CoAI is that AI systems need to be equipped with powerful cognitive, reasoning, communicative and interaction abilities to successfully act in the physical and social world. They have to understand and reason about their own actions and those of others as a basis to provide contextualized support for the wellbeing of humans and society at large. DFKI RIC is part here of the AI ecosystem, being actively engaged in project collaborations and strategical initiatives.
Located on Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh campus, in partnership with the University of Edinburgh, the Robotarium is aimed at creating innovative solutions to global challenges, working directly with industry to test and develop robotic, AI, and automated technologies, and rapidly moving pioneering research from lab to market. The Robotarium further fosters the teaching and development of the next generation of roboticists, producing highly-skilled graduates who are trained to conduct world-leading research with a market focus and developing programs to equip the current and future workforce with robotics, data, and programming skills. DFKI RIC collaborates with the Robotarium to broaden educational possibilities for academics and to create unique collaboration opportunities for partners from the industry, both in Germany and the UK.
The leading robotics locations in Germany have formed a consortium to establish the Robotics Institute Germany (RIG) as a central contact point for robotics in Germany. The project, which was launched on July 1, 2024, will receive 20 million euros in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) over the next four years. The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) supports the establishment of the RIG and contributes its expertise from three research departments as well as its infrastructure, which is unique in Germany.
The Robotics Innovation Center develops solutions for autonomous mobile and humanoid robots as well as robotic assistance systems with high transfer potential: applications in medicine, industrial production or the deep sea benefit from the robust systems designed for the space context. With its work in the field of underwater robotics, the Bremen-based company is creating important infrastructural prerequisites for the expansion of sustainable resource and energy production.