Welcome
The Robotics Innovation Center (RIC) belongs to the Bremen location of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH). Headed by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Frank Kirchner, here scientists develop robot systems to be used for complex tasks on land, under water, in the air, and in space. The RIC closely cooperates with the Robotics Group at the University of Bremen.
The DFKI is the leading German research centre in relation to innovative software technology based on methods of Artificial Intelligence. It comprises sites in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen and Lower Saxony, as well as laboratories in Berlin and Darmstadt, and branch offices in Lübeck and Trier.
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Latest Videos
Mechanical tests of the iSSI® from iBOSS GmbH, HOTDOCK from Space Applications Services NV and SIROM from SENER Aeroespacial S.A. identifying their capabilities to perform a release of a coupled interface under load. Please note that the behaviour of interfaces during the depicted tests is unsuitable for direct comparison given different numeric values used for initial axial, radial and angular misalignments.
Mechanical test of the HOTDOCK from Space Applications Services NV verifying its misalignment capabilities using guiding petals.
Mechanical test of the SIROM from SENER Aeroespacial S.A. verifying its capture range.
Future orbital factories will require standardized components to manufacture and assemble modular spacecraft. One of such components is a multifunctional interconnect which allows to connect different subsystems of a modular spacecraft mechanically and electrically. To select the most appropriate one for the envisioned demonstration scenario of the PERIOD project a benchmark was performed at DFKI on the three European state-of-the-art interconnects. The tests compared the electrical and mechanical capabilities of the interconnects and set a precedent on how to design and execute future benchmarks of multifunctional interconnects.