Future Robotics Lab
Table of contents
Vision for society
In 2040, many robotic products, services and solutions will support our society worldwide. Robots will revolutionise our world and automate many more tasks of daily life than today. The Future Robotics Lab is dedicated to researching methods, technologies and applications for this robotic revolution.
The robot revolution is driven by factors that span three dimensions: business models, technology and application areas. New robot technology will form a first dimension of the future application of robots. Robots will collaborate with humans (Cobotics), operate in groups (Swarm Robotics) and recharge their energy autonomously at batteries, green methanol or green hydrogen refuelling stations (Green Robotics). The robots will use advanced tactile sensors (Haptics) and sniff sensors (Sniffbots). Non von Neumann robots will be built with innovative hardware and software architectures that will make the robots much more resilient and flexible than today.
New business models for robotics will dominate application markets. New robotic products will serve individuals (personal robotics), but robotic services will also be provided through shared infrastructures in a share economy (robotics as a service, RaaS) or purchased on a pay-per-use basis (pay-per-use robotics).
Finally, new applications will blossom in many application areas such as industry, agriculture and disaster management, and these application areas form the third dimension of the robotics world in 2040 (Robotics in Application Areas).
In 2030, the future robotics laboratory of TU Dresden will have researched many case studies of this vision, leading to new innovations in technology transfer to put Saxony in a leading position for the future robotics world of 2040.
Motivation and goals
The Future Robotics Lab (FuRoLab) at TU Dresden has set itself the task of bundling all competences for robotics in the School of Engineering Sciences at TU Dresden.
Research mission
- Interdisciplinary cooperation on new research topics "future robotics".
- Establishment of working groups such as Industrial Robotics, Aerial/Space Robotics, Outdoor Robotics, Microrobotics.
- Organisation of impulse lectures by members
- Collaboration in joint DFG clusters
- Organising research demonstrations in the "Smart Mobility Lab" in Hoyerswerda
- Research on new topics such as recycling and reclamation robotics, precision farming, construction and renovation robotics, Factory in a Box
Educational mission
- Establishment of new study programme profiles in existing Master's programmes:
- MW-MA Mechatronics (MW): Profile "Mechatronics for Robotics".
- INF-MA Distributed Systems Engineering (INF): Profile "Software Engineering for Robots
- Development for block practical courses in the "Smart Mobility Lab" in Hoyerswerda
- Support for the existing robotics courses
- Lego Mindstorms in the Bachelor of Computer Science
- MW (Beitelschmidt)
Transfer Mission
- Writing press articles about your own work
- Organising a YouTube film platform
- Cooperation with Silicon Saxony, Robotics Working Group
Exemplary technology areas for research
Cobotics
Robots will cooperate with humans, protect their safety and know how to help them (attentive assistance). Working with a cobot will be as natural as working with an animal or a human employee.
Swarm robotics
While many robotic products and services will be based on standalone robots, by 2040 many services will be performed by swarms of robots that can be controlled from central operator dashboards, combine tasks on land, sea and air, and are able to meet and collaborate with other robot swarms. Robot swarms are self-integrating systems that are able to adapt to new complex tasks and collaborate with other robot swarms. We envision that some robot swarms can also be rented as a service and that there will be companies that rent robot swarms.
Green robotics
In the future, robotics should be completely free of fossil fuels, i.e. green. Robots are autonomous or semi-autonomous systems that can take care of their own energy needs. Innovative forms of batteries for regenerative energy (hydrogen, sodium, rust, liquid air) should be used at different scales. Battery replacement, replenishment or recharging will be autonomous. Robotic services will cooperate locally, operating on demand and on a schedule that optimises safety, robustness and energy consumption.
Microrobotics
Robots will also work at the nanometre scale, for example in artificial organs or to monitor blood counts. For example, they will be used to measure insulin levels in different parts of the body so that an artificially adjustable pancreas can provide insulin secretion. Microrobots can also be used for diseases such as Parkinson's or epilepsy. Of course, they must be made of completely degradable materials and be supplied with renewable energy (energy harvesting).
Exemplary robot solutions in application areas
By 2040, many new markets for robots will have begun to flourish. In agriculture, the health of fields will be closely monitored for precision farming. In logistics, autonomous transport robot swarm applications will increase, as well as serious drone applications, such as the transport of important medicines, goods or documents. With such logistical mobility services, not only the last mile but also the penultimate mile of fast transport services can be optimised. In disaster management, robot swarms and Robots-as-a-Service will play a major role, for disaster forecasting (forest fire and flood forecasting), disaster management (fire fighting, flood protection). In industrial production, cobots will play an important role, i.e. robots that protect and cooperate with human workers. In healthcare, robots will take over supportive care tasks.
A key milestone in establishing the Future Robotics Lab was the SNIFFBOT project, running from 2019-2021, to identify and inspect gas leaks with a telerobot. In this project, several colleagues from the School of Engineering Sciences worked together to be able to master the overall system.
The report on the Saxon TG70 project can be found here.
Contact
© 2017, Lucas Vogel
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Uwe Aßmann
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