Information at the Core of Science, Society and Economy

KIT, Sandra Göttisheim

At Hannover Messe 2026, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is presenting the humanoid robot ARMAR-7, developed at the Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics (IAR). Designed for human-made environments such as households and care facilities, ARMAR-7 combines speech-based interaction, gesture understanding, and autonomous task execution to support everyday activities. The system builds on the latest version of the self-developed cognitive robot software architecture ArmarX, enabling it to learn new tasks from human demonstration and adapt to user routines. ARMAR-7 can perform activities such as unloading a dishwasher, sorting laundry, and organizing kitchen items. The presentation at Hannover Messe highlights ongoing progress at KIT toward flexible and safe humanoid assistance systems for future real-world use.

Further details, including a short video, can be found in the original SWR feature which is linked below.

On 30 April 2026, the Karlsruhe Public Library in the New Ständehaus, in cooperation with KIT, will host a public talk by Prof. Tamim Asfour titled “Artificial Intelligence in Humanoid Robots: What Lies Ahead and What Can We Shape?”. The event will take place from 17:00 to 18:00 and offers an accessible perspective on current developments in humanoid robotics and embodied artificial intelligence. The talk addresses how humanoid robots can grasp, walk, interact, and learn, and considers what these technological advances may mean for everyday life and society more broadly.

KIT

On 1 April 2026 at 16:00, the HERON-RIG-KCIST Colloquium will feature guest talks by Prof. Petros Maragos, Prof. Evangelos Papadopoulos and Prof. Costas Tzafestas, who are visiting in connection with the HERON project. HERON, the Hellenic Robotics Center of Excellence, is funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe Widening Programme (Teaming for Excellence) and aims to establish the first Robotics Center of Excellence in Greece for advancing robotics in the AI era. The initiative is being developed jointly by Athena Research Center, Greek university partners, the Italian Institute of Technology, and KIT.

KIT,David Hsu

David Hsu, Provost’s Chair Professor of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore and director of both the Smart Systems Institute and the NUS Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, will speak on the integration of model-based planning and data-driven learning for robust robot intelligence. His talk examines how robot foundation models extend robotic capabilities in unfamiliar, open-world settings, while arguing that scalable performance requires a principled interplay between structure and data. Drawing on recent work, he will discuss robots that navigate diverse environments, fold varied clothing, and operate in open-world scenarios through hypothesis generation and verification.

ACCESS@KIT

The state of Baden-Württemberg is investing 2.4 million euros over three years to expand ACCESS@KIT into a statewide service center for students with visual impairments. Central to the expansion is "IncluDocs BW", a new AI-based platform that transforms lecture materials into accessible formats. The project draws on KCIST expertise in artificial intelligence and adds to a growing portfolio of AI-driven accessibility tools at KIT, such as the Lecture Translator for automatic interpreting. ACCESS@KIT is led by Professor Rainer Stiefelhagen, who heads the chair "Computer Science for the Visually Impaired" at the Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics (IAR). The work builds directly on research pursued within the graduate school KATE (Accessibility through AI-based Assistive Technology), of which Professor Stiefelhagen is the spokesperson.

KIT

Prof. Sami Haddadin, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Abu Dhabi held an online RIG-KCIST lecture on February 03, 2026, 4:00pm.

KIT

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kugi, Scientific Director at the Austrian Institute of Technology and Professor of Complex Dynamical Systems at the Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien) gave a talk in the fully occupied Atrium of InformatiKOM I, KIT on January 20, 2026, 5:30pm. 

Cyber Valley

On January 13, 2026, Dr. Florian K. Mayer, Managing Director of Cyber ​​Valley, visited KIT. In addition to a comprehensive tour of the laboratory with demonstrations in the "High-Performance Humanoid Technologies (H²T)" lab led by its director, Prof. Dr. Tamim Asfour, in-depth discussions were held with the President of KIT, Prof. Dr. Jan S. Hesthaven, as well as the Vice Presidents Prof. Dr. Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Transfer & International Affairs, and Prof. Dr. Oliver Kraft, Vice President for Research, Teaching and Academic Affairs at KIT.

IEEE

The IEEE Board of Directors elevated Prof. Dr. Tamim Asfour to IEEE Fellow, effective 1 January 2026, for his contributions to humanoid mechatronics and cognitive humanoid robotics.

KIT

The inaugural RIG Bootcamp on Foundational Behavior Models took place November 24-28, 2025 at KIT, bringing together 16 PhD candidates from 11 German universities for an intensive week of collaborative research. With foundational behavior models reshaping the robotics landscape through billions in global investment, coordinated collaboration across Germany's research institutions has become essential to maintain competitiveness in this rapidly evolving field. The bootcamp addressed this challenge by creating space for researchers to leverage their collective strengths.

KIT

What happens when AI truly serves humanity? Nearly 40 readers of Germany’s leading science publisher, Spektrum der Wissenschaft, visited KIT to explore this fascinating question. KIT professors presented their groundbreaking research, placing humans at the center of artificial intelligence. Visitors experienced live demonstrations of humanoid robots that learn by observing people, discovered how AI can make technology more accessible to everyone, and learned how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing language processing and materials research.

Los Romeras, Science for Impact

The ten-minute feature entitled “Science for Impact” was designed by “Los Romeras,” a Spanish group of artists who have previously presented their art at the Schlosslichtspiele Light Festival. The film shows in an artistic manner how varied science is at KIT. It is meant to arouse curiosity for the research done here.

The contribution visualizes research from the following KIT centers, which financed it: Energy, Climate and Environment; Information · Systems · Technologies; Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics; Health Technologies; Materials in Technology and Life Sciences; Mobility Systems; and Humans and Technology.

KIT

Asst. Prof. Dr. Noémie Jaquier, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, gave a talk about "The geometries of Lagrangian dynamics" on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, 13:00 in the Atrium of InformatiKOM I, Bldg. 50.19, Adenauerring 12.

KIT

Prof. Dana Kulić, Monash University, Australia, gave a talk about "Effective Human Robot Teaming" on Friday, July 11, 2025, 13:00 in the Atrium of InformatiKOM I, Bldg. 50.19, Adenauerring 12.

KIT

Prof. Dr. Serena Ivaldi, Inria center of the University of Lorraine, gave a talk about "The new Human Centered Robotics team at Inria Nancy: from humanoids to exoskeletons" on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at 11:00 in the Atrium of InformatiKOM I, Bldg. 50.19, Adenauerring 12.