Exchange Platform for Robots in Everyday Life
The Transfer Center for Robots in Everyday Life (RimA) is publishing a new knowledge platform and an online forum for exchanging information on service and assistance robotics.
Research Focus: Applied Artificial Intelligence
A new web forum that comes along with a knowledge platform was presented at a network meeting of the Transfer Center for Robots in Everyday Life (RimA) in Berlin, hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) on June 17, 2024. This initiative explicitly promotes the use of robots in everyday life and community building. The RimA consortium aims to increase acceptance and understanding of robotics through workshops, training courses, and competitions. The aim is to connect research, industry, and end-users and to make the current state-of-the-art transparent.
Karlsruhe, 06/18/2024 – At a networking meeting of the Transfer Center for Robots in Everyday Life (RimA) hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) on June 17, 2024, in Berlin, a new web forum, including a knowledge platform, was presented. A targeted engagement with robot deployment in everyday life and community building were also on the agenda. The project, funded by the BMBF with around 2.25 million Euros over approximately three years, is dedicated to human-robot interaction.
Robots are finding their way into our everyday lives, vacuum-cleaning homes, waiting tables in restaurants, or cleaning train stations. Most people, however, are unsure whether they are prepared for this new experience – both technically and mentally. After all, how do you actually interact with an unfamiliar robot?
Community building for greater acceptance of robotics in everyday life
The goal of the RimA consortium, consisting of the project partners FZI Research Center for Information Technology, Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn, Freie Universität Berlin, and TÜV SÜD GmbH, is to build a community for the exchange of ideas on this topic. The aim is not only to promote research and development but also to make the state-of-the-art transparent. “The RimA community intends to provide researchers, industry stakeholders, and end users alike with a contact point for their concerns,” says FZI Department Manager and RimA coordinator Tristan Schnell. Numerous measures such as workshops, trainings, benchmarking events and laboratories, robotics challenges, a web forum, and a knowledge platform are meant to create a basis to make everyday robotics more accessible. “The knowledge platform allows us to prepare information on the current state-of-the-art for specific target groups and make it publicly available,” says Schnell. In addition to information on human-robot interaction and existing robotic products, the focus is also on aspects such as the possibilities of using open-source software, regulatory framework conditions for safety, tools for developing a business model, and evaluating comparison criteria.
Transferring research results to intuitive forms of interaction
The forum offers all interested parties an anonymous and open exchange of ideas on robotics-related topics in various application areas. Another primary focus is on the exchange between start-ups, the RA3 competence centers funded by the BMBF, and other independent projects. The transfer center aims to be a sustainable contact point for status assessment and further development of robotic components, applications and services, and the related professional exchange.
About the RA3 funding measure
The basis of the funding measure is the BMBF research program on Human-Technology Interaction (HTI) titled „ Technik zum Menschen bringen“ (bringing technology to people) in the field of „Digitale Gesellschaft” (digital society). The project aims to promote innovative research and development projects in Human-Technology Interaction, comprehensively test assistance robots in practical application scenarios, and thus contribute to the future transfer of assistance robotics to specific fields of application.
Future-proof solutions must consider individual interaction behavior, environment, and technological possibilities and be measured against social requirements for “interactive assistance robotics”. These are the prerequisites for developing flexible and efficient solutions that provide optimal interaction between humans and robots. This way, the entire Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) spectrum can be addressed for any everyday situation.
The funding priority “Roboter für Assistenzfunktionen” (robots for assistance functions) is designed by the BMBF as a three-part series of announcements. In stage one, which has already been completed, the projects focused on basic interactive skills. The second announcement of the series (RA2) was about “Interaktionsstrategien” (interaction strategies). From the third BMBF announcement called „Roboter für Assistenzfunktionen: Interaktion in der Praxis“ (RA3) (robots for assistance functions: interactions in practice), the centers for assistance robotics in defined application domains are to be funded next for conducting practical tests. These include the RA3 competence centers rokit, RuhrBots and ZEN-MRI, and the transfer center RimA.
About the FZI
The FZI Research Center for Information Technology, with headquarters in Karlsruhe and a branch office in Berlin, is a non-profit institution for information technology application research and technology transfer. It delivers the latest scientific findings in information technology to companies and public institutions and qualifies individuals for academic and business careers or the leap into self-employment. Supervised by professors from various faculties, the research groups at the FZI develop interdisciplinary concepts, software, hardware, and system solutions for their clients and implement the solutions found as prototypes. The FZI House of Living Labs provides a unique research environment for application research. The FZI is an innovation partner of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and strategic partner of the German Informatics Society (GI).
Press contact
Valérie Hasler
Division Manager Communications
- +49 721 9654-345
- presse@fzi.de
- Headquarters Karlsruhe
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