The »Robot Systems« department designs robot systems and automation solutions for industrial applications and for the services sector. Key technologies are developed and implemented in innovative industrial robots, service robots and intelligent machines.
With 40 years experience in robotics and automation, multi-disciplinary teams, a unique network, comprehensive know-how and superbly equipped laboratories and workshops, we are able to offer a wide range of services in robot technology and application:

• Market and feasibility studies
• Functional and technical specifications
• Material flow, process and kinematic simulation
• Development of robot designs, servo drives, kinematics, grippers and robot tools, sensor systems, and human-machine-interfaces
• Development of robot prototypes and flexible manufacturing systems
• Testing and performance evaluation of automation components and robots
• Project implementation and implementation support
• Optimization of existing automation and robot systems

Do you already use robot technologies or do you intend to use robots in the future? We can support you in developing and implementing the optimum automation solution for your needs. Are you a systems integrator or a component manufacturer? We are the perfect choice of development partner to assist you with new technologies.

For more than ten years, Fraunhofer IPA is working on the development of a mobile robot assistant Care-O-bot® able to assist humans in their daily life. The meanwhile third generation of this successful development series is characterized by a product like system design and for the first time provides the potential to apply manipulating mobile service robots in everyday environments. By using industrial components approved in daily practice the dependability of the system can be ensured.

As an interactive butler Care-O-bot® 3 is able to move safely among humans, to detect and grasp typical household objects, and to safely exchange them with humans. Why don't you surprise your customers and visitors by installing an interactive Care-O-bot® 3 with individual design and application specific programming in your company building or at the next trade fair? Or you can use Care-O-bot® 3 to test and present your latest products and technologies.

A number of key technologies enable Care-O-bot® 3 to solve the different tasks mentioned above which can also be adapted and applied to your robots and applications:

Flexible, Autonomous Navigation
Care-O-bot® 3 has an omnidirectional platform, with four steered and driven wheels. This kinematic system enables the robot to move in any desired direction and therefore also safely to negotiate narrow passages. In doing so, Care-O-bot® 3 is also able to autonomously plan and follow an optimal, collision free path to a given target. Dynamic obstacles such as persons are detected by sensors and avoided automatically.

Manipulation and Grasping
Care-O-bot® 3 is equipped with a highly flexible, commercial arm with seven degrees of freedom as well as with a three-finger hand. This makes it capable of gripping and operating a large number of different everyday objects. Using tactile sensors in the fingers, Care-O-bot® 3 is able to adjust the grasping force. In order to grasp an object, Care-O-bot® 3 approaches tables or cupboards with its backside. The arm is long enough to grasp objects even from the floor or to reach high shelves. The seventh degree of freedom allows the robot to reach around obstacles. In addition, the arm is used to position objects on the tray. By synchronizing arm and platform movements, Care-O-bot® 3 is additionally able to autonomously open doors that block its way to the target.

Environment Perception
A multiplicity of sensors enables Care-O-bot® 3 to detect the environment in which it is operating. These range from stereo vision colour cameras and laser scanners to a 3D depth-image camera. The sensors serve, for example, to detect and locate objects for manipulation as well as relevant obstacles in the robot's environment. Care-O-bot® 3 is additionally capable of learning new objects independently. Its 3D sensors enable it to monitor manipulation operations in real-time, thereby enhancing the safety and dependability of the manipulation process.

Safe Interaction
The primary interface between Care-O-bot® 3 and the user consists of a tray attached to the front of the robot, which carries objects for exchange between the human and the robot. The tray includes a touch screen and retracts automatically when not in use. The robot arm is only used to place objects on the tray or take them away from it. It is stopped immediately as soon as people are detected in the vicinity of the robot. Combined with safety sensors for navigation this concept enables the safe operation of Care-O-bot® 3 in public spaces.

Functional Design
The novel design of Care-O-bot® 3 represents an intentional move away from existing humanoid service robots. Instead, the design of the robot has been adapted to its role as an interactive butler, which supports the human user in understanding the capabilities of the robot. Using flexible materials and composites, a soft and pliant form has been created for the cover of the robot. The cover adjusts to accommodate the movements of the upper body and avoids any pinch and shear points. Body gestures like bowing or nodding are e.g. applied to give an intuitive feedback to the user. The robot has an approximately quadratic footprintwith a length of around 600 mm. The overall height of the robot is around 1450 mm.

Also at your institute Care-O-bot® 3 can be used as a robust, close-to-product research and development platform. The assembly of individual systems or sub-systems is also possible. Of course we will also provide you with the necessary hardware-drivers in an adequate format.

Care-O-bot® is a development of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) in Stuttgart, department robot systems.

Care-O-bot® I
The first Care-O-bot® prototype was built by Fraunhofer IPA in 1998. It consited of a mobile platform with a moveable interactive touchscreen which enabled intuitive communication with the human user.

Care-O-bot® I was already able to navigate safely and reliably in public environments and could thus execute simple transportation tasks. In addition the robot on several occasions operated successfully as a trade fair and exhibition guide and provided the basis for the development of the three museum robots in Berlin.

Care-O-bot® II
Care-O-bot® II, built in 2002, was equipped with a manipulator arm, adjustable walking supporters, and a tilting sensor head containing two cameras and a laser scanner for environment perception. The manipulator had specifically been developed for household use and was able to handle typical household objects. The flexible gripper attached to the manipulator was able to grasp different objects such as plates, mugs and bottles. A tablet-PC was used to command and to supervise the robot.

In addition to the mobility functions already solved in Care-O-bot® I, the second prototype was able to execute simple manipulation tasks autonomously and could be used as an intelligent walking support.

The development of the different Care-O-bot ® systems and the corresponding key technologies has inspired a series of other service robot developments, specifically in the area of entertainment and security, inspection and maintenance systems.

Have you ever heard of a robot playing ball with children? With the new generation of entertainment robots developed at Fraunhofer IPA, this and other exciting possibilities become reality.

With the opening of the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin in March 2000 three mobile robots were installed, which have since been in daily operation in the museum's atrium, entertaining and interacting with museum visitors. »The Inciting« is designed as an animator. Carrying out his role as host, he actively
approaches the visitors, welcoming them in a friendly manner and giving them tips for their visit. »The Instructor« is the educational, speech-making robot, who informs the visitors about the museum's architecture and history. »The Twiddling« is the playful robot, moving around in an uncoordinated manner in keeping with his childlike character and playing with a ball.

Between October 2003 and October 2004, Opel in Berlin used two entertainment robots called »Mona« and »Oskar« to entertain and inform visitors to its exhibition centre. These robots were capable of two different operating modes: In »Guidance mode«, visitors were welcomed in the foyer by one or both robots and then taken to the exhibition area. In »Animation mode«, the robots presented themselves along the display window to the street and provided access to the latest information by means of the touch screen.

»K-bot-1« was taken into service in December 2005 to entertain visitors to the KutxaEspacio de la Ciencia in San Sebastian, Spain. This robot operates in the museum's foyer, where it independently recognizes and approaches visitors, offering them information about the museum on its screen.

Secur-O-bot
In many respects, the capabilities of an autonomous surveillance robot far exceed those of humans.
Such capabilities include:
• Detection of smoke and hazardous gases
• Detection of fire sources and smouldering fires at the earliest possible point in time
• Recognition of people in dark rooms using infrared and thermal-imaging cameras
• Perception of even the faintest noises by means of high-sensitivity microphones
• Use of 360-degree cameras
• Documentation of irregularities in sound and vision

Added benefits include:
• No risk to security personnel in the case of acute threats
• Incorruptibility and utmost reliability
• No signs of fatigue
• No lack of attentiveness as a consequence of boredom or routine

Secur-O-bot is an innovative autonomous surveillance robot that comes with rugged mechanical components, efficient navigation and flexibly configurable sensors.
The control software in Secur-O-bot is based on the tried-and-tested Fraun hofer IPA navigation system, which has already proved its worth in a wide range of different applications and environments, sometimes over several years of continuous operation.
In contrast to those systems currently avail able on the market, the navigation of the basic platform is accomplished not by low-cost sensors, but by a highly accurate laser scanner. This allows auto matic, precise and virtually drift-free control of the movements of the small robot, which results in a high degree of operational safety and reliability of Secur-O-bot.

Offshore Robotics
Inspection and maintenance tasks on offshore platforms as well as in chemical and petrochemical production facilities offer great potential for automation. However, due to the high complexity of installation as well as the requirement of additional maintenance this monotonous, sometimes dangerous work can only occasionally be carried out using conventional decentralized automation solutions. The use of a mobile inspection robot allows these problems to be overcome as well as to achieve lower operating costs and improved occupational health and safety. Especially the following maintenance and inspection tasks offer high potential for mobile robot operation:

• Monitoring of liquid levels and readings of gauges
• Acoustic inspection, e.g. of pumps
• Checking for leaks
• Taking of samples
• Maintenance of stationary fire and gas sensors.

The operating environment of robots in the specified application areas is often characterized by extreme climatic conditions as well as by explosive and toxic atmos pheres. Ad ditional challenges include the need to navigate and move quickly over slippery steel floors, open gratings and sharp-edged steps; to manoeuvre in very narrow passages and to operate autonomously. In order to guarantee reliable and beneficial service, the following requirements must be met by the hardware:

• The robot must be certifiable with respect to a standard such as ATEX or IE-CEx.
• The dimensions and undercarriage of the robot must be suitable for the abovementioned operating conditions.
• The robot must be precisely aware of its position and environment, especially the presence of obstacles.
• The robot must be equipped with the application-specific actors, sensors and tools required for the autonomous or tele-operated execution of in spection and manipulation tasks.
• The robot must be capable of communicating with a central control PC.

MIMROex is the first prototype of an offshore inspection robot that meets these requirements. It is able to autonomously navigate and record sensor data at key locations or continuously monitor sensor data along a predetermined path.
In addition, it is possible to tele-operate the robot which at the same time assists the user by analyzing data of its environment sensors.