Lorenzo Masia, Director of the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI), kicked off several industry meetings at automatica yesterday across multiple stages. His presence with a total of 28 demos under the MIRMI umbrella at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is very important to him: "This is the perfect place to showcase our institute's capabilities and to address the various challenges in robotics and AI that are currently on the horizon. And of course, to strengthen our connections with industrial partners, with whom we’d love to have more brainstorming and interaction around our topics."

From the very first minute, the central stages of AI.Society—the stages of the Robotics Institute Germany (RIG) and the munich_i-Hightech-Summit—were buzzing with a lively mix of industry leaders and research experts. Symbolically, the opening was marked by honored guests cutting the automatica ribbon held by two robots. Attendees included Michael Greiner from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Art, Prof. Gerhard Kramer, Vice President for Research and Innovation at TUM, Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, CEO of Messe München, and Prof. Lorenzo Masia himself, in his role as MIRMI Director. Michael Greiner emphasized the importance of the fair in his speech: "Today, we are in the right place—Munich, at the heart of Bavaria’s AI and robotics ecosystem. Our capital city offers a unique combination of excellent scientists, innovative startups, and leading industrial companies."

Meanwhile, on the first day of the Hightech Summit, the invited guests took turns sharing their knowledge about their latest research advances and current developments in robotics and AI. The topics on the agenda included: Autonomy and Interaction in Robotics, Connectivity in Cooperative Robotics, Generative AI in Robotics and Big Data, and Future Medical Robotics. Throughout the event, more than 150 participants heard the message: "It’s all about data, and communication is king." An overview of the more than 20 speakers can be found here.

For those interested in experiencing a robot diving into water, trying on exosuits, or competing in a ping-pong ball throwing contest against a robot, the doors of automatica in Hall B4 remain open until Friday afternoon.

Text: Sandra von Löbbecke