Tim Schreiter is immediately on board when asked if he would like to guide groups of children through the KI.Fabrik. The doctoral student from the Chair of Perception of Intelligent Systems at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) enjoys breaking down complex topics into simpler terms. No wonder children struggle to grasp how long it actually takes for a robotic arm to successfully insert a key into a lock. And at first, it may seem like a miracle that robots can be moved with precision over long distances and almost without delay. Schreiter has the answers ready.

KinderUni: More Than 60 Robotic Arms Meet Over 60 Children

The KI.Fabrik houses more than 60 robotic arms. Here, researchers from the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) develop robots that can collaborate with each other over distances (via teleoperation). They program small vehicles that can bring objects to storage, recognize people, and will soon even be able to talk to humans. The development, in any case, is progressing by leaps and bounds.

Two robotics projects were selected by the KI.Fabrik researchers for the KinderUni Day:

1. Teleoperation: Two robotic arms stand a few meters apart, separated only by a curtain. As if moved by a ghostly hand, the arm behind the curtain moves exactly the same way as the other arm. It raises and lowers, picks up objects, and releases them just like its counterpart on the other side. Fast wireless connections and networks are the key to allowing the arm on the opposite side to move without noticeable delay.

2. Autonomous driving  in the warehouse: Then there's the humanoid robot Nao, whose eyes turn red with excitement when it sees people. It can also speak and generally give commands. However, for KinderUni, it's enough that it sits on a mobile robot that autonomously finds the right path. It registers the visitors and acts as the navigator of the cart, which retrieves specific objects from the storage. Its ability to do this is also thanks to a special sensor on the top of the cart, called LiDAR. This sensor continuously sends laser beams into the surroundings and detects when it encounters people or specific objects. Its ability to distinguish between the two is due to its continuous learning process, much like a child.

This is why robotics and KinderUni go so well together. Children between the ages of 7 and 12 can participate. Universities and technical colleges offer lectures and events, with the teachers mostly being researchers who share insights about their daily challenges. More information is available here: https://www.kinderuni-muenchen.de/.

Text: Andreas Schmitz

Images: Astrid Eckert / TUM