Cars are becoming more automated, the first drones are transporting parcels and robots are becoming everyday helpers. The experts at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart and Tübingen - one of 86 institutes of the Max Planck Society - are also providing the foundations for these technologies. It is mainly financed by public funds from the federal and state governments. In 2020, this amounted to just over 1.92 billion euros. But what are the researchers in the Tübingen laboratories actually working on? And how does society benefit?

The corridors are empty, as are the numerous common rooms - the coronavirus pandemic has also left its mark on the MPI-IS building on the Tübingen 'Cyber Valley' site. Nevertheless, research continues.

The robot thumb

The latest project of Georg Martius, research group leader at the institute, his doctoral student Huanbo Sun and Katherine J. Kuchenbecker, a director at the MPI-IS, is to teach robots to feel - in other words, to translate the sense of touch into technology.

"Robots' sense of touch is pretty poor, because they can usually only see, but not feel," says Martius. You can imagine this situation by trying to feel something in your hand with a thick glove.

In order to advance a machine's sense of touch, the researchers developed a thumb about 8 cm in size made of a dimensionally stable but elastically deformable plastic (elastomer) mixed with reflective aluminum particles. Sun changed the composition dozens of times until an optimal prototype was finally found. Inside the elastomer finger is a light, stiff skeleton that holds the structure upright, similar to how bones stabilize the soft tissue of a finger. A mini 160° fisheye camera is there to record colorful light patterns generated by a ring of LEDs.

"The special thing about this project is that the measurements are not taken on the surface of the sensor, but on the inside. This means that the sensor works even if the surface is damaged," explains Martius.

Cuddling with the robot

When one or more objects touch the sensor cover, the color pattern inside the thumb changes. "The camera takes pictures several times a second. The smallest changes in light are detected in each pixel," explains Martius. The system can see exactly where an object is touching the finger, how strong the forces are and in which direction they are acting. According to Martius, the research project is an important step towards robots that can feel their surroundings like humans and animals. Such abilities could be very useful if robots are to work together with humans or assist in dangerous disaster operations.

Sensing touch is also the focus of a system developed by Kuchenbecker and her team at the Stuttgart site of the MPI-IS. They created the 'HuggieBot'. The aim was for the robot's hugs to be just as calming, comforting and reassuring as a human hug. The robot uses sensors to adapt to humans and hugs them. However, it also lets go again when the pressure from the human eases and the latter withdraws. This machine could be used in the care sector, for example.

Micro-robots move in liquids

Another reality in the laboratories of the Max Planck Institute are microrobots that flow through blood or other liquids, use light as a drive, transport medication and deposit it on the spot. The microswimmers can even be propelled forward in very salty liquids. Designing them was a challenge, as locomotion using light energy is hindered by salts found in the water or body.

The scientific findings of the Tübingen and Stuttgart researchers will be made available to other researchers worldwide on an exchange platform. They can then build on them.

According to Science Minister Theresia Bauer (Greens), such technological breakthroughs and innovations would be unthinkable without basic research. Many applications in laser or computer technology, for example, are based on their findings. The state supports basic research with considerable financial resources. "A prime example of this funding is the 'Cyber Valley' innovation campus, in which the Universities of Stuttgart and Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems are working together on the development of artificial intelligent systems and intelligent robots." (dpa/lsw)