Our LabLandscapes team hosted the first company evening in 2025 and kicked off with a major innovation: in addition to a technical presentation, visitors were able to experience research up close. The Ambient Intelligent System (AIS) Lab and the Usability Lab opened their doors and presented research work in the field of robotics.
Following a brief welcome by Prof Dr Klaus Hegemann, Miriam Drazek and René König emphasised in their presentation of our LabLandschaften transformation project: ‘Innovative strength grows through collaboration.’ The kind of collaboration that is possible, for example, between the laboratories at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and companies from the Lower Rhine region. Prof Dr Kai Essig from the ‘Human Factors, Interactive Systems’ department at the Faculty of Communication and Environment also picked up on this theme in his expert presentation on industrial robots and collaborative robots (cobots).
‘Cobots are already in our midst’
Pointing out that ‘people are at the centre of everything we do’, the head of the usability laboratory highlighted the HSRW’s work in the field of cobots. ‘Cobots are made for working with people. They are not intended to replace humans, but to support them, especially in repetitive tasks.’ As cobots are inexpensive to purchase compared to industrial robots, easy to programme, intuitive to use and flexible, they are particularly interesting for small and medium-sized companies. The best example is the UFactory Light 6 robot arm. It is one of three cobots that were demonstrated at the company evening in the Usability Lab and enthusiastically tested by the guests.
Experiencing multimodal interaction between humans and robots live in the labs
Before visiting the Usability Lab, Prof. Dr Christian Ressel from the Ambient Intelligent Systems department and Dr André Frank Krause, research associate in the Centre for Assistive Technologies (ZAT) Rhine-Ruhr project, presented various examples of social robotics in the AIS Lab. From the robot doll Heidi, who can talk to people with dementia, to the reading assistance app STREEN for primary school children and the AI llama ‘Amica’ – a chatbot for children with special needs – to the robot dog that romped around the AIS Lab, assistance systems for various user groups and areas of application were demonstrated. Spoiler for now: One of the next company evenings will focus more on the AIS Lab and social robotics.
Robot ‘Pepper’ was already waiting for the guests in the usability lab. Pepper, the human-like robot that has already been tested in the Kamp-Lintfort media library, performed a little dance and provided information. Kai Essig presented the Dobot Magician Lite, which is used in student training programmes as an introduction to robotics. For example, it can pick up and place individual parts. This is also possible with the UFactory Light 6 robot arm and much more, as was quickly apparent at the company evening. Marius Kaul, research associate for computer science, demonstrated the control via a gamepad and the execution of a sequence that was programmed using the Blockly graphical programming environment. And took the fear out of programming: ‘The software is as functional as Lego bricks that are put together.’ His wish: to realise a concrete project with a company in the region: ‘Using the robotic arm practically in industry, possibly in combination with a job involving an assembly line, that would be ideal.’ Perhaps a first step in this direction was taken at the company evening. In any case, employees from a company that already uses three cobots for different applications were very interested in the capabilities of the UFactory Light 6.
Our LabLandscapes team will be happy to answer any questions you may have about working with the labs and can act as an intermediary. Missed the company evening and interested in an in-depth visit and introduction to the labs? Please get in touch: LabLandschaften@hochschule-rhein-waal.de
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