Focus Groups (FG) are the main operational entity within MIRMI in which multiple Principal Investigators (PIs) affiliated with MIRMI can join to develop a research strategy, build up research platforms, acquire funding, initiate joint publishing, and benefit from the MIRMI membership. The goal of all Focus Groups is to transform into larger Lighthouse Initiatives, either to gain new fundamental insights on a subject or to enable large-scale field research and technology transfer into realistic environments. Focus Groups involve 3 or more PIs, have a 3-year duration (which can be extended for 3 more years) and have the possibility to use MIRMI rooms and labs for 6 years.
Focus Group activities may include but are not limited to:
- Joint/individual relevant publications related to the MIRMI Focus Group topic
- Participation in MIRMI community-building activities, such as general assemblies, industry advisory board meetings, ...
- Joint applications for third party funding with other MIRMI PIs
- Involvement in teaching activities of MIRMI
The existing overarching sectors (i.e., Work, Health, Mobility, Environment, Perception, AI, Robotics) remain unaffected. Focus groups are more specialized and can be formed within these sectors or across sectors.
List of Focus Groups (as of October 2021)
Focus groups with fewer than 3 PIs are highlighted in yellow.
Existing Focus Groups
| FG | Sector | Lead | Registered PIs | # PI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adaptivity SelfX (work@MIRMI) | Work | Klaus Bengler, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Gudrun Klinker, Pramod Bhatotia, Rüdiger Daub, Markus Zimmermann, Sebastian Steinhorst | 7 | |
| 2 | Applications UCD (work@MIRMI) | Work | Klaus Bengler, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Gudrun Klinker, Markus Zimmermann, Rüdiger Daub | 5 | |
| 3 | Components Lifecycle (work@MIRMI) | Work | Birgit Vogel-Heuser | Karsten Stahl, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Gudrun Klinker, Rüdiger Daub, Markus Zimmermann, Alin Albu-Schäffer | 6 |
| 4 | Usage of data in the context to the benefit of improving work (work@MIRMI) | Work | Klaus Bengler | Gerhard Rigoll, Johannes Fottner, Klaus Bengler, Massimo Fornasier, Wolfgang Kellerer, Jia Chen, Werner Hemmert, Bernhard Hemmer, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Pramod Bhatotia, Gudrun Klinker, Rüdiger Daub, Wolfgang M. Heckl | 13 |
| 5 | Ethics Embodied Robotics & AI | AI | Klaus Diepold, Sami Haddadin, Klaus Bengler, Ulrich Walter, Dirk Wilhelm, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Urs Gasser, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Alena Buyx, Ruth Müller, Benedikt Boucsein | 11 | |
| 6 | Human Digital Twin | Health | David Franklin | David Franklin, Daniel Rixen, Bernhard Seeber, Mohammad Ali Nasseri, Veit Senner, Michael Gee, (Additional PIs suggested: Wolfgang Wall). | 6 |
| 7 | Work | Birgit Vogel-Heuser | Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Sami Haddadin, Darius Burschka, Klaus Bengler, tbd Ansgar Schwirtz, Ulrich Walter, Jan Kirschke, Vasilis Ntziachristos, Markus Zimmermann, Rainer Burgkart, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Joachim Hermsdörfer, Dirk Wilhelm, Werner Hemmert | 14 | |
| 8 | Neuro Machines | Health | Cristina Piazza | Cristina Piazza, Joachim Hermsdörfer, Berna Özkale Edelmann, Sami Haddadin Suggested: Simon Jacob, Bernhard Meyer, Werner Hemmert, Jens Gempt, Kristen Kozielski, Sandro M. Krieg New Member Suggested: Andreas Bausch (https://www.bauschlab.org/people) David Franklin, Bernhard Seeber, Alois Knoll, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Harald Luksch | 15 |
| 9 | Smart Mechanical Design (Work@MIRMI) | Work | Klaus Bengler | Michael Gee, Johannes Fottner, Timo Oksanen, Markus Zimmermann, Florian Holzapfel, Daniel Rixen, Karsten Stahl, Gudrun Klinker, Rüdiger Daub, Thomas Bock, Veit Senner, Alin Albu-Schäffer | 12 |
| 10 | Smart Mechanical Design | work | Berna Özkale | Sami Haddadin, Cristina Piazza, Karsten Stah, Berna Özkale Suggested: Markus Zimmermann, Daniel Rixen | 4 |
| 11 | TUM Innovation Network for Neurotechnology in Mental Health (Neurotech) | Health | Bernhard Wolfrum, Werner Hemmert, Bernhard Hemmer, Simon Jacob, Jens Gempt, Bernhard Meyer, Kristen Kozielski, Joachim Hermsdörfer, Alena Buyx, Ruth Müller | 10 | |
| 12 | TUM Innovation Network for Robot Intelligence in the Synthesis of Life (RISE) | Health | Friedrich Simmel, Sami Haddadin, Hendrik Dietz, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Tim Lüth, Berna Özkale Edelmann, Benedikt Boucsein | 7 |
Under planning Focus Groups
| FG | Sector | Lead | Registered PIs | # PI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agricultural Robotics | Environment | Klaus Bengler, Timo Oksanen, Stefan Leutenegger, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Daniel Rixen, Marco Caccamo, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Alois Knoll, Benedikt Boucsein | 9 | |
| 2 | Collective Mobile Systems | Robotics | Johannes Fottner, Markus Ryll, Pramod Bhatotia, Alin Albu-Schäffer | 4 | |
| 3 | Entrepreneurship (TUM Venture Lab Robotics/AI, Robo.Innovate Incubator,...) | Education | Leila Takayama, Stefan Leutenegger, Wolfgang Kellerer, Eckehard Steinbach, Jens Gempt, Oliver Alexy, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Markus Zimmermann, Benedikt Boucsein (Note from Oliver Alexy: I would only participate in "Entrepreneurship" if actual social science research is possible") | 9 | |
| 4 | Human Robot Collaboration | Health | Gerhard Rigoll | Stefan Leutenegger, Darius Burschka, Joachim Hermsdörfer, Dirk Wilhelm More Information Gerhard Rigoll, Leila Takayama, Johannes Fottner, Klaus Bengler, David Franklin, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Federico Tombari , Gudrun Klinker, Bernhard Seeber, Markus Ryll, Pramod Bhatotia, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Markus Zimmermann, Alois Knoll, Rainer Burgkart, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Kathrin Dörfler, Benedikt Boucsein | 22 |
| 5 | Molecular Machines | Health | Hendrik Dietz, Friedrich Simmel, Berna Özkale Edelmann | 3 | |
| 6 | Physics informed Machine Learning | Work | Michael Gee, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Florian Holzapfel, Marco Caccamo, Klaus Diepold, Markus Ryll, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Rainer Burgkart, Michael Ulbrich, Achim J. Lilienthal | 10 | |
| 7 | Robotic Imaging | Health | Darius Burschka, Dirk Wilhelm, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe, Rainer Burgkart | 5 | |
| 8 | Robotic Surgery or "Robotic Medicine" | Health | Dirk Wilhelm | Darius Burschka, Mohammad Ali Nasseri, Dirk Wilhelm, Rainer Burgkart. More information Michael Gee, Jens Gempt, Bernhard Meyer, Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe, Alois Knoll, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Alena Buyx, Sandro M. Krieg | 12 |
| 9 | Teaching in Robotics and Machine Intelligence (New Master Program, I.MDL, KI_CP@TUM) | Education | Eckehard Steinbach, Bernhard Hemmer, David Franklin, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Daniel Rixen, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Markus Zimmermann, Alois Knoll, Thomas Bock, Harald Luksch, Achim J. Lilienthal, Benedikt Boucsein | 12 |
Suggested Focus Groups
| FG | Sector | Lead | Registered PIs | # PI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bionic medicine/translational medicine | Health | Cristina Piazza | Cristina Piazza, Kristen Kozielski, Rainer Burgkart, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Alena Buyx, Joachim Hermsdörfer (Note from Christine Piazza: "With the main focus on: how are robotic devices (e.g. Prostheses, teleoperated robots, etc) perceived by the user and the society? How should we improve these technologies (mechatronic design/control/haptic feedback) to increase the sense of embodiment? I imagine the involvement of engineers, neuroscientists, psychologists to cover different aspects of the problem. Perhaps this topic is already included in the focus group “ethics embodied robotics & ai” or “neuromachines”?") | 6 |
| 2 | Environment | Environment | Jia Chen | Jia Chen, Ruth Müller, Benedikt Boucsein | 3 |
| 3 | Environmental Robotics | Environment | Federico Tombari | Federico Tombari, Daniel Rixen, Ruth Müller, Achim J. Lilienthal, Benedikt Boucsein (additional PIs suggested: Stefan Leutenegger) | 5 |
| 4 | Exosceletons | Robotics | Klaus Bengler | Klaus Bengler, Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe, Thomas Bock, Veit Senner, Rainer Burgkart | 5 |
| 5 | Haptics | Perception | Eckehard Steinbach | Eckehard Steinbach, Rainer Burgkart, Alin Albu-Schäffer (additional PIs suggested: Sandra Hirche) | 3 |
| 6 | Human-Robot Communication | Perception | Gerhard Rigoll | Gerhard Rigoll, Rainer Burgkart, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Alena Buyx, Sandro M. Krieg, Achim J. Lilienthal | 6 |
| 7 | Intercultural Aspects of HRI | Perception | Klaus Bengler | Klaus Bengler, Thomas Bock, Benedikt Boucsein | 3 |
| 8 | Logistics robotics | Work | Johannes Fottner | Johannes Fottner, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Achim J. Lilienthal | 3 |
| 9 | Machine Learning and Optimal Control | AI | Massimo Fornasier | Massimo Fornasier, Michael Ulbrich, Sebastian Steinhorst, Alin Albu-Schäffer (additional PIs suggested: Sandra Hirche, Karin Nachbagauer) | 4 |
| 10 | Mobile Robot Intelligence | AI | Stefan Leutenegger | Stefan Leutenegger, Thomas Bock, Alin Albu-Schäffer, Achim J. Lilienthal, Kathrin Dörfler | 5 |
| 11 | Nested control and delays | Robotics | David Franklin | David Franklin (Note: "I haven't formulated it yet, but we had very interesting discussions during the ICL-TUM workshop with Prof. Rixen and Prof. Hirche about nested control and delays that would be very interesting to follow up on".) | 1 |
| 12 | On perception-action loop | Perception | Bernhard Seeber | Bernhard Seeber, Veit Senner, Stefan Leutenegger, Eckehard Steinbach Suggested: PIs from Haptics focus group | 4 |
| 13 | Organizing for and with MI | Work | Oliver Alexy | Oliver Alexy (Note from Oliver Alexy: "This focus group would center around question of how to design organizational processes, roles, routines, and structures which enable the effective use of MI by organizations (as a process technology, rather than a product). I will be able to identify other professors who are interested to support this.... "Broadly, my interest would fit a larger topic such as "the future of work," though I am less interested in what individuals do, but how their actions are enabled and constrained by organization design, that is, how, roles, routines, and responsibilities are defined, how labor is divided and integrated, how coordination between tasks happens, etc.") | 1 |
| 14 | Plasticity/embodiment of robotic technologies | Health | Cristina Piazza | Cristina Piazza, Sandro M. Krieg (Note from Cristina Piazza: "With the main focus on: how are robotic devices (e.g. Prostheses, teleoperated robots, etc) perceived by the user and the society? How should we improve these technologies (mechatronic design/control/haptic feedback) to increase the sense of embodiment? I imagine the involvement of engineers, neuroscientists, psychologists to cover different aspects of the problem. Perhaps this topic is already included in the focus group “ethics embodied robotics & ai” or “neuromachines”?") | 2 |
| 15 | Precision Surgery | Health | Mohammad Ali Nasseri | Mohammad Ali Nasseri, Sandro M. Krieg | 2 |
| 16 | Real-Time Vision for Automotive | Mobility | Darius Burschka | Darius Burschka | 1 |
| 17 | Robot Communication | Perception | Wolfgang Kellerer | Wolfgang Kellerer | 1 |
| 18 | Robotic support and rehabilition systems | Health | Bernhard Hemmer | Bernhard Hemmer, Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe | 2 |
| 19 | Safety and Trustworthing (Security) | Robotics | Pramod Bhatotia | Pramod Bhatotia | 1 |
| 20 | VR/AR in rehabilitation | Health | Cristina Piazza | Cristina Piazza, Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe, Joachim Hermsdörfer (Note from Cristina Piazza: "with the main focus on: can VR/AR be a valuable tool for training new methods or to get more quantitative functional assessments? What are the current limitations and future perspectives? I imagine the involvement of engineers, neuroscientists, and occupational therapists to cover different aspects of the problem. This topic can also be extended to other fields than rehabilitation.") | 3 |
| 21 | Mobility/Autonomous Driving | Mobility | Markus Lienkamp | Markus Lienkamp, Benedikt Boucsein | 2 |
| 22 | Construction robotics / Robotic Construction | Robotics | Thomas Bock | Thomas Bock, Kathrin Dörfler, (Additional PIs suggested: Stefan Leutenegger) | 2 |
| 23 | Sport & Exercise Simulators (for training, motion learning and E-sports) | Veit Senner | Veit Senner Note from Veit Senner: "(1) As there is a possible link to VR/AR in rehabilitation, MIRMI members Cristina Piazza and Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe might be interested (I have not asked them yet). | 1 | |
| 24 | Intelligent robotic training devices | Health | Rainer Burgkart | Rainer Burgkart Note from Rainer Burgkart: "already funded and existing cooperation: "Gyrotrainer" " | 1 |
| 25 | Safety issues and robotics | Health | Rainer Burgkart | Rainer Burgkart Note from Rainer Burgkart: "already initiated cooperation: "SafeRoBAY" proposed start beginning 2022" | 1 |
| 26 | Bio-inspired robot design and control | Alin Albu-Schäffer | Alin Albu-Schäffer, Harald Luksch | 2 | |
| 27 | Social implications of human-centered robotics | Alena Buyx | Alena Buyx | 1 | |
| 28 | Soft microrobots | Berna Özkale Edelmann | Berna Özkale Edelmann | 1 | |
| 29 | Intelligent biomaterials | Berna Özkale Edelmann | Berna Özkale Edelmann | 1 | |
| 30 | Urban Robotics | Robotics | Benedikt Boucsein | Benedikt Boucsein | 1 |