Expert summit on robotics and artificial intelligence

23 international experts from industry and science, five topic areas and an exciting guiding theme of the future interaction of humans and intelligent machines: That, in a nutshell, is the concept of the munich_i Hightech-Summit, which will be held as an online event on 22nd June, 2021, as part of automatica sprint.

The list of speakers at the new platform for robotics and AI reads like a Who's Who of this innovative industry.

How robots will simplify human life

The first session, 'Assisting the human', will focus on the future role of assistance robots in our lives - e.g., in nursing and geriatrics. Dr. Reinhard Ploss, Chairman of the Management Board Infineon Technologies AG, explains how semiconductor technology supports this development. Prof. Dr. Marco Hutter from ETH Zürich will make his presentation all about the way robots can learn to walk and explore unknown environments.

Digital networking - a core competency of production

The factory of the future is digital and networked. This enables not only much greater efficiency in applications such as production, but also entirely new business models and market access options. What does self-optimising production look like, what technologies does it require and how is Germany, Europe, and the world positioned in this regard?

These questions will be discussed in the second session, entitled 'Connected world'. Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO Vodafone, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Grotepass, CSO Huawei Technologies Düsseldorf, and Gurdeep Singh Pall, Corporate Vice President for Business AI, Microsoft Corp. will outline their ideas and visions.

A look into the future of robotics

Robotics experts will look far ahead during the third session - 'Beyond human spaces'. It will outline how robot species are expected to revolutionise mobility and the health sector. Speakers in this session include Prof. Antonio Bicchi, University of Pisa, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jessica Burgner-Kahrs, University of Toronto. She will present the following intriguing scenario: Autonomous microdrones navigating three dimensions, elastic microbots moving inside the human body, thus revolutionising keyhole surgery, and 'heavy duty' robots working in deep sea exploration and mining -beyond human spaces.

Replicating human intelligence

Firing the next stage by broadening the range of practical use cases for artificial intelligence will require new machine learning methods. AI researchers are working to replicate the plasticity of the human brain so that, for example, robots can act 'correctly' even in ambiguous situations. Five top-level researchers, including Prof. Jeannette Bohg, Stanford University, and Prof. Dr. Patrick van der Smagt, Volkswagen Group Data Lab, will provide a first-hand account of the state of AI research.

Collaboration between humans and robots

Humans and robots working together in the future is the topic of the fifth session 'Interaction of humans and robots'. This is not about 'hand-in-hand' collaboration in production, but about visionary developments: What are the capabilities of humanoid robots in manufacturing, service, and science? How can human-robot interaction be better tailored to people? Globally leading scientists will present their research results on this - Prof. Oussama Khatib, Stanford University, using the example of deep-sea exploration, and Prof. Yoshihiko Nakamura, University of Tokyo, with the very real vision of a robotic 'personal digital twin'.

From the perspective of industry leaders: CEO Roundtable on robotics and AI to close the summit

“AI - Transformative Power for Industrial Robotics.” This is the title of a panel discussion with top-level panelists on 23rd June, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., which will conclude the munich_i high-tech summit. Industry leaders will discuss the scientific findings presented at the summit the day before and analyse them from a robotics industry perspective.

Top managers of leading robot manufacturers, including FANUC, KUKA, Universal Robots and Yaskawa, will address topics such as: What is the status quo of robotics-related AI adoption by market leaders? How will autonomously thinking and acting robots change production scenarios? What new business models might result from this? Here, the decision-makers of international robotics will look ahead and provide an inspiring outlook from an industry perspective.

Globally unique knowledge platform

munich_i is a globally unique joint project of automatica, Messe München and the Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The high-tech summit not only reflects the global state of research in robotics and artificial intelligence - it also initiates a debate about the benefits of technology as a catalyst for improving lives in the areas of work, health, and mobility. The goal of the organisers is to drive responsible technological change.

This is where research, industry, technology, and ethics meet. For this reason, munich_i is jointly headed by an expert for robotics and AI, and an ethics expert: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sami Haddadin, Director Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM) and holder of the Chair for Robotics and System Intelligence at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and internationally recognised expert Prof. Dr. Alena Buyx, Director of the Institute for History and Ethics of Medicine at the TUM, and Chairperson of the German Ethics Council.

Participation in munich_i, consisting of the high-tech summit, the AI.Society virtual exhibition area as well as the Robothon award ceremony and the robot driver’s license is included in the ticket for visitors to the automatica sprint digital platform. The event will be held in English.

Further information on munich_i with more details on the four elements as well as an overview of the programme and speakers at the high-tech summit is available online.