General Info

The Robotics group started at the very beginning of academic activities at Jacobs University in fall 2001. Much like Jacobs itself as a novel, highly selective institution in the German university landscape, the robotics group is committed to excellence in research. The group is truly international with English as working language. Jacobs University was called International University Bremen (IUB) before 2007; you may hence find the name IUB for example in older publications on this website.

Jacobs Robotics is embedded in the research focus area Mobility with teaching activites in the department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering. Jacobs University offers the flagship BSc program Robotics and Intelligent Systems (RIS).

The research of the group focuses on Autonomous Systems. The expertise in this field ranges from the development of embedded hardware over mechatronics and sensors to high-level software. On the basic research side of autonomous systems, 3D perception and world-modeling as well as cooperation are core themes of robotics research at Jacobs University. The systems developed here are used in various domains, including marine robotics, logistics, and safety, security and rescue robots (SSRR).

News

Digitization of Cultural Heritage: 3D Maps of the Submarine Bunker Valentin

27 May 2020

It was the largest armament project of the German war navy: Built mainly by forced laborers, the submarine bunker Valentin in Bremen-Farge is a noticeable reminder of the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. An interdisciplinary research project at Jacobs University is digitally surveying the ruins, which house a memorial, using air, ground and underwater robots. First results of the project are now available.

Growing Student Numbers and Excellent Results in International University Ranking

21 Nov 2019

Record growth at Jacobs University: At the beginning of the semester 2019/2020, the English-medium university welcomes over 610 new students to its campus in Bremen, the largest group of freshmen in its history to date. The high demand for the coveted study places is brought forward by the excellent international reputation of Jacobs University: According to the recently published Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking 2020, Jacobs University ranks among the 25 percent of the best universities worldwide.

Anca Dragan: The Robot Teacher

16 Apr 2018

Her university has produced 91 Nobel Prize winners, and just around the corner from her workplace, the heart of the digital transformation movement in Silicon Valley thrives. Here, close to San Francisco, is where the future takes shape – and Anca Dragan is playing a significant role in molding it. In Berkeley, at the University of California, the 30-year-old professor leads a research laboratory studying interaction between humans and robots. The Jacobs University graduate is teaching robots to anticipate human actions – and to behave with corresponding prudence.

Astronaut Thomas Reiter visits the Robotics Lab

28 Nov 2017

The astronaut Thomas Reiter, who is currently Interagency Coordinator and Advisor to the Director General at the European Space Agency (ESA), visited the Robotics Laboratory as part of his university lecture at Jacobs University. He attended different demonstrations of robotics experiments linked to machine perception in unstructured environments. The demonstrations included among others work in the context of planterary exploration, e.g., the ESA Lunar Robotics Challenge and the DLR Spacebot Cup. Thomas Reiter was very interested in the presented research and engaged in long conversations with the involved researchers.

Making deep-sea underwater robots more effective: successful field trials in the Mediterranean sea

25 Jul 2017

Robotics experts from Jacobs University work together with European colleagues on an EU-funded project to add more automated functions to underwater robots used in the deep-sea, e.g., for scientific exploration or in off-shore oil and gas production. Named “Effective Dexterous ROV Operations in Presence of Communications Latencies (DexROV)”, the project is funded by the EU within the H2020 framework in the area “Bluegrowth”.