DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics

The German Aerospace Center's robotics institute, creator of lightweight robot arms and the Justin humanoid.

This is a research institute under the German Aerospace Center (DLR), located in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich; Alin Albu-Schäffer has been its director since 2012, and it is one of Europe's most influential robotics research institutions. It began with space teleoperation — ROTEX, in 1993, was Germany's first space-robotics experiment. Its biggest contribution is its lightweight robot arms, which carry torque sensors and can do impedance control (letting a joint behave like a spring, so it moves compliantly): it launched the first-generation LBR in 1995, then licensed the LBR III to KUKA in 2004, which later grew into the commercial LBR iiwa. It has also developed the DLR dexterous hand and the dual-arm humanoid Justin (2006, and again in 2008 with a wheeled base as Rollin' Justin), and in recent years has worked on satellite-servicing robots and lunar-surface exploration trials.

ExampleThe KUKA LBR iiwa, a collaborative arm widely used in industry, traces its technology back to the institute's third-generation lightweight arm, the LBR III.

Also called

DLR-RM, Robotics and Mechatronics Center

Related

KUKA LBR iiwa · Impedance Control · Joint Torque Sensor · Collaborative Robot · Dexterous Hand · KUKA

Sources

DLR: History of the institute
ROBOTS Guide: Rollin' Justin

As of

2022