Socially Intelligent Robotics Lab

At the SIR Lab, we explore and shape the fundamental transformation of how intelligent systems deliver information and services to people. Our research focuses on machines that coexist with humans in physical, social, and emotional spaces, with a particular emphasis on AI-enabled interactive robot systems. Our work lies at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and human-robot interaction.

Our research advances Open-World Embodied Intelligence, where we use multimodal foundation models like Vision-Language Models to enable zero-shot scene understanding for tasks such as semantic SLAM and 3D scene graph learning. For Sustainably Engaging Interactive Robots, we develop socially intelligent machines that maintain long-term human engagement through expressive non-verbal behavior and generative AI-driven design. Towards AI-Based Industrial Robots, we integrate model-based and data-driven techniques to achieve flexible, autonomous performance in complex real-world tasks like bin picking, in close collaboration with industry partners such as the Fraunhofer Society.

Our research-driven approach creates a teaching environment that is hands-on, curious, and grounded in real-world impact. Whether exploring robotics foundations or advanced topics like scene understanding, human-robot interaction, or intelligent automation, we encourage students to engage deeply with the challenges shaping the future of robotics. Through this, we aim to foster not just technical skill, but the creativity and critical thinking essential for meaningful innovation.