The Chair Optimization and Biomechanics for Human-Centred Robotics (HCR) – or in short, the BioRobotics Lab – is part of the Institute for Anthopomatics and Robotics (IAR) at KIT.

The Chair is led by Prof. Katja Mombaur and has been created in May 2023 as an endowed Chair of the Hector foundation. Through the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Human Centred Robotics and Machine Intelligence of Katja Mombaur, there is a close collaboration with our team at the University of Waterloo, Canada - HCRMI.  

Our vision is to contribute to the development of human-centered robotic technology that is not an end in itself but creates value to society. Human-centered robotics encompasses all robotic devices that directly interact with humans or support humans in their motions – from humanoid robots to wearable and mobility assistance robots.

Our research objectives are fourfold: 

1. Develop and improve robotic systems that enhance and facilitate people’s lives – for persons with and without disabilities 

2. Endow robots with motion intelligence, i.e. the ability to move in and interact with a dynamic environment and humans

3. Gain a fundamental understanding of human movement and its diversity 

4. Develop and implement efficient algorithms for motion generation, control and learning, combining advanced models and optimization with model-free approaches 

To achieve these objectives, we collaborate with many partners not only in robotics, engineering, computes science and mathematics, but also in medicine,  psychology and cognitive sciences, philosophy, ethics, and law.