Experience the future up close: robotics & medical technology live

The Faculty of Engineering at the Käpsele Innovation Festival

On June 26, 2025, the Faculty of Engineering will be presenting pioneering technologies from robotics and medical technology at the Käpsele Innovation Festival. Three exciting research groups will be presenting their innovative projects:

Sustainable robotics with the direction of JProf. Dr. Edoardo Milana (Soft Machines)
AI-controlled robotics with Prof. Dr. Abhinav Valada (Robot Learning Lab)
Innovative medical technology with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Stieglitz (Biomedical Microtechnology)

Sustainable robotics: Technology meets nature

In the field of sustainable robotics, you can discover eco-friendly soft robots and 3D-printed soft structures inspired by origami and intelligent metamaterials. These flexible, resource-saving systems replace rigid mechanical structures and offer solutions for robotics and materials science. Interactive soft robots adapt flexibility to different environments and are ideal for use in healthcare, medicine or other sensitive areas. They combine innovation, sustainable materials and flexible manufacturing.

AI-controlled robotics: Intelligent interaction with the environment

AI-controlled robotics shows how Artificial Intelligence (AI) enables robotic arms to understand and implement instructions through speech. AI agents respond to natural language and can logically explain why they perform certain actions in order to successfully complete a task. Another highlight is the clever four-legged robot FreiDog. It is powered by basic AI models that are triggered by text or speech. Discover how it can understand a variety of commands and navigate precisely to find objects or people without prior knowledge of its surroundings.

Innovative medical technology: Control by muscle signals

This is about controlling robots using muscle signals. With the help of bioelectric signal processing, you can experience for yourself how robotic arms are controlled using your own muscle signals. Our students will demonstrate how surface electrodes and digital signal analysis can be used to harness these signals for medical applications.

Visit our experience station and be inspired by the exciting research at the Faculty of Engineering (Technische Fakultät – TF): TF - The Future happens in Freiburg!

Date:
June 26, 2025
SICK-Arena, Messe Freiburg
Tickets: Käpsele Innovation Festival
Organized by the FWTM and IHK Südlicher Oberrhein

Contact:

Kerstin Steiger-Merx
Representative PR/Marketing
Faculty of Engineering
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-8056
E-Mail: steiger-merx@tf.uni-freiburg.de

JProf. Dr. Edoardo Milana
Department of Microsystems Engineering – IMTEK
Soft Machines
E-Mail: edoardo.milana@imtek.uni-freiburg.de

Prof. Dr. Abhinav Valada
Department of Computer Science – IFF
Robot Learning Lab
E-Mail: valada(at)cs.uni-freiburg.de

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Stieglitz
Department of Microsystems Engineering – IMTEK
Biomedical Microtechnology
E-Mail: stieglitz@imtek.uni-freiburg.de