Robotics | Mobile Robotics Research Group — Prof. Dr. Christian Pfitzner

Human-Robot Interaction on the UR12e – Tic-Tac-Toe as an Interactive Demo

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Motivation

Collaborative robot arms such as the UR12e make robotics immediately tangible — especially when people can interact with them directly. A game like Tic-Tac-Toe is ideal for this: everyone knows the rules, the outcome is easy to follow, and the robot demonstrates perception, decision-making and precise motion in a single, illustrative sequence.

At the TTZ Nürnberger Land, this is to become the basis for a demonstrator that makes robotics graspable for a broad audience — at family events, open-house days and for visitor groups. At the same time, the project serves as a platform to put concepts of safe human-robot interaction into practice.

Work Packages

Perception

Camera-based detection of the board and the placed game pieces
Calibration between camera and robot coordinate frames (hand-eye calibration)

Game Logic

Implementation of the Tic-Tac-Toe logic (e.g. minimax) for move computation
Detection of game end, win, loss and draw

Robot Control

Control of the UR12e via its existing interfaces (ROS or URScript)
Grasping and safely placing the game pieces
Functional safety in collaborative operation (force/speed limiting)

Interaction & Demo

Intuitive game flow and user guidance understandable for non-experts
Robustness testing and preparation as a presentable demo
Optional outlook: conceptual extension to chess

Requirements

Programming skills in Python and/or C++
Ideally some prior exposure to robotics
Interest in computer vision, game logic and human-robot interaction
Enthusiasm for hands-on work with real robot hardware

This topic is offered as a project or bachelor’s thesis and, given a good fit, can serve as a foundation for follow-up work (e.g. extension to chess).

Supervision

Role	Name	E-Mail
Supervisor	Prof. Dr. Christian Pfitzner	christian.pfitzner@th-nuernberg.de
Co-Supervisor	M. Sc. Patrick Fußy	patrick.fussy@th-nuernberg.de

Location: TTZ Nürnberger Land / TH Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm

2R Robot Arm Lab Experiment – Gravity Compensation and Reinforcement Learning

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Motivation

The “Intelligent Robotics” practical course in the M-IAS master’s programme currently lacks a hands-on experiment bridging classical model-based control and modern learning-based methods. A 2R robot arm with torque control offers exactly this: students first experience the physical effects of gravity on the real system, then learn how an RL agent solves the same task in a data-driven way.

Work Packages

Hardware

Selection and commissioning of BLDC motors and motor drivers (e.g. ODrive / VESC)
Mechanical design and fabrication of arm segments (CAD, 3D printing or aluminium profile)
Integration of encoders and wiring

Software & Control

Implementation of forward and inverse kinematics
Model-based gravity compensation controller (real-time torque compensation)
ROS integration: topics, services and ros2_control

Reinforcement Learning

Building a simulation environment (Gazebo or MuJoCo) for RL training
Training an agent (e.g. PPO / SAC) on a target-reaching task
Sim-to-real transfer and evaluation on the real arm

Documentation

Creating lab instructions for use in the M-IAS practical course

Requirements

Knowledge of control theory and robotics (kinematics, dynamics)
Programming skills in Python and/or C++
Ideally experience with ROS
Interest in machine learning and reinforcement learning
Enthusiasm for hands-on hardware work and prototyping

This topic can be completed as a project or master’s thesis subject to agreement.

Supervision

Role	Name	E-Mail
Supervisor	Prof. Dr. Christian Pfitzner	christian.pfitzner@th-nuernberg.de

Case Study on the Use of New Technologies in Companies

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

About the TTZ Nürnberger Land

The Technology Transfer Centre Nürnberger Land aims to advance knowledge transfer from research into primarily small and medium-sized enterprises in the Nürnberger Land region. The centre maintains a broad network of companies in this region.

Your Tasks

Methodical preparation and execution of company surveys
Identification of suitable companies in the Nürnberger Land region
Conducting interviews with decision-makers
Evaluation and summarising presentation of the results
Classification of relevant technologies (AI, robotics, automation) for the sector

Requirements

Interest in case studies
Broad technical background
Communication skills
Organisational ability
Independent and goal-oriented working style

Supervision

Please send your CV and a transcript of records to:

Role	Name	E-Mail
Supervisor	Patrick Fußy	patrick.fussy@th-nuernberg.de

Handling of Flexible Materials Using Robot Arms

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Project Description

This 3-semester M-APR project (starting WiSe 2026/2027) addresses the handling of flexible materials by robot arms. The exact focus is agreed jointly and can cover hardware aspects (gripping technologies) or software/AI aspects (simulation, learning-based control). The work concludes with implementation in a real robot cell at the TTZ Nürnberger Land.

Possible Focus Areas

Hardware-oriented

Analysis of gripping principles for flexible materials (vacuum, adhesive, form-adaptive)
Development and fabrication of a specialised gripper
Experimental evaluation of reproducibility

Software / AI-oriented

Building a simulation environment for deformable objects
Model-based control or Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL)
Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models for flexible manipulation
Sim-to-real transfer and evaluation in the robot cell

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer science, mechatronics, robotics or equivalent
Programming in C++ and/or Python
Basic knowledge of machine learning
Basic knowledge of robotics
Interest in flexible material handling
Independent and goal-oriented working style
Willingness to engage with new topics

This topic can also be completed as a project or master’s thesis subject to agreement.

Supervision

Role	Name	E-Mail
Supervisor	Prof. Dr. Christian Pfitzner	christian.pfitzner@th-nuernberg.de
Co-Supervisor	M. Sc. Patrick Fußy	patrick.fussy@th-nuernberg.de

Location: TTZ Nürnberger Land, Martin-Luther-Straße 18, Lauf an der Pegnitz

Further information: TTZ Nürnberger Land · Mobile Robotics Lab

Robotics Has So Many Facets

Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Robots are no longer a vision of the future — they are already deployed in manufacturing, logistics, and service industries. This was demonstrated by the diverse contributions at this year’s efi colloquium on robotics, organised by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Precision Engineering and Information Technology (efi). The well-attended event addressed the question of “how intelligent robotic systems will transform our working world and society”, featuring contributions from industry and research.

Matthias Nickl from Siemens Energy spoke about deploying robots for maintenance and inspection tasks in response to demographic challenges. Dr. Jonas Graetz from Ziehm Imaging presented an X-ray robotic system. Dr. Jürgen Baier from IsentoVier introduced the humanoid open-source platform pip for educational use. Markus Fenn, an alumnus of the Faculty efi, presented his robotics start-up EduArt.

Prof. Dr. Christian Pfitzner introduced AerodrOHM — a research environment for complex flight systems at the OHM Innovation Center, spanning 280 m² with a ceiling height of up to 12 metres. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Enrico Schröder addressed AI trends in robotics, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Sander spoke about humanoid mechatronics.

A particular highlight was the announcement of RoboCup 2027 in Nuremberg. The TH Nürnberg’s successful robotics team autonOHM is already preparing for the world championship of autonomous robots — to be held in their home city.

Source: TH Nürnberg — Original article