Technical University Munich

While we’ve pretty much got to the point where we take GPS-enabled navigation systems for granted, there’s one rather prominent place where they can’t access the necessary satellites – indoors. A number of projects have taken on the challenge of indoor navigation, incorporating things like accelerometers, “invisible” landmarks, rapidly flickering lights, and magnetic fields. The experimental new NAVVIS system, however, utilizes a database of photographs.  Read More

Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler and BMW are typically seen facing off against each other to win the hearts, minds and wallets of luxury car buyers. However, the challenges of developing a mass-produced electric car have inspired the two pillars of German luxury to put aside their rivalry and team up on a city car project.  Read More

Last November, Mercedes showed off its futuristic Aero Trailer concept at a transport truck show in Belgium. While it certainly looked quite sleek and efficient, it certainly wasn’t as eye-popping as the full tractor/trailer combo that will be on display later this month in Germany. Known as Innotruck, the bizarre vehicle is part of Technische Universität München (Technical University Munich)’s Diesel Reloaded project, which “aims to demonstrate how paradigm shifts in automotive, energy, and information technologies can help to address major societal trends and needs.”  Read More

While great strides have been made in the development of humanoid robots, such as Honda's ASIMO, giving robots a human face with natural expressions and movement has proven a difficult task. While some look to create lifelike faces and expressions with motors under artificial skin replicating the function of facial muscles, German and Japanese researchers have joined forces to come up with a different solution called Mask-bot that sees a 3D image of a human face projected onto the back of a plastic mask.  Read More

Electric vehicle concepts, prototypes and production models are everywhere at the moment. Enter into any discussion on the subject and you're likely to come across a few common threads, such as range anxiety, prohibitive cost and charging inconvenience. A collaborative project involving 200 assistants and students across 20 departments at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) is hoping to address many of those fears with its MUTE concept - a lightweight, sporty two-seater electric coupé designed from the ground up with three main factors in mind: efficiency, low overall cost and safety.  Read More

Providing robots with sensory inputs is one of the keys to the development of more capable and useful machines. Sight and hearing are the most common senses bestowed upon our mechanical friends (perhaps soon to be foes?), but even taste and smell have got a look in. With the sense of touch so important to human beings, there have also been a number of efforts to give robots the sense of touch so they can better navigate and interact with their environments. The latest attempt to create a touchy feely robot comes from the Technical University Munich (TUM) where researchers have produced small hexagonal plates, which when joined together, form a sensitive skin.  Read More