Global AI Karlsruhe

AI TechDay: Robotics (English)
Wednesday, 18. March 2026
17.00 bis 18.30 CET
Location: Live Stream

17.00 - 17.15
Welcome

17.15 - 17.45
Teaching Robots at Scale: Data, Programming, and the Real Limits of Industrial AI

Marc Plogas
The Cloud and IoT Guy @ RoboTwin

Despite decades of investment in automation, many high-value industrial operations in manufacturing remain largely manual. The limiting factor is no longer hardware – lack of machines or robots – but software. Programming automation of complex tasks is slow, expensive, and dependent on expert and domain specific knowledge.
While AI has been transforming software systems towards higher autonomy, making production environments autonomous is fundamentally harder. Conversational AI can learn through access to massive datasets on the internet, however, there is no such treasure trove or robot data.
This talk will analyze why today’s AI successes in robotics focus on controlled, low-value tasks, and why expectations around humanoids and general-purpose robots remain misaligned with industrial reality. The core challenge is data generation: without systematic ways to capture manufacturing and production data, learning-based robotics cannot scale. And without measures to protect the data and control the learning process, the solutions cannot be trustworthy, nor safe. Our approach to reliable data foundation required for the adoption of AI in robotics will be shared with the audience to open discussions about its benefits, challenges, and opportunities.

17.45 - 18.15
Sensors in Robotics – Application and Development

Bernhard Merkle
Microsoft MVP & Principal AI Architect @ SICK Sensor Intelligence

Abstract:
This talk explores how modern sensor technologies enable intelligent robotic systems across a wide range of applications, from industrial automation and mobile robotics to collaborative and service robots. We will discuss how sensor data is fused and interpreted to achieve reliable perception, navigation, and interaction with complex environments.
A key focus will be the role of artificial intelligence: first, how AI is used in sensors to signal, detect objects,
understand scenes, and make robust decisions under uncertainty; and second, how AI supports the development of sensors themselves, for example through data-driven calibration, simulation-based design, virtual sensing, and automated testing and validation.
Participants will gain an overview of state-of-the-art sensor use in robotics, see concrete examples of AI-enabled problem solving, and learn how AI is reshaping the entire sensor development lifecycle.

18.15 - 18.30
Discussion & Closing