Research

Intelligent Manipulation

In cluttered scenes, and with unknown objects, typical pick and place pipelines are sub-optimal. Assembly and rearrangement tasks require flexible manipulation modes using both prehensile and non-prehensile approaches with multimodal perception.

Intelligent Manipulation
Intelligent Manipulation

In cluttered scenes, and with unknown objects, typical pick and place pipelines are sub-optimal. Assembly and rearrangement tasks require flexible manipulation modes using both prehensile and non-prehensile approaches with multimodal perception.

Associated Researchers:

Phenorob - Robotics and Phenotyping for Sustainable Crop Production

Phenorob - Robotics and Phenotyping for Sustainable Crop Production

PhenoRob performs world-leading research in robotics and phenotyping for sustainable crop production. Our vision is to transform crop production by optimizing breeding and farming management through developing and deploying new technologies. PhenoRob addresses a real-world problem with a technology-oriented approach. Our scientists have backgrounds in computer science, geodesy, robotics, plant science, soil science, economics, and environmental science. This interdisciplinary team forms the only DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence focusing on agriculture.

RePAIR - Reconstructing the Past: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Meet Cultural Heritage

RePAIR - Reconstructing the Past: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Meet Cultural Heritage

The 'RePAIR' project combines Artificial Intelligence and Robotics with Cultural Heritage to create technology that simplifies the reconstruction of shattered artworks. This innovation aims to address the challenge of piecing together damaged or incomplete ancient artifacts like vases, amphorae, and frescoes, often found in fragments at excavation sites worldwide.

A Robust Placeability Metric for Model-Free Unified Pick-and-Place Reasoning

A Robust Placeability Metric for Model-Free Unified Pick-and-Place Reasoning

Benno Wingender, Nils Dengler, Rohit Menon, Sicong Pan, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2026

Pre-Print
Implicit-Behavior Coordination from Unlabeled Sub-Task Demonstrations for Rearrangement Tasks

Implicit-Behavior Coordination from Unlabeled Sub-Task Demonstrations for Rearrangement Tasks

Ahmed Shokry, Usama Siddiquie, Sicong Pan, Maren Bennewitz

Arxiv Pre-print, 2026

Pre-Print
Efficient Manipulation-Enhanced Semantic Mapping With Uncertainty-Informed Action Selection

Efficient Manipulation-Enhanced Semantic Mapping With Uncertainty-Informed Action Selection

Nils Dengler, Jesper Mücke, Rohit Menon, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE/RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2025

Pre-PrintCodeVideo
Interactive Shaping of Granular Media Using Reinforcement Learning

Interactive Shaping of Granular Media Using Reinforcement Learning

Benedikt Kreis, Malte Mosbach, Anny Ripke, Muhammad Ehsan Ullah, Sven Behnke, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2025

Pre-PrintPublicationWebsiteCode
Context-Based Meta Reinforcement Learning for Robust and Adaptable Peg-in-Hole Assembly Tasks

Context-Based Meta Reinforcement Learning for Robust and Adaptable Peg-in-Hole Assembly Tasks

Ahmed Shokry, Walid Gomaa, Tobias Zaenker, Murad Dawood, Rohit Menon, Shady A. Maged, Mohammed I. Awad, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2025

Pre-PrintCode
Learning Goal-Directed Object Pushing in Cluttered Scenes with Location-Based Attention

Learning Goal-Directed Object Pushing in Cluttered Scenes with Location-Based Attention

Nils Dengler, Juan Del Aguila Ferrandis, João Moura, Sethu Vijayakumar, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2025

Pre-PrintCodeVideo
Map Space Belief Prediction for Manipulation-Enhanced Mapping

Map Space Belief Prediction for Manipulation-Enhanced Mapping

Joao Marcos Correia Marques, Nils Dengler, Tobias Zaenker, Jesper Mücke, Shenlong Wang, Maren Bennewitz, Kris Hauser

Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2025

Pre-PrintPublicationCodeVideo
Safe Leaf Manipulation for Accurate Shape and Pose Estimation of Occluded Fruits

Safe Leaf Manipulation for Accurate Shape and Pose Estimation of Occluded Fruits

Shaoxiong Yao, Sicong Pan, Maren Bennewitz, Kris Hauser

IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), 2025

Pre-PrintPublicationCodeVideo
Compact Multi-Object Placement Using Adjacency-Aware Reinforcement Learning

Compact Multi-Object Placement Using Adjacency-Aware Reinforcement Learning

Benedikt Kreis, Nils Dengler, Jorge de Heuvel, Rohit Menon, Hamsa Datta Perur, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2024

Pre-PrintPublicationCodeVideo
HortiBot: An Adaptive Multi-Arm System for Robotic Horticulture of Sweet Peppers

HortiBot: An Adaptive Multi-Arm System for Robotic Horticulture of Sweet Peppers

Christian Lenz, Rohit Menon, Michael Schreiber, Melvin Paul Jacob, Sven Behnke, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2024

Pre-PrintPublicationCodeVideo
Viewpoint Push Planning for Mapping of Unknown Confined Spaces

Viewpoint Push Planning for Mapping of Unknown Confined Spaces

Nils Dengler, Sicong Pan, Vamsi Kalagaturu, Rohit Menon, Murad Dawood, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2023

Pre-PrintPublicationCodeVideo
Reactive Correction of Object Placement Errors for Robotic Arrangement Tasks

Reactive Correction of Object Placement Errors for Robotic Arrangement Tasks

Benedikt Kreis, Rohit Menon, Bharath Kumar Adinarayan, Jorge de Heuvel, Maren Bennewitz

International Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems (IAS-18), 2023

Pre-PrintPublicationVideo
Learning Goal-Directed Non-Prehensile Pushing in Cluttered Scenes

Learning Goal-Directed Non-Prehensile Pushing in Cluttered Scenes

Nils Dengler, David Großklaus, Maren Bennewitz

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2022

Pre-PrintPublicationCodeVideo