Reis Robotics announces winners of Walter Reis Innovation Award for Robotics

Walter Reis, founder of Reis Robotics, Obernburg, Germany, has announced this year's winners of the Walter Reis Innovation Award for Robotics. Presented every two years, the award recognizes outstanding developments in industrial production robotics and industrial service robotics, as well as innovations in kinematics, controls, and drive systems.

The five-member selection jury awarded first prize to Dr. Johannes Wößner and Alexander Spiller from the Fraunhofer Institute, Stuttgart, Germany, for production technology and automation. Wößner and his team developed a robot system that, for the first time, permits welding of standardized steel components in an arbitrary variety of versions on a robot system with fully automatic generation of the robot programs.

Second prize went to Christian Connette and Theo Jacobs of the Fraunhofer Institute. They developed a modular, omnidirectional chassis for mobile robots in the industrial environment. The chassis features a kinematic design, and the small hub drive allows assembly of compact mobile platforms. The mobile chassis can transport up to 551 lbs. at speeds of up to 59.05 IPS with slopes of up to 10 degrees.

Third prize was awarded to Prof. Klaus Schilling and Christian Herrmann from the University of Würzburg. Their work on the topic of real-time control for robotic movement compensation is based on radiation medicine.