Wissenbasierte Systeme
Wissensbasierte Systeme/Knowledge-Based Systems
Group Profile
AI systems with incomplete control and incomplete knowledge of their environment, e.g., autonomous mobile robots, profit greatly from knowledge-level representation and reasoning for acting rationally: active sensing, sensor data disambiguation, performance optimization, human-robot co-operation, explanation – these and more aspects of robust and beneficial robot performance are impossible without applying at least a bit of symbolic knowledge. However, intertwining in closed-loop and in real-time the faculties of knowledge-level reasoning, robot control, sensing and sensor data interpretation is a fundamental challenge in AI. Within this spectrum, research in the Knowledge-Based Systems group focused on hybrid (task-level, spatio-temporal, hierarchical, probabilistic) planning, and we developed control architectures to amalgamate it with multi-modal active sensing, learning-based methods for sensor data interpretation, object anchoring, multi-modal semantic mapping, and closed-loop plan execution and monitoring. Regular teaching by group members has spanned over introductory AI, Robotics, and Knowledge-Based Systems topics.
A textbook on Mobile Robotics (1st edition, published in 2012), which has resulted from the group’s work.
The group was established in 2004, headed by Prof. Dr. Joachim Hertzberg, and terminated in 2025, shortly after his retirement in 2024. Many of the topics have been taken up by two new working groups in the institute: Hybrid AI, and Computer Vision and Robust AI.
The group was deeply involved in establishing in Osnabrück first a branch, then a Lab, and eventually a permanent Niedersachsen Site (in Osnabrück and Oldenburg) of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz, DFKI) from 2011 on. Joachim Hertzberg was the head of the DFKI Research Group Plan-Based Robot Control; after his retirement in 2024 continued under the direction of Martin Atzmüller as the DFKI Research Group Cooperative and Autonomous Systems. Joachim Hertzberg was also the inaugural Managing Director of DFKI Niedersachsen, 2022–24.
Members 2004–2025
The following list includes all graduate persons who have worked for the group on UOS contracts as scientific assistants (“Wiss. Mitarbeiter”), irrespective of the source of financing – be it on regular State contracts, or in externally funded research projects, or on doctorate scholarships (such as DAAD or scholarship foundations). The many student assistants are not covered. Regarding academic titles, we use the highest ones known when writing this list – in many cases, they have changed as part of the persons’ work in the group.
- Sven Albrecht (Dr.), 2011–17
- Johannes Brust (MSc), 2018–21
- Michaela van Eickelen (Dr.), 2021–22
- Martin Günther (Dr.), 2011–15
- Desiree Heijne (Dipl.-Geogr.), 2019–23
- Lena Herrmann (MSc), 2018–21
- Felix Igelbrink (MSc), 2015–22
- Isaak Ihorst (MSc), 2020-27
- Kai Lingemann (Dr.), 2004–13
- Neele Meyer (Dr.), 2021–22
- Alexander Mock (Dr.), 2019–25
- Lennart Niecksch (MSc), 2020-21
- Andreas Nüchter (Prof. Dr.), 2004–09
- Piper Powell (MSc), 2024–27
- Sebastian Pütz (Dr.), 2017–21
- Juan Carlos Saborío Morales (Dr.), 2015–19
- Jan H. Schoenke (Dr.), 2014–17
- Thomas Schüler (Dr.), 2011–14
- Amos Smith, MSc (2024-27)
- Jochen Sprickerhof (MSc), 2012–17
- Stefan Stiene (Prof. Dr.), 2006–2009
- Sebastian Stock (Dr.), 2011–15
- Stefanie Thieme (MSc), 2023–2024
- Thomas Wiemann (Prof. Dr.), 2008–20
- Dennis Ziegenhagen (MSc), 2023–2024
Other former doctoral students of the group
A number of persons have finished their doctorates in the group without a formal work contract, i.e., in some form as external doctoral candidates, working at DFKI, at University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück, or industry. We list them with the years of their thesis defenses.
- Mohamed Altaleb (Dr.), 2024
- Iman Awaad (Dr.), 2025
- Henning Deeken (Dr.), 2022
- Simone Frintrop (Prof. Dr.), 2005
- Maik Fruhner (Dr.), 2025
- Ronny Hartanto (Prof. Dr.), 2009
- Stefan May (Prof. Dr.), 2009
- Mark Niemeyer (Dr.), 2026
- Stephan Scheuren (Dr.), 2014
- Irem Stratmann (Dr.), 2007
- Wolfram Strothmann (Dr.), 2016
2026
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Towards Reconfigurability of Plan-Based Controllers Through Metacognition
10.1007/978-981-95-2382-5_42
2025
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Acting and Planning with Hierarchical Operational Models on a Mobile Robot: A Study with RAE+UPOM
10.1109/ECMR65884.2025.11162965 -
Uncertainty-Resilient Active Intention Recognition for Robotic Assistants
10.1109/ECMR65884.2025.11163230 -
Context-Aware Robotic Assistance for Workers Using Intention Recognition and Semantic Digital Twin
10.1007/978-3-031-88705-5_8 -
Hyperspectral band selection using segmented autoencoders for visual quality assessment of food products
10.18420/giljt2025_46 -
Efficient Global 6D Localization in 3D TSDF Maps Using Point-wise and Scan-wise Reduction Methods on Embedded GPUs
10.1142/S1793351X25410053 -
RadaRays: Real-Time Simulation of Rotating FMCW Radar for Mobile Robotics via Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing
10.1109/LRA.2025.3531689
2024
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MICP-L: Mesh-based ICP for Robot Localization Using Hardware-Accelerated Ray Casting
10.1109/IROS58592.2024.10802360 -
Streamlined Acquisition of Large Sensor Data for Autonomous Mobile Robots to Enable Efficient Creation and Analysis of Datasets
10.1109/ICRA57147.2024.10611096 -
Helping Blind People Grasp : Evaluating a Tactile Bracelet for Remotely Guiding Grasping Movements
10.3390/s24092949 -
Towards Intention Recognition for Robotic Assistants Through Online POMDP Planning
2023
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Hyperspectral 3D Point Cloud Segmentation Using RandLA-Net
10.1007/978-3-031-22216-0_21 -
Evaluation of a decision support system for the recommendation of pasture harvest date and form
Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Proceedings - Series of the Gesellschaft fur Informatik (GI)
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Rmagine: 3D Range Sensor Simulation in Polygonal Maps via Ray Tracing for Embedded Hardware on Mobile Robots
10.1109/ICRA48891.2023.10161388 -
Sozio-digitale Innovation durch partizipative Prozessgestaltung im virtuellen Raum
10.1007/978-3-662-67024-8_7 -
Cognitive Weeding: An Approach to Single-Plant Specific Weed Regulation
KI - Künstliche Intelligenz
10.1007/s13218-023-00825-6 -
AI in Current and Future Agriculture : An Introductory Overview
10.1007/s13218-023-00826-5 -
Towards 6D MCL for LiDARs in 3D TSDF Maps on Embedded Systems with GPUs
10.1109/IRC59093.2023.00035 -
FeatSense : A Feature-Based Registration Algorithm with GPU-Accelerated TSDF-Mapping Backend for NVIDIA Jetson Boards
10.1109/IRC59093.2023.00040
2022
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On the way to a decision support system for the cultivation and harvesting of grassland areas [Auf dem Weg zu einem Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem zur Pflege und Ernte von Grünlandflächen]
Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Proceedings - Series of the Gesellschaft fur Informatik (GI)
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Computing arbitrarily large meshes with level-of-detail support for Cesium 3D tiles
10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-2-W1-2022-109-2022 -
Online Inference of Robot Navigation Parameters from a Semantic Map
10.5220/0010790200003116
2021
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The Mesh Tools Package – Introducing Annotated 3D Triangle Maps in ROS
10.1016/j.robot.2020.103688 -
Gaia-AgStream: An Explainable AI Platform for Mining Complex Data Streams in Agriculture
10.1007/978-3-030-88259-4_6 -
First steps towards a context-sensitive navigation in a long-term autonomous field monitoring system [Erste Schritte zu einer kontextsensitiven Navigation in einem langzeitautonomen Field-Monitoring-System]
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Illumination compensation for classification of hyperspektral 3d point clouds [Beleuchtungsausgleich zur klassifikation auf hyperspektral annotierten 3d-punktwolken]
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ACTION AFFORDANCE AFFECTS PROXIMAL AND DISTAL GOAL-ORIENTED PLANNING
10.1101/2021.07.27.454022 -
Continuous Shortest Path Vector Field Navigation on 3D Triangular Meshes for Mobile Robots
10.1109/ICRA48506.2021.9560981 -
Navigation control & path planning for autonomous mobile robots
10.48693/69 -
Erste Schritte zu einer kontextsensitiven Navigation in einem langzeitautonomen Field-Monitoring-System
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Monocular localization in feature-annotated 3d polygon maps
10.1109/ECMR50962.2021.9568810 -
COVID-19LL: A Systematic Approach to Identify Best Practices and Lessons Learned in German Economic Sectors
10.1007/978-3-030-74611-7_70
2020
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Impact of Virtual Embodiment on the Perception of Virtual Heights
10.1007/978-3-030-37869-1_17 -
Towards Context-Aware Navigation for Long-Term Autonomy in Agricultural Environments
2019
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Tools for Visualizing, Annotating and Storing Triangle Meshes in ROS and RViz
10.1109/ECMR.2019.8870953 -
Markerless Ad-Hoc Calibration of a Hyperspectral Camera and a 3D Laser Scanner
10.1007/978-3-030-01370-7_58 -
Planning under uncertainty through goal-driven action selection
10.1007/978-3-030-05453-3_9 -
Efficient Planning Under Uncertainty with Incremental Refinement.
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Relevance-based online planning in complex POMDPs
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Compressing ROS Sensor and Geometry Messages with Draco
10.1109/SSRR.2019.8848965 -
Move Base Flex A Highly Flexible Navigation Framework for Mobile Robots
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A File Structure and Reference Data Set for High Resolution Hyperspectral 3D Point Clouds
10.1016/j.ifacol.2019.08.101
2018
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Surface reconstruction from arbitrarily large point clouds
10.1109/IRC.2018.00059 -
Towards domain-independent biases for action selection in robotic task-planning under uncertainty
10.5220/0006578500850093
2017
2016
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Incremental Learning on Decorrelated Approximators
10.1109/ICMLA.2015.153 -
Towards a flexible hybrid planner for machine coordination in arable farming
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Methods for generating scan poses to optimally complete partially acquired 3D scenes [Methoden zur Bestimmung optimal ergänzender Scanposen in unvollständig erfassten 3D-Szenen]
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3D Navigation Mesh Generation for Path Planning in Uneven Terrain
10.1016/j.ifacol.2016.07.734 -
Optimizing Triangle Mesh Reconstructions of Planar Environments
10.1016/j.ifacol.2016.07.735 -
Real time texture generation in optimized large-scale polygon meshes with KinectFusion
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Hierarchische hybride Planung für mobile Roboter
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Data handling in large-scale surface reconstruction
10.1007/978-3-319-08338-4_37
2015
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An Extended Evaluation of Open Source Surface Reconstruction Software for Robotic Applications
10.1007/s10846-014-0155-1 -
Integrating physics-based prediction with Semantic plan Execution Monitoring
10.1109/IROS.2015.7353774 -
Online task merging with a hierarchical hybrid task planner for mobile service robots
10.1109/IROS.2015.7354300 -
SEMAP - A semantic environment mapping framework
10.1109/ECMR.2015.7324176 -
Reflections and early evidence of the importance of presence for three types of feedback in virtual motor rehabilitation
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Abducing hypotheses about past events from observed environment changes
10.1007/978-3-319-24489-1_18 -
Hierarchical hybrid planning in a mobile service robot
10.1007/978-3-319-24489-1_28 -
Diskussion der Forschungsergebnisse
10.1007/978-3-658-10061-2_5 -
Das Therapiesystem AVUS
10.1007/978-3-658-10061-2_3 -
Abstrakte virtuelle Illusionen für die Schlaganfalltherapie : wie mit Hilfe virtueller Umgebungen motorisches Lernen gefördert werden kann
2014
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The RACE Project: Robustness by Autonomous Competence Enhancement
10.1007/s13218-014-0327-y -
Generating and executing hierarchical mobile manipulation plans
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Integrating semantic information in navigational planning
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Generating and Executing Hierarchical Mobile Manipulation Plans
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Planning Domain Execution Semantics: A Way Towards Robust Execution?
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Abstrakte virtuelle Illusionen für die Schlaganfalltherapie
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Lokalisierung und Kartenbau mit mobilen Robotern
2013
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Automatic creation and application of texture patterns to 3D polygon maps
10.1109/IROS.2013.6696883 -
The incremental risk functional: Basics of a novel incremental learning approach
10.1109/SMC.2013.259 -
Spatio-Temporally Constrained Planning for Cooperative Vehicles in a Harvesting Scenario
10.1007/s13218-013-0267-y -
An evaluation of open source surface reconstruction software for robotic applications
10.1109/ICAR.2013.6766566 -
Automatic map creation for environment modelling in robotic simulators
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An ontology-based multi-level robot architecture for learning from experiences
2012
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Laser-based geometrical modeling of large-scale architectural structures using co-operative multiple robots
10.1007/s10514-011-9256-x -
Therapeutic presence - Virtual illusions for neurorehabilitation
10.1007/978-3-642-33542-6_39 -
Uncertainty and trust estimation in incrementally learning function approximation
10.1007/978-3-642-31709-5_4 -
A toolkit for automatic generation of polygonal maps - Las vegas reconstruction
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Approximating reference trajectories for autonomous vehicles using motion primitives
10.1007/978-3-642-32217-4_12 -
Mobile Roboter : eine Einführung aus Sicht der Informatik
10.1007/978-3-642-01726-1 -
What Language Do You Use to Create Your AI Programs and Why?
10.1007/s13218-011-0158-z
2011
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A Heuristic Loop Closing Technique for Large-Scale 6D SLAM
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Trusted learner: An improved algorithm for trusted incremental function approximation
10.1109/CIDUE.2011.5948489 -
The problem of spatio-temporally constrained motion planning for cooperative vehicles
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The 3D Hough Transform for plane detection in point clouds: A review and a new accumulator design
10.1007/3DRes.02(2011)3 -
A heuristic loop closing technique for large-scale 6D SLAM [Heuristi ̌cka metoda zatvaranja petlje za 6D SLAM velikih dimenzija]
10.1080/00051144.2011.11828420 -
On the impact of embedded knowledge-based systems
10.1109/arso.2011.6301980 -
User Stories als Kommunikationsbasis bei der Integration von e-Learning in ein Campusmanagementsystem
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Automatisiertes Auffinden und Auffüllen von Scanschatten in 3D-Laserscans.
2010
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Automatic construction of polygonal maps from point cloud data
10.1109/SSRR.2010.5981571 -
Non-rigid registration and rectification of 3D laser scans
10.1109/IROS.2010.5652278 -
3D robotic mapping in Osnabrück [3D-Roboterkartenbau in Osnabrück]
10.1007/s13218-010-0032-4 -
LiSA: On the way to safe assistant robotics [LiSA: Auf dem Weg zur sicheren Assistenzrobotik]
10.1007/s13218-010-0013-7 -
Towards real time robot 6D localization in a polygonal indoor map based on 3D ToF camera data
10.3182/20100906-3-it-2019.00018 -
A data structure for the 3D Hough Transform for plane detection
10.3182/20100906-3-it-2019.00011 -
Verbesserte Kartenqualität durch Thin Plate Splines und Hough-Transformation
2009
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Virtual range scan for avoiding 3D obstacles using 2D tools
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Evaluation of 3D registration reliability and speed-A comparison of ICP and NDT
10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152538 -
3D Robotic mapping the simultaneous localization and mapping problem with six degrees of freedom
10.1007/978-3-540-89884-9_1 -
Parallel and cached scan matching for robotic 3D mapping
10.2498/cit.1001174 -
Laser-based geometric modeling using cooperative multiple mobile robots
10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152237 -
An Explicit Loop Closing Technique for 6D SLAM.
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Multisensorfusion zur semantisch gestützten Navigation eines autonomen Assistenzroboters
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A Mobile Blended Learning Approach Based on Podcasts with Respect to the Students' Media Literacy
10.1109/elml.2009.7
2008
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Globally consistent 3D mapping with scan matching
10.1016/j.robot.2007.07.002 -
Evaluating a 3D camera for RoboCup rescue
10.1109/SICE.2008.4655003 -
The efficient extension of globally consistent scan matching to 6 DoF
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Does it help a robot navigate to call navigability an affordance?
10.1007/978-3-540-77915-5_2 -
Global Konsistente 3D-Kartierung mit Scanmatching
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Surface Reconstruction for 3D Robotic Mapping
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Sicheres Navigieren in dynamischen Umgebungen mit 3D-Kollisionsvermeidung
2007
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6D SLAM-3D mapping outdoor environments
10.1002/rob.20209 -
Ground truth evaluation of large Urban 6D SLAM
10.1109/IROS.2007.4399026 -
Safe human-robot interaction in a life science environment
10.1109/SSRR.2007.4381273 -
Cached k-d tree search for ICP algorithms
10.1109/3DIM.2007.15 -
Performance of 6D LuM and FFS SLAM - An example for comparison using grid and pose based evaluation methods
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High speed differential drive mobile robot path following control with bounded wheel speed commands
10.1109/ROBOT.2007.363647 -
Safe navigation in dynamic environments with 3D collision avoidance [Sicheres Navigieren in dynamischen Umgebungen mit 3D-Kollisionsvermeidung]
10.1007/978-3-540-74764-2_11 -
LiSA: A robot assistant for life sciences
10.1007/978-3-540-74565-5_50 -
Performance of 6D LuM and FFS SLAM: an example for comparison using grid and pose based evaluation methods
10.1145/1660877.1660913 -
6D SLAM with cached K -D tree search
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Real-time outdoor trail detection on a mobile robot
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6D SLAM—3D mapping outdoor environments: Research Articles
10.1002/rob.v24:8/9 -
Salient Visual Features to Help Close the Loop i n 6D SLAM
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Parallelization of Scan Matching for Robotic 3D Mapping.
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Assessing stereo matching algorithms using ground-truth disparity maps of natural scenes
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An experiment in semantic correction of sensor data
2006
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Extracting drivable surfaces in outdoor 6D slam
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Contour-based object detection in range images
10.1109/3DPVT.2006.46 -
Device level simulation of kurt3d rescue robots : Third Intl. Workshop on Synthetic Simulation and Robotics to Mitigate Earthquake Disaster (SRMED 2006). CDROM Proceedings
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3D Mapping with Semantic Knowledge
10.1007/11780519_30
2005
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High-speed laser localization for mobile robots
10.1016/j.robot.2005.02.004 -
Heuristic-based laser scan matching for outdoor 6D SLAM
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USARSIM - Game engines in the teaching of robotics [USARSIM - Game-Engines in der Robotik-Lehre]
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Robust object detection at regions of interest with an application in ball recognition
10.1109/ROBOT.2005.1570107 -
Accurate object localization in 3D laser range scans
10.1109/ICAR.2005.1507480 -
6D SLAM with approximate data association
10.1109/ICAR.2005.1507419 -
Mapping of rescue environments with Kurt3D
10.1109/SSRR.2005.1501229 -
Simultanous mapping and localization of rescue environments [Gleichzeitiges kartieren und lokalisieren von rescue-umgebungen]
10.1524/itit.2005.47.5_2005.282 -
USARSIM – Game-Engines in der Robotik-Lehre
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About the Control of High Speed Mobile Indoor Robots
2004
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Online Searching with an Autonomous Robot.
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Ultra-fast holographic recording and automatic 3D scan matching of living human faces
10.1142/9789812702678_0007 -
Indoor and outdoor localization for fast mobile robots
10.1109/IROS.2004.1389733 -
6D SLAM with an application in autonomous mine mapping
10.1109/ROBOT.2004.1308117 -
6D SLAM - preliminary report on closing the loop in six dimensions
10.1016/S1474-6670(17)31975-4