Case study 02Mobile manipulation
Balancing locomotion and manipulation as one coupled system.
The platform
evoBOT is a two-wheeled autonomous mobile robot based on the inverted-pendulum principle. Its compact chassis and side manipulators enable agile transportation, pickup, and active handover of loads.
Attribution
evoBOT was developed by a Fraunhofer IML team combining mechanics, electronics, sensing, actuation, control, learning-based methods, navigation, and manipulation. Individual components and later developments were created by multiple contributors.
I led the team during the first two years of evoBOT's core development. In that phase, I guided technical priorities and system integration and contributed directly to the robot's control-system work.
The control problem
The chassis is inherently unstable. Manipulator motion disturbs balance, while chassis motion changes the manipulator's frame of reference. Useful behavior therefore depends on treating the complete robot as a coupled dynamic system.
Public evidence
Fraunhofer documents the platform, its digital-twin and AI research, and trials in air-cargo environments. Published specifications differ by development version; the current project page reports up to 10 m/s.