RESEARCH NEWS
New HEAPGrasp method for robot handling
Researchers have developed a new approach that improves robots’ grasping success rate for transparent and shiny objects, beyond reducing handling time. Associate Professor Shogo Arai and Ginga Kennis, both from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Tokyo University of Science, Japan, have developed an innovative method called‘ HEAPGrasp: Hand-Eye Active Perception to Grasp’ objects with diverse optical properties. Their study was published online in the journal‘ IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters’.
“ Traditionally, transparent or mirrored( glossy) objects, such as reflective metal parts and transparent trays, have been unstable to detect when using depth sensors or
conventional 3D measurement techniques, making automatic grasping by robots difficult and ultimately leading to human intervention,” explained Dr. Arai.“ Our approach is based on the idea that even when depth information is unreliable, object shape estimation and grasping are still possible as long as the object’ s contours or silhouettes can be captured reliably in images.”
HEAPGrasp relies on analysing objects from red, green and blue( RGB) images captured from multiple viewpoints. First, the system identifies and separates objects from the background using a computer vision technique called semantic segmentation, which assigns each pixel in an image to categories such as“ object” or“ background.” The extracted silhouettes are then used in a 3D reconstruction technique known as‘ Shape from Silhouette( SfS)’. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI and JKA.
“ Our approach achieves accurate 3D measurement of objects while minimising camera movement and execution time,” confirmed Mr. Kennis.“ By reducing the amount of pre-adjustment required, HEAPGrasp simplifies on-site implementation and operation especially as it can also be retrofitted to existing robotic systems.” n
www. tus. ac. jp
Flying test lab for fossil-free propulsion
The Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology( ILK) and the Institute of Aerospace Engineering( ILR) at the TUD Dresden University of Technology( Germany) commissioned their new research aircraft on 26 March 2026 at Kamenz Airfield. The aircraft will serve as a flying test lab for researching fossil-free aviation propulsion systems. The test platform is based on a Diamond Aircraft DA62 MPP, a twin-engine special-purpose aircraft designed for research and survey missions.
The research focuses on innovative climate-friendly propulsion systems such as electric, hydrogen-based or hybrid concepts. In the future, these can be tested under real flight conditions and compared to one
Image: @ TUD.
TU Dresden inaugurates its research aircraft.
another. At the same time, energy systems, sensor technology and structural components can be analysed in their interaction. The operational and performance data obtained will help further develop technologies from the lab to practical application.
The Kamenz site in Lusatia is emerging as a hub for a growing aviation landscape in
Eastern Germany. The research aircraft is an integral part of the newly founded science and business platform OST4Aviation, which is driving the development of a region with high aviation research capabilities in Eastern Germany to more closely integrate expertise from science and industry. The research aircraft is part of the EU-funded FoFlu project.
Additional investments in hydrogen aircraft engines, infrastructure and sensor technology will be made by the end of the project period. The project is funded by the European Union and the Free State of Saxony through the JTF InfraProNet programme. n
https:// tu-dresden. de
Digital simulation models for production
The“ AutoSim” research project develops new methods for the automated creation of simulation models for the manufacturing industry. The aim is to make it much easier for companies to generate photorealistic and physically accurate models of their production environments and to reduce existing manual efforts. The Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering( WZL) at RWTH Aachen University and software company, RIIICO, are involved in the project. Miele, Schaeffler, SAMSON AG and SMS group are associated partners.
The project focuses on the intelligent processing and linking of heterogeneous production data by investigating methods that automatically segment, classify and enrich 3D
The AutoSim project consortium.
scans with physical properties to make them usable for simulation applications. The project partners are developing a natural language interface that makes the remaining manual process steps particularly user-friendly. This should also allow downstream processes to be carried out with the generated simulation models in a low-threshold manner.
The methods make it possible to describe data from different sources( such as 3D scans, CAD models or existing databases) uniformly and to make it usable across systems.
“ With AutoSim, we are creating the conditions for creating simulation models in a much more efficient and user-friendly way. This allows companies to access digital images of their production more quickly and use them for optimisation and planning processes,” said Petar Tesic, project manager at the WZL at RWTH Aachen University. The project is funded as part of the ERDF / JTF programme NRW 2021 – 2027. n
www. wzl. rwth-aachen. de
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