THA_air | AI and Robotics
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: The THA_air research group at the Faculty of Computer Science conducts research at the intersection of these two fields. Its five main research areas cover the entire spectrum of autonomous systems—from perception through decision-making and control to explainable interaction with humans—all integrated into modular system architectures. In collaboration with companies, government agencies, and research partners, the group develops solutions that stand up to real-world use and are directly incorporated into the curriculum.
Research at THA_air
THA_air conducts research on Physical AI across the entire chain of operations for autonomous systems. Perception provides the situational picture, AI methods make decisions, and control systems implement them safely. Explainable interaction keeps humans engaged, while modular architectures integrate everything into operational platforms. Each of the five research areas is coordinated by a professor.
Innovative sensor technologies and perception methods enable physical AI systems to robustly interpret their environment under real-world conditions. The integration of heterogeneous, multimodal sensor data with learning-based semantic representations and uncertainty quantification forms the basis for physically grounded state estimation.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Michael Strohmeier
Robust control methods translate decisions into safe, reliable, and efficient physical actions. Hybrid neural architectures, hazard-based situation classification, and systematic uncertainty management ensure functional safety and fail-operational behavior.
Contact: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Kirchmeier
Transparent and trustworthy interaction connects people with intelligent physical systems. Counterfactual explanations and adaptive speech synthesis convey decision-making content as well as the underlying uncertainty, keeping Physical AI understandable and aligned with human intent.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Silvan Mertes
Advanced methods of machine learning, reasoning, and planning enable physical AI systems to make effective decisions in complex, uncertain environments. Neurosymbolic architectures and digital twins enable scalable, constraint-compliant decision-making for both individual autonomous systems and multi-agent systems.
Modular hardware-software architectures integrate sensors, communication, and actuators into coherent physical-AI platforms. System-of-systems structures with self-organizing subsystems and semantic modeling frameworks accelerate development and code synthesis.
Team THA_air
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Kronberger, Moritz | moritz.kronberger@tha.de |
| Mayr, Laura | laura.mayr@tha.de |
| Meitz, Lukas | lukas.meitz@tha.de |
| Schmalzel, Felix | felix.schmalzel@tha.de |
| von Rußdorf and von Engelcken, Philipp | Philipp.vonRussdorfundvonEngelcken@tha.de |
| Walther, Lorenz | lorenz.walther@tha.de |
| Yu, Jiale | jiale.yu@tha.de |
- Falk Alexander
- Maxim Britvin
- Christian Ego
- Johannes Ewald
- Christian Fischer
- Matthias Jahn
- Michael Jaser
- Lucas Kögel
- Andreas Kottre
- Ferdinand Mathia
- Alexander Maximov
- Sebastian Pröll
- Sebastian Rager
- Martin Riedel
- Olexandra Shpatakovska
- Florian Thurnwald
- Hannah Lisa Walkiw
- Kristian Wede
- Alexander Würth
In addition to its collaboration partners from various research projects, the THA has maintained a relationship in research and teaching with the Odesa Polytechnic National University (OPNU) for more than two decades.
There is particularly close collaboration with the Institute of Computer Systems and the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (IAIR), including through:
- Joint doctoral projects
- Student projects
- Joint summer schools and seminars
- Student theses
- Scientific publications
Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg
Faculty of Computer Science
THA_air
An der Hochschule 1
86161 Augsburg
Directions and Map
Collaboration
THA_air always collaborates with companies, government agencies, and research institutions on the basis of individual agreements. As a result, these partnerships are tailored to your needs and goals. There are essentially three forms of collaboration:
- publicly funded research in a consortium
- industry collaborations
- and thesis projects in collaboration.
For technical questions, the THA_air team is happy to assist you directly. The Institute for Technology and Knowledge Transfer (ITW) will answer any other questions you may have regarding collaboration opportunities with THA.