The Lauffen, Germany based clamping and gripping specialist SCHUNK will be holding a new edition of the Service Robotics Expert Days on February 18th and 19th, 2009. The international expert forum will be attended by leading authorities in the field, bringing together experts from all around the world. A wide range of presentations in English will give participants an overview of the current situation and future possibilities for the Service Robotics industry.

As well as offering an intensive exchange of experience and expertise, Expert Days should also foster international networks around the globe, giving companies the opportunity to work together on projects for the future. In addition to this, the event should help to identify real service robotics applications that meet market demands.

Just one look at the names of the hosts shows how special this event promises to be, with internationally-renowned robotics experts Professor Henrik I. Christensen and Martin Hägele leading the presentations. Henrik Christensen is the current KUKA Chair of Robotics at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and was founding president of the European Network of Excellence in Robotics (Euron). Martin Hägele is Head of Robotics Systems at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA in Stuttgart. He coordinates the EU project “SMErobot”, which is striving together with all European robotics manufacturers to create a modular and interactive generation of robots that are quick to install and easy to operate.

The long list of speakers includes Professor Axel Gräser from the Institute for Automation Technology at the University of Bremen, who is in charge of a number of projects researching rehabilitation robotics; Christopher Parlitz, Head of the Care-O-Bot robot assistant system project at the Fraunhofer IPA in Stuttgart; Andreas Bley, Director of MetraLabs GmbH, who have developed an interactive, mobile shopping helper for the retail industry; and many other international experts. For further information and to register, visit www.expertdays.schunk.com.