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KIMM and DFKI sign Memorandum of Understanding for joint research

| Press release | Trade & Logistics | Industry 4.0 | Human-Machine Interaction | Robotics | Cognitive Assistants | Saarbrücken

On October 9, 2024, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a ceremony in Saarbrücken. The aim of the agreement is to promote scientific exchange and to jointly develop new technologies. KIMM and DFKI are thus sending a strong signal for international research cooperation.

Dr. Bong-Ki Kim, Vice President KIMM, and Helmut Ditzer, CFO DFKI, at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.

The two research centers want to intensify their cooperation in areas such as the development of context-sensitive robots for retail and logistics. The planned collaborations include joint research projects and scientific publications, the exchange of students and scientists as well as the organization of international symposia, seminars and conferences. The aim is to promote the global transfer of knowledge and the development of innovative solutions for the use of robotics in various sectors.

Result of the cooperation to date
One example involving regular exchanges with KIMM is the recently launched C4Retail project.

"In the WALL-ET logistics project, research teams from KIMM and DFKI have already collaborated on intelligent robotic systems with application partners from Korea and Germany. In C4Retail, we are partially building on this and are now focusing on the challenges on the retail sales floor," says Dr. Tim Schwartz, Senior Researcher in DFKI's Cognitive Assistants research department and project manager.

KIMM is heavily involved in the design and development, which gives the European partners valuable insights into the Korean market and the field of research there. Both the new developments and the knowledge gained in the project can thus be adapted to the highly innovative partner country Korea. C4Retail is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the 9th German-Korean call for joint research and development projects of medium-sized companies over a period of three years (1.5.2024 - 30.4.2027) and is part of the Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM).

The Korean delegation visiting the DFKI Laboratory for Human-Robot Collaboration.