# Episode 116: Evolved behaviour for robot teams - Tanja Katharina Kaiser

- Show: [Robot Talk](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk)
- Published: 2025-04-04
- Length: 23m
- Episode: 116
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser
- Listen: https://ukrobotics.libsyn.com/episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser

## Summary

Tanja Katharina Kaiser, a senior researcher at the University of Technology Nuremberg (UTN), explains how her Multi-Robot Systems Satellite Lab uses evolutionary algorithms to develop adaptive multi-robot teams. She details their work on object transport, utilizing vision language models to handle unknown objects and non-uniform weight distributions without prior knowledge. Kaiser discusses the trade-offs between centralized and decentralized communication, the challenge of evolving heterogeneous robot behaviors, and potential applications in logistics, warehouse automation, and future home robot swarms.

## Chapters

- [0:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=7) Introduction: Tanja Katharina Kaiser and the Multi-Robot Systems Satellite Lab
- [2:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=135) Object Transport with Vision Language Models and Non-Uniform Weights
- [5:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=342) Decentralized Communication and Ant-Inspired Coordination
- [7:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=424) Evolutionary Algorithms: Generations, Fitness Functions, and Cloning
- [11:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=693) Hardware and Software Heterogeneity in Robot Teams
- [13:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=814) Direct Copying vs. Evolutionary Search: Black Box Challenges
- [16:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=1011) Simulation Speed, Real-World Testing, and Evolving Bodies
- [18:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-04-04-episode-116-evolved-behaviour-for-robot-teams-tanja-katharina-kaiser#t=1123) Applications in Logistics, Warehouses, and Autonomous Driving

## Topics

- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Wireless & RF](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/wireless-and-rf)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- University of Technology Nuremberg (company)
- Multi-Robot Systems Satellite Lab (other)
- vision language models (tool)
- Amazon (company)
- Schwarz Robot System (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [74. Robots Working on the Moon and in Warehouses](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2022-06-14-74-robots-working-on-the-moon-and-in-warehouses) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [Intelligent Robots and the Warehouse of the Future](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2022-08-16-intelligent-robots-and-the-warehouse-of-the-future) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [Warehouse automation update with Fetch Robotics and Anyware Robotics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-22-warehouse-automation-update-with-fetch-robotics-and-anyware-robotics) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [Inside the state of warehouse automation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2023-12-08-inside-the-state-of-warehouse-automation) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [BONUS: Leaders in Machine Vision and Robotics: Live from Boston, Pt. 1 of 2 (brought to you by A3)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-12-20-bonus-leaders-in-machine-vision-and-robotics-live-from-boston-pt-1-of-2-brought) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)

## Citing this page

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