AI and Robotics for Healthy Aging: From Research Labs to Real-World Care

Abstract

As the global population ages, the demand for innovative senior care solutions calls for bridging fundamental research with real-world applications. This talk introduces a framework centered on the service mobile humanoid "GARMI," integrating advances in robotic grasping, manipulation, telerobotics, and whole-body coordination. Leveraging AI-driven learning, parameter-based identification, tactile sensing, and impedance control,  GARMI enables dexterous, compliant interactions that adapt seamlessly to diverse object properties and dynamic environments. The framework emphasizes transitions across robotic body parts—hand, arm, and body—to effectively differentiate between operational, environmental, and robot spaces. Validated through real-world benchmarks in healthcare and daily assistance, this work unites theoretical insights with practical innovation, demonstrating robotics' transformative potential to address the critical challenges of an aging society.

About the Speaker

Abdeldjallil Naceri is a Senior Scientist and Projects Lead at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence, Technical University of Munich. He received his BSc and MSc in Electronics Engineering and Control Systems from Constantine University, Algeria. He received his Ph.D. in Robotics from the University of Genoa in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology, Italy. Dr. Naceri gained research experience in human and robotics hand grasping, prosthetic hands, teleoperation, and virtual reality during his career at  Bielefeld University (Departments of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics) and at the Italian Institute of Technology (Advanced Robotics Department). Dr. Naceri is coordinating and leading several projects at the MIRMI dealing with service robotics for elderly care, tele-robotics and -healthcare, ethics & AI, and digital twins.