ROS Summer School in Aachen, 2025

In search of the right path

ROS Summer School: students spend two weeks working on mobile robotics

At first glance, they look like robotic hoovers. The devices search their way autonomously through the course; their aim is to identify empty drinks cans in the room and return them safely to the charging station when the job is done.

Orientate yourself in the room

Ten teams of two students send their robots into the competition at the end of the ROS Summer School at FH Aachen. They had previously spent two weeks working intensively on the topic of mobile robotics. "We use Create 3 development robots," explains Prof. Dr Stephan Kallweit, who is organising the Summer School together with his team. "We have also attached cameras and LiDARs to the devices." LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. With these additional components, the robots are able to orientate themselves in space and follow a path.

Working with ROS

The 20 students at the summer school learnt how this works and how to create a virtual map as a basis. The basis for this is the Robot Operating System (ROS), a collection of programming languages, tools and interfaces. It is crucial that the sensor data is read out and analysed. AprilTags are attached to the walls of the course, which are captured by the cameras. It is more difficult with the drinks cans. "The students took several hundred photos of the cans to teach the system," explains Stephan Kallweit. The students used AI tools for this process.

Intensive and practice-orientated

The practice-oriented approach is of great importance: "All topics are tested in small groups with real hardware," says the organiser. The participants have the opportunity to apply their knowledge directly and present their results in a competition. He draws a positive balance: "We had a super-motivated group. In the end, everyone solved the competition task and got the robot moving." The only thing the little helpers can't do yet is collect and throw away the drinks cans.

8.9.2025 | Written by Arnd Gottschalk

Beim Programmieren in der ROS Summer School