University of Bonn Professor Maren Bennewitz: Enabling Robots to Actively Acquire Information in Occluded Worlds | ICRA 2026
Professor Maren Bennewitz of the University of Bonn presented at ICRA 2026 on how robots can actively acquire information in cluttered and partially observed environments. She argued that robots need to integrate perception, prediction, prior knowledge, and action planning into a closed loop, rather than relying solely on passive observation. This involves actively moving to gain more information, using tools like LLMs for semantic understanding, and optimizing actions to maximize information gain and reduce uncertainty. AI
IMPACT This research could lead to more capable robots in homes, agriculture, and service industries by enabling them to better understand and interact with complex, real-world environments.