BMW Group Plant Landshut develops software for humanoid robotics in component production. – AutoMart Canada

Landshut. The BMW Group is expanding its expertise in
the field of physical AI, with BMW Group Plant Landshut taking on
central software development tasks for AI-supported robotics in
component production. The focus is on open software platforms, the
generation, provision and processing of training data, simulation and
motion planning, as well as the training of robotic systems. These
activities complement the pilot projects already underway exploring
the use of humanoid robotics at Plants Leipzig and Spartanburg.

Landshut is leveraging its role as a centre of expertise for in-house
component production. The wide range of products and manufacturing
processes provides ideal conditions for developing and evaluating new
approaches using AI-supported robotics under real-world production
conditions. At the heart of these activities is the question of which
tasks will be suited to humanoid robotic systems in the future –
particularly where flexibility, fine motor skills and an understanding
of the working environment are required. For this purpose, Plant
Landshut is developing software that enables robots to perceive their
environment, evaluate situations and derive appropriate actions independently.

“At BMW Group Plant Landshut, we are combining software expertise
with industrial practice in our component production. This allows us
to test new technologies at an early stage and carefully evaluate
their benefits for production,” says Dr Wolfgang Bluemlhuber,
head of Driving Dynamics and In-house Component Manufacturing.

Technological foundations for AI-supported robotic systems
The starting point is further development of the software
architecture. At its Landshut facility, the BMW Group relies on open
platforms that enable the flexible and scalable training of robots by
combining traditional (deterministic) programming with modern AI
models (Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models), integrating visual
information, language comprehension and robot actions. The goal is a
modular robotics ecosystem in which diverse systems work together.
This creates a technical basis for new functionality and a wide
variety of industrial applications.

This requires reliable data. At Plant Landshut, the project team
captures data from real production environments and test setups, and
integrates it into robot simulations, in which movement patterns and
motion planning are modelled virtually. This enables processes to be
tested in advance and learning processes to be accelerated. New
approaches are initially trialled outside of ongoing production,
implemented in pilot projects and then scaled up in stages.

In parallel, humanoid robotic systems acquire new skill sets through
demonstration-based learning. In this process, movement patterns and
work sequences are first demonstrated by the project team. The data
generated in this way is collected by camera systems, motion capture
suits and data gloves. It is then converted into generalisable
behavioural models – known as policies – that can be applied to
different tasks and use cases.

“For us, it is crucial to develop the technology in very close
alignment with real-world requirements. We are not just testing what
is technically possible, but also where humanoid robotics can truly
deliver reliable benefits in component production. This gradually
creates a clear picture of which applications are suitable for
industrial use,” says Christoph Jagoda, the Physical AI
project manager at BMW Group Plant Landshut. 

Potential uses in component production
On this basis, Plant Landshut is working on applications for
humanoid robotics in component production. The focus is on tasks
requiring a high degree of flexibility, fine-motor skills and a good
understanding of objects and working environments. This includes
recognising and interpreting environments, determining position and
status, planning efficient movements, and precisely gripping and
moving components.

To refine the basic technology, the BMW Group is working closely at
its Landshut site with partners from industry and academia. This
includes, in particular, direct cooperation with Athenyx Robotics, a
startup founded specifically for this field of technology that
originated at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production
Engineering (WZL) at RWTH Aachen University and is located in close
proximity to BMW Group Plant Landshut.

The tech company is developing AI-based software for intelligent
robotic systems in conjunction with BMW Group specialists. The primary
focus is on creating a so-called “intelligence stack” that integrates
perception, learning, simulation and decision-making. The aim is to
enable humanoid robots to perform complex tasks in industrial
environments independently. This requires the systems to be able to
perceive their environment, evaluate situations and derive appropriate
actions accordingly. The platform-based approach means that acquired
skills can be transferred across different robotic systems and use
cases in the future.

In addition, Plant Landshut is collaborating with specialists the
University of Applied Sciences Landshut – for example, on data
generation, simulation and the development and testing of specific use cases.