Armin Wedler

About

Armin Wedler is a leading robotics researcher whose work centers on autonomous planetary exploration, space robotics, and heterogeneous multi-robot systems. Based at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Wedler has made transformative contributions to the development of robotic technologies designed to operate in the extreme, communication-delayed environments of extraterrestrial surfaces. His most cited work, the ARCHES mission (98 citations), demonstrated how collaborative teams of autonomous robots can perform scientific sampling on planetary analog sites — a paradigm shift from traditional single-robot missions. This complements his foundational research on autonomous planetary exploration (88 citations) and mobile manipulation (32 citations), which together address the critical challenge of reducing human-in-the-loop dependency across vast interplanetary distances. Wedler has also advanced hardware development through innovations such as the DexHand space-qualified robotic hand (40 citations) and the ARDEA micro air vehicle prototype (28 citations), broadening the toolkit available for future missions. His MADMAX dataset (54 citations) has become a valuable resource for the vision-based navigation community, while his cross-disciplinary work bridging deep-sea and space robotics (26 citations) demonstrates remarkable scientific range. With over 460 cumulative citations, Wedler's research is shaping the next generation of intelligent, autonomous systems destined for the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   The ARCHES Space-Analogue Demonstration Mission: Towards Heterogeneous Teams of Autonomous Robots for Collaborative Scientific Sampling in Planetary Exploration

   98 citations · 2020
2. 2
   Towards Autonomous Planetary Exploration

   88 citations · 2017
3. 3
   The MADMAX data set for visual‐inertial rover navigation on Mars

   54 citations · 2021
4. 4
   A modular cable robot for inspection and light manipulation on celestial bodies

   42 citations · 2016
5. 5
   Dexhand: A Space qualified multi-fingered robotic hand

   40 citations · 2011
6. 6
   Mobile manipulation for planetary exploration

   32 citations · 2018
7. 7
   Relocalization With Submaps: Multi-Session Mapping for Planetary Rovers Equipped With Stereo Cameras

   31 citations · 2020
8. 8
   ARDEA—An MAV with skills for future planetary missions

   28 citations · 2020
9. 9
   German Aerospace Center's advanced robotic technology for future lunar scientific missions

   26 citations · 2020
10. 10
    Developing technological synergies between deep-sea and space research

    26 citations · 2022

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links