Ulrich Klank

About

Ulrich Klank is a robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of autonomous robot perception, manipulation, and web-enabled knowledge acquisition. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to the concept of "web-enabled robots" — systems capable of autonomously retrieving and interpreting human-oriented information from the internet to guide robot behavior. His landmark 2011 paper "Robotic Roommates Making Pancakes," which demonstrated two robots collaboratively preparing a meal using web-sourced instructions, has accumulated 222 citations and captured widespread attention as a vivid proof-of-concept for knowledge-driven autonomous robots. Complementary work on web-enabled robots (97 citations) further formalized this paradigm, outlining how online resources can serve as dynamic knowledge bases for service robots. Klank has also made significant contributions to robotic vision and grasping, developing real-time CAD model matching techniques for 6D pose estimation (73 citations) and methods for leveraging internet-accessible 3D model databases to expand robots' object recognition capabilities. His research on grasping unmodeled objects using time-of-flight sensors reflects a commitment to practical, adaptable robotic systems. Across his body of work, Klank has helped establish a compelling vision of robots that learn continuously from the world around them — both physically and digitally.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Robotic roommates making pancakes

   222 citations · 2011
2. 2
   Web-Enabled Robots

   97 citations · 2011
3. 3
   Real-time CAD model matching for mobile manipulation and grasping

   73 citations · 2009
4. 4
   3D model selection from an internet database for robotic vision

   44 citations · 2009
5. 5
   Robotic grasping of unmodeled objects using time-of-flight range data and finger torque information

   35 citations · 2010
6. 6
   Web-enabled Robots -- Robots that Use the Web as an Information Resource

   31 citations · 2011
7. 7
   Robotic Roommates Making Pancakes - Look Into Perception-Manipulation Loop

   11 citations · 2011
8. 8
   Acquisition of a dense 3D model database for robotic vision

   10 citations · 2009
9. 9
   Multimodal autonomous tool analyses and appropriate application

   7 citations · 2011
10. 10
    Robots that validate learned perceptual models

    6 citations · 2012

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links