Papers
46
Total Citations
895
H-Index
16
About
Ulrike Thomas is a leading figure in robotics, whose work bridges the gap between flexible manufacturing and safe human-robot collaboration. Her research centers on intuitive robot programming, sensor-based skill execution, and tactile sensing. She is the creator of LightRocks, a domain-specific programming language that simplifies robot coding through three abstraction levels, a contribution cited over 118 times. Her highly cited work on SMErobotics (107 citations) addresses the critical need for agile production systems in modern manufacturing. Thomas has also pioneered error-tolerant task execution using skill primitive nets (67 citations) and developed highly sensitive capacitive pressure sensors using carbon nanotubes and PDMS polymer nanocomposites (66 citations), advancing robotic tactile perception. Her research on multi-sensor fusion for assembly (42 citations) and proximity servoing for collision avoidance (39 citations) has been instrumental in enabling safe, adaptive robots. With a portfolio of papers spanning automatic assembly planning, sensor skins for material detection, and safe human-robot interaction, Thomas’s work is foundational to the next generation of smart, collaborative industrial robots.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1A new skill based robot programming language using UML/P Statecharts118 citations · 2013
- 2SMErobotics: Smart Robots for Flexible Manufacturing107 citations · 2019
- 3Error-tolerant execution of complex robot tasks based on skill primitives67 citations · 2004
- 4
- 5Multi Sensor Fusion in Robot Assembly Using Particle Filters42 citations · 2007
- 6
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- 8With Proximity Servoing towards Safe Human-Robot-Interaction30 citations · 2019
- 9
- 10Capacitive Proximity Sensor Skin for Contactless Material Detection25 citations · 2018