Research Facilities
Science of Intelligence performs its research in a number of different facilities. The main hub at Technische Universität Berlin (Marchstraße 23) revolves largely around the synthetic component of research with a host of robotics, motion capture, visual capture, and EEG laboratories. Science of Intelligence also has other labs around town, focusing on behavioral research (i.e. the fish and mice laboratories at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin, respectively).
The Robotics Laboratories
Our robotics facilities at TU Berlin (MAR building) feature two large robotics labs, the Čapek Lab on the second floor and the Asimov Lab on the sixth floor.
The Čapek Lab houses the swarm robotics setup with about 100 Kilobots, 30 Thymios with Raspberry Pis, and a ceiling projector. This is also the venue for SCIoI’s integration hackathons, where researchers come together to foster integration between projects belonging to different disciplines. One of the integration projects taking place in this lab focuses on lockboxes and also involves the creation of an escape room.
The Asimov Lab houses the motion-capture system, which has a fixed 22-truss structure with16 OptiTrack cameras and various MoCap suits. The Lab is also used for experiments on Human-Robot Interaction with Nao and Pepper robots. Additional equipment in this lab also includes Panda arms, a Cozmo educational robot, various cameras, and more.
SCIoI also works in close collaboration with the RBO Lab on the fifth floor of the MAR building. Many of our researchers use this lab’s infrastructure for research involving the soft robotic hand, lockboxes, and robotic arms. This lab combines robotics with computational biology.
The Visual Capture Lab and the EEG Lab
The Visual Capture lab and the EEG Lab are used for research on visual perception, face recognition, and eye movements.
The Visual Capture Lab consists of a Light lab with a 2×2 truss system, a high speed camera, and event cameras, and a Dark Lab, featuring a projector with a high refresh rate, an eye tracker, and passive/active 3D glasses.
The EEG Lab features an electrically and acoustically shielded chamber with two participant seats, 74-channel passive EEG systems, plus sensors for pulse, EOG/EMG/ECG, skin conductance, and respiratory rate, mobile eye trackers and displays for audiovisual simulation.
The Fish Lab
The SCIoI Fish Lab is situated at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in Mitte. Here, our researchers investigate collective intelligence and motion in guppies with the help of robotic fish.
Electronic Workshops and Additional Equipment
SCIoI also has two fully equipped workshops, one electrical and one mechanical, and two 3D printers, as well as a laser cutter.
All pictures @SCIoI/Felix Noak