Humans Need Not Apply

The project concept addresses the decline in Germany’s appeal as a manufacturing location over the past several years, which is primarily due to high non-wage labor costs and demographic change. Humanoid robots, in combination with vision-language-action (VLA) models, have the potential to counteract these structural shortcomings by cost-effectively performing simple tasks.

Currently, however, the adoption of closed, integrated systems combining robotics and AI often leads to strategic dependence on individual vendors (vendor lock-in). The project therefore takes an independent approach by combining open-source VLAs with economically attractive humanoid robotics.

The goal is to evaluate the operational capability of these systems based on specific application scenarios (handling, assembly, assistance). The central question is whether humanoid robots are already capable of performing value-added tasks in industrial environments.

In this way, the project contributes to making “Physical AI” accessible to small and medium-sized industrial companies, for which there has been little practical experience to date.