Instead of focusing solely on external form, the Tree of Robots puts process fitness at the center. After all, what matters is not what a robot looks like, but how reliably it performs tasks – whether that involves precise assembly, powerful handling, or safe interaction with humans.

“The Tree of Robots combines morphology with measurable performance and creates an objective basis for the future of robotics.”

The idea is simple but groundbreaking: robots are evaluated using fitness metrics that describe their physical interaction capabilities. These include 25 parameters for force sensing, responsiveness, manual controllability, and safety. These metrics were first systematically measured for eleven industrial robots and presented in a Tactile Fitness Atlas. The differences are enormous – some systems are up to twenty times more precise than others. This shows that safe, intelligent physical interaction requires a measurably good combination of control, sensor technology, and actuators.

The team at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) at the Technical University of Munich has developed the Tree of Robots as more than just a classification. It is an open platform (treeofrobots.com) that enables researchers and manufacturers to contribute data, compare robots, and make developments transparent. This creates a global standard that not only accelerates research but also helps companies choose the right technology for their processes.

In the future, automation must not only become faster, but also more intelligent and autonomous – and this can only be achieved through measurably better performance in the basic skills that are actually needed. The Tree of Robots makes progress visible, builds trust, and paves the way for robots that are safe, efficient, and made for humans. It also plays a central role in the development of new safety concepts, which are being researched at MIRMI's AI Robot Performance and Safety Center.

Robin Jeanne Kirschner completed her bachelor's degree in sports engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology in 2016 and earned her master's degree in mechanical engineering from the same university in 2019, which included a research stay at Nagoya University in Japan. She is currently a research assistant at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI), where she develops safety concepts for physical human-robot interaction. At MIRMI, she heads the AI Robot Performance and Safety Center, which develops test methods for evaluating the tactile interaction capabilities of robots and builds databases on biomechanical injury limits. In addition, Ms. Kirschner has been an active member of ISO/TC299-WG8 since 2025 and is involved in defining biomechanical thresholds and standardized test procedures for safe human-robot collaboration.