Launch of Hello Robot: an exhibition with the wow factor

‘Hello Robot’ is a travelling exhibition that opened in Biel on 7 August 2025. Four very distinct robots greet visitors and invite them to experience robotics up close in a spontaneous and playful way.

Robots demand openness

With its four ‘Hello Robot’ displays, BFH showcases what robots can do now and offers insights into what they might look like in the future. Raoul Waldburger, Head of the School of Engineering and Computer Science, emphasises the significance of openness and effective collaboration for the development of robots.

The components come from different parts of the world, the employees speak different languages, the teams work in different cultural contexts and the robots themselves are not just pre-programmed machines anymore.

“We need to combine human creativity with the efficiency of robots,” said Raoul Waldburger, Head of the School of Engineering and Computer Science, by way of introduction. And this requires “people who can work together with machines.”

The goal is to develop robots that can support businesses

“We want to give SMEs the possibility to programme robots themselves,” added Lucas Renfer. As a researcher and co-founder of Auto-Mate Robotics, he explores ways in which robots can provide flexible support in the workplace. For example, this would involve robots carrying out tasks that are considered boring and repetitive. After all, not many people are willing to spend eight hours a day sorting components anymore.

BFH researcher Norman Baier agrees with his colleague. Tasks such as sorting, arranging and assembling are in particularly high demand in industry. “These are precisely the skills displayed by this robot,” he stresses. By collaborating with robots, people can focus on tasks that are too complex for a robot to perform. Michael Lehmann is pursuing the same goal with his Social Robot, which is meant to support the work of nursing staff in the future.

Cooperation at eye level

The younger visitors in particular had no fear of coming into contact with the ‘Hello Robot’ displays. They approached the robots without fear and tried to grasp them through play.

“The exhibition obviously has great appeal and the potential to generate an initial interest in technology and robotics,” said city councillor Anna Tanner. She emphasised BFH’s role as a think tank and knowledge incubator: “BFH plays an essential role in the region of Biel/Bienne.”

Jan Zwahlen, Head of the Coop shopping centres in the Bern region, also has a positive view of the collaboration with BFH and the process leading up to ‘Hello Robot’: “We were looking for partnerships at eye level and very quickly came across BFH.”