Due to the great impact of the AI Progress Center “Learning Systems and Cognitive Robotics”, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism is funding the expansion of the AI Progress Center to include a real-world laboratory. This follows on from the pilot project “KIRR Real – Real-world laboratory for legally compliant AI and robotics”, which was successfully completed in December 2025, and takes both initiatives into a new phase.
The new “Real-world laboratory for legally compliant AI and robotics at the AI Progress Center” supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small and medium-sized enterprises in developing innovative AI and robotics applications in accordance with the European AI Regulation (EU AI Act) and other relevant legislation.
Application deadline for funded “Quick Checks”: May 21, 2026
Interested companies can apply for one of the Quick Checks funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg with concrete, ambitious AI innovation projects until May 21, 2026. There are two possible formats:
- Quick Check: This format examines the technical feasibility of an idea or innovation relating to robotics and AI.
- Legal Quick Check: If robotics or AI are already in use or about to be, companies receive an analysis of the use case with regard to regulatory issues. It is also about jointly defining the next steps required for legally compliant implementation.
The next Open Lab Day will take place at the AI Progress Center on May 6, 2026. In addition to lots of other information, companies will also receive concrete support for applying for one of the two formats (further information at the end of the press release).
Three technology focal points for the future
The work of the expanded AI Progress Center focuses on the following three areas:
Generative and agentic AI: In this work package, the experts involved are researching and developing AI assistance systems for business and production processes, synthetic data generation for quality inspection and hybrid AI approaches that combine large language models with expert knowledge. This is based on real use cases from companies.
Humanoid robots: This focus area addresses the increasing importance of humanoid robotics. The AI Progress Center analyzes available solutions on the market, develops safety concepts and tests specific application scenarios. Together with companies, potential use cases are identified, training courses are held and hands-on experience with humanoid robots is made possible.
AI compliance and regulatory learning: The work surrounding this third topic area forms the heart of the real-world laboratory at the AI Advancement Center. Here, use cases from the aforementioned areas are analyzed with regard to the requirements of the AI Regulation and related European legislation (e.g. Machinery Regulation, Medical Devices Regulation or GDPR). The aim is to create practical tools, guidelines and processes for the legally compliant development of AI systems. By setting up a panel of relevant authorities and supervisory bodies, regulatory issues are clarified in a direct exchange and identified hurdles are fed back into the legislative process.
Various participation opportunities for companies
The AI Progress Center offers companies with at least one branch or headquarters in Baden-Württemberg numerous low-threshold formats for participation. This is because the most important goal of the new project phase is to have the broadest possible impact on the local corporate landscape in order to significantly strengthen the location with regard to the highly relevant future technologies of AI and robotics.
In addition to the Quick Checks and the Open Lab Day mentioned above, there are other participation opportunities for companies to benefit from the offers. These include, for example:
- Online consultation hours for initial contacts and specific questions
- Topic-related consultation hours for in-depth discussions in smaller groups
- Industry network for continuous needs assessment
- OnlineLectures on current AI trends
- Training courses on the introduction of humanoid robotics
- Experiments and evaluations in the laboratories of the AI Progress Center
All findings and results are presented via handouts, demonstrators, fact sheets and the project website (www.ki-fortschrittszentrum.de).
Successful knowledge and technology transfer continues
The AI Advancement Center “Learning Systems and Cognitive Robotics” has been operated by the two Fraunhofer Institutes for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA and for Industrial Engineering IAO together with the University of Stuttgart since 2019. The successful six-year funding from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism ended in December 2025. During this time, the AI Progress Center worked with 375 companies and carried out over 200 funded transfer measures. These ranged from initial idea generation to the development of prototype demonstrators.
Strong consortium and ecosystem
The real-world laboratory at the AI Advancement Center is closely networked with Cyber Valley, Europe’s center for excellent AI and robotics research, the AI-MATTERS research project, the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HammerHAI), the IPAI Heilbronn and numerous regional partners and associations.
With a total funding volume of two million euros, the AI Advancement Center is once again making an important contribution to the innovative strength and international competitiveness of Baden-Württemberg’s economy.
The real-world laboratory at the AI Advancement Center invites you: Open Lab Day
- When? May 6, 2026, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- Where? Fraunhofer Institute Center Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Nobelstraße 12, 70569 Stuttgart
- Who is inviting? The Fraunhofer Institutes IPA and IAO with their research teams and the IAT of the University of Stuttgart
Why it’s worth attending: At the Open Lab Day, interested companies can experience what is technically possible and legally relevant in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics for production and services. There will be a special focus on personal discussions with experts from Fraunhofer IPA and Fraunhofer IAO. There will also be information on the next application round, in which companies based in Baden-Württemberg can apply for a Quick Check. The application deadline is May 21, 2026 at 5 p.m.
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Further links
👉 www.ipa.fraunhofer.de
Photo: Fraunhofer IPA
