Νέα

Researchers from the Robotics Institute of the Athena RC and the HERON Hellenic Robotics Center of Excellence participated in this year’s Athens Science Festival, hosted at the Athens Conservatory from 18 to 21 December 2025.

On Friday December 19, two groups under the scientific supervision of HERON Deputy Director Prof. Evangelos Papadopoulos, showcased their work: the Biped Robotics team (researchers Katerina Smyrli and Thanassis Mastrogeorgiou) and the Soft Robotics team (researchers Georgios Bolanakis and Spyros Mertiri, with the help of Nikos Dounavis). The Biped Robotics team showcased their ongoing research work and their mini bipedal robot while the Soft Robotics team presented interactive demonstrations of work in soft robotic actuation, explaining core concepts in robotics, actuation, and engineering research.

Under the scientific supervision of HERON Senior Researcher Prof. George Karras, researcher Athanasios Gesoulis showcased on Saturday December 20 his ongoing research on Safety and Security Robotics. He presented his work on autonomous detection and collection of marine waste on the seabed with an underwater robotic vehicle equipped with a robotic arm and on autonomous exploration using heterogeneous robotic vehicles and autonomous detection.

Οn Sunday December 21, 2025, researchers Aggeliki Tsinouka, Stelios Zarifis and Nikos Chatzis under the scientific supervision of HERON Director Prof. Petros Maragos presented applications of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, explaining how robots use technologies such as SLAM to map environments and reinforcement learning to learn in ways similar to humans. They also demonstrated human–robot interaction using Robobo, engaging children through hands-on interaction, as well as 6D pose estimation and applications in education.

The festival attracted a diverse audience through an interactive exhibition attended by high school and university students, including STEM-oriented learners and relevant after-school groups, many of them accompanied by their instructors. Many attendants engaged with the ongoing research of our teams with great curiosity through hands-on activities and open discussions. Our scientific teams enjoyed meaningful conversations with students about robotics, physics, programming, and their future study plans, and witnessed firsthand the power of hands-on science communication.

Events like Athens Science Festival strongly highlight the value of science outreach and direct interaction with young people who represent the next generation of scientists and engineers.