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About

B. Brunner is a pioneering robotics researcher whose career has been defined by landmark contributions to space robotics, teleoperation, and dexterous manipulation systems, primarily through work at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Brunner is perhaps best known for central involvement in ROTEX, the first remotely controlled robot ever operated in space. Flown aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in April 1993, ROTEX demonstrated autonomous, astronaut-teleoperated, and ground-controlled robotic manipulation aboard the Spacelab D2 mission — a historic milestone that earned Brunner's associated publications over 600 cumulative citations. A cornerstone of this work was the development of multisensory shared autonomy and tele-sensor programming, enabling robots to achieve local sensory feedback and predictive simulation across communication delays. Beyond space systems, Brunner contributed significantly to humanoid robotics, co-developing a sophisticated two-arm dexterous manipulation platform integrating DLR's Lightweight Robot III and DLR-Hand II — work that garnered 229 citations and remains influential in bimanual robot research. Additional contributions span neural network-based sensorimotor coordination and orbital robotics strategy. Brunner's body of work reflects a sustained commitment to bridging autonomous and human-guided robotic systems in some of the most demanding environments imaginable, shaping decades of aerospace and humanoid robotics research.