Bernhard-Michael Steinmetz

About

Bernhard-Michael Steinmetz is a space robotics researcher at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) whose career spans over three decades of pioneering work in orbital robotics, teleoperation, and autonomous space systems. His most influential contribution, "DLR's Robotics Technologies for On-Orbit Servicing" (2004, 173 citations), cemented his standing in the field by comprehensively documenting DLR's integrated approach to designing robot systems capable of operating in the demanding conditions of space. Building on foundational experiments such as ROTEX — the first remotely controlled space robot aboard the Space Shuttle — Steinmetz played a key role in DLR's participation in the landmark Japanese ETS-VII mission, developing ground control and teleprogramming systems under the MARCO framework that bridged teleoperation and autonomous task execution. His work on sensor-based task-level programming established flexible, hierarchical control methodologies that influenced subsequent missions including Kontur-2, which explored planetary telepresence from the International Space Station, and the MMX Rover autonomous navigation experiment targeting Phobos. Across his portfolio, Steinmetz has consistently advanced the software architectures and control paradigms enabling reliable human-robot collaboration in deep space — contributions that remain essential reading for researchers designing the next generation of on-orbit servicing and planetary exploration systems.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   DLR's robotics technologies for on-orbit servicing

   173 citations · 2004
2. 2
   Advances in orbital robotics

   35 citations · 2002
3. 3
   DLR's Experiments on the ETS VII Space Robot Mission

   15 citations · 1999
4. 4
   The MMX Rover on Phobos: The Preliminary Design of the DLR Autonomous Navigation Experiment

   14 citations · 2021
5. 5
   A Universal Task Level Ground Control and Programming System for Space Robot Applications - The MARCO Concept and it's Application to the ETS VII Project

   14 citations · 1999
6. 6
   Tele Sensor Programming - A task-directed programming approach for sensor-based space robots

   12 citations · 1995
7. 7
   Software architecture and design of the Kontur-2 mission

   11 citations · 2017
8. 8
   A Unified Ground Control and Programming Methodology for Space Robotics Applications - Demonstrations on ETS-VII

   11 citations · 2000
9. 9
   HIROSCO - A High-Level Robotic Spacecraft Controller

   5 citations · 2010
10. 10
    MSS Ground Control Demo with MARCO

    5 citations · 2001

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links