Janik Zeller

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About

Janik Zeller is a robotics researcher whose work tackles the fundamental challenge of automating the manipulation of deformable objects—a notoriously difficult problem in industrial robotics. His primary research areas include robotic grasping, object-oriented grasp planning, and the automated handling of deformable linear objects (DLOs) such as cables, wires, and hoses. Zeller’s most notable contribution is his pioneering approach to bin picking of DLOs from unstructured supplies, a task critical to industries like electronics manufacturing and automotive assembly. His 2024 paper, "Bin picking of deformable linear objects using object-oriented grasp planning," introduces a novel method that combines perception and grasp planning to enable robots to reliably pick individual DLOs from a jumbled bin—a problem that has long resisted automation due to the complex, non-rigid behavior of these objects. While his work is still early in its citation lifecycle, it addresses a pressing labor shortage in manufacturing and lays the groundwork for more flexible, autonomous production lines. Zeller’s research stands at the intersection of practical industrial needs and cutting-edge robotics, offering a promising path toward fully automated handling of the world’s most challenging materials.