Rachel Hornung

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Rachel Hornung’s research sits at the critical intersection of robotics, safety, and human-robot interaction. Her most influential work, “Model-free robot anomaly detection” (2014), has garnered 42 citations and addresses a fundamental challenge in deploying robots outside tightly controlled labs: how to detect hardware or software failures without relying on pre-programmed models of the environment. Rather than designing special-purpose control algorithms for every possible mishap—collisions, unexpected user behavior, or sensor degradation—Hornung pioneered a model-free approach that enables robots to recognize anomalies on the fly. This contribution is especially vital for collaborative robots working alongside people, where a sudden failure can pose serious safety risks. By shifting the focus from anticipating every failure mode to detecting anomalies as they occur, her work has influenced subsequent research in fault-tolerant and adaptive robotic systems. Hornung’s research continues to shape how engineers think about robot dependability in unpredictable, human-centered settings, making her a key voice in the push toward safer, more resilient autonomous systems.