A space for my thoughts and projects
I am a researcher working on autonomous robotics, including deliberation, formal verification, ROS 2, and the open source ecosystems around them.
This site collects my publications, CV, and a blog called Thinkoneering where I write to feed my own curiosity. An article is a success if I learned something from writing it. Below is everything in reverse chronological order. For a structured view, use the categories in the sidebar.
Simplicity is Complicated
The best things in life are simple. But, so are the worst ones. Simplicity is a concept that is surprisingly difficult to grasp.
European Innovation Needs Healthy Open-Source Communities
This is my personal answer to the European Commissions Call for Evidence on Towards European open digital ecosystems
AS2FM: Enabling Statistical Model Checking of ROS 2 Systems for Robust Autonomy
Christian Henkel, Marco Lampacrescia, Michaela Klauck, Matteo Morelli @ IROS 2025
How Does One Even Program a Robot?
A robot is characterized primarily by its versatility. It is a tool that can be used for different tasks in many contexts that each have their own special challenges. This makes it inherently hard to program a robot. Especially, if the resulting robotic system is expected to act autonomously and robustly in unforeseen situations.
You can achieve f*ck all if you really want it
Disclaimer: This is about a book that does not exist. But if it would exist, I want to start reading it today!
Execution Semantics of Behavior Trees in Robotic Applications
On Creativity in Software Engineering and the Role of Generative AI
If one were to ask people on the street to name creative jobs, I would not expect software development to be mentioned very often. On the other hand, there are many tasks and activities in the daily work of a software developer that seem very creative to me. I would also describe myself as creative and developing software can be an outlet for this creativity.
In this article I want to explore if software engineering is creative. But this is not only a question of categorization. I want to use this exploration to get a deeper understanding of what creativity is. And I also want to think about the effect of GenAI on the work of software engineers and their creativity.
How do Personal and Company Identities Shape Open Source Contributions?
Imagine that you are a maintainer of a widely used open source project relied upon by developers worldwide. Being a maintainer means, that you get to decide which contributions by external contributors get accepted. Now, there are two contributions. One from an individual contributor and one from a person that you know works for a certain company. You know that the individual contributor has worked on the code they are contributing in their free time and you really like the quality of their work. The other contribution is also of high quality. Would you treat these contributions differently? Should you?
Towards Robust Autonomous Robots Using Statistical Model Checking
Towards a Verifiable Toolchain for Robotics
Results of the ROSCon24 Workshop Survey ‘Hands-on with ROS2 Deliberation Technologies
GSRM: Building Roadmaps for Query-Efficient and Near-Optimal Path Planning Using a Reaction Diffusion System
Christian Henkel, Marc Toussaint, Wolfgang Hönig @ IROS 2024
Bosch Research: Research Engineer
Ant colony optimization based multi-robot planner for combined task allocation and path finding
Optimized directed roadmap graph for multi-agent path finding using stochastic gradient descent
Christian Henkel, Marc Toussaint @ SAC 2020
An optimal algorithm to solve the combined task allocation and path finding problem
Christian Henkel, Jannik Abbenseth, Marc Toussaint @ IROS 2019
Mensch-Roboter-Kollaboration für schwerbehinderte Produktionsmitarbeiter
Pilz: Research Engineer
- Realization of safe robot control using ROS
- Implementation of an industrial path planning
- Product Owner for PSENscan ROS driver
Der digitale Arbeitsplatz in der Produktion: Herausforderungen und Chancen
Wie cyber-physische Systeme zu autonomer Produktion führen
Mensch-Roboter-Kollaboration für Schwerbehinderte als Beitrag zur Inklusion in der Arbeitswelt
Inclusion Through Robotics: Designing Human-Robot Collaboration for Handicapped Workers
Adaptive Work Instructions for People with Disabilities in the Context of Human Robot Collaboration
Teilhabe durch Robotik: Ergonomische und sichere Arbeitsplätze für schwerbehinderte Produktionsmitarbeiter in der Mensch-Roboter-Kollaboration
Power-minimization and energy-reduction autonomous navigation of an omnidirectional Mecanum robot via the dynamic window approach local trajectory planning
A Predictive Online Path Planning and Optimization Approach for Cooperative Mobile Service Robot Navigation in Industrial Applications
Big-Data-Analytik: Datenbasierte Optimierung produzierender Unternehmen
A harmonized approach for constructing a robust and efficient technology backbone for agile manufacturing systems
Manufacturing Service Bus: An Implementation
Challenges of Production Microservices
Cloud-based cooperative navigation for mobile service robots in dynamic industrial environments
Fraunhofer IPA: Project Manager
- Edge Computing in Automation
- Cooperative Path-Planning for Autonomous Guided Vehicles
- Subproject Manager H2020 ScalABLE 4.0, a project about scalable production through flexible automation
Energy Efficient Dynamic Window Approach for Local Path Planning in Mobile Service Robotics
Fraunhofer IPA: Scientific Associate
- Software Architect Virtual Fort Knox
- Various PoCs on Cloud Computing and Cyber-physical Systems in Production
- Subproject Manager BMBF Aquias, a project on Digitization in Human-Robot-Interaction
