Welcome to our institute

 

The Institute for Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems (ACPS) is part of the School of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH).

The institute was founded in 2022 and is headed by Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd-Christian Renner. Our research embraces two core fields: Firstly, we investigate novel methods and protocols for low- and zero-power wireless communication and energy management for regeneratively powered devices in the domain of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) with a special focus on smart infrastructure. Secondly, we carry out research in underwater communication, localization and navigation for swarms of micro autonomous underwater vehicles (uAUVs) for monitoring and inspection of underwater habitats and infrastructure (such as ports, off-shore wind parks, etc.). Our research has been primarly funded by DFG, BMBF, BMWK, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. We are always looking for bright, motivated students. Please send us an e-mail, if you are interested in becoming a member of our team.

The institute is also involved in teaching at both undergraduate and graduate level. Our teaching ranges from fundamental courses on programming to special focus courses on cyber-physical systems and networked embedded systems. There is always room for student theses and projects works. A list of open, thrilling offerings is available online. If not, or if you have a particular topic on your mind that you think fits into our research, please feel free to contact us!

Latest News

11.05.26
Due to illness, the lecture unfortunately has to be postponed We are pleased to invite you to an upcoming guest lecture by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jana Jost from the TUHH Institute of Logistics Engineering. Mrs. Prof. Jost will present the instituteโ€™s research work, including a discussion session on current topics and her previous research. Time and location Wednesday, May 20th 2026, at 11:00h in HS28, Channel 4 - room 1.007. You are warmly invited to attend the presentation.
14.04.26
We are pleased to announce that our joint work with Technische Universitรคt Darmstadtยดs Integrated Electronic Systems Lab has been accepted for presentation at the ๐—–๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—˜๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป ๐—˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—จ๐—น๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜‚๐—บ (๐—–๐—˜๐—˜๐—จ๐—ฆ). In this research, we integrated our ultrasonic through-metal backscatter communication system into a standard M20 bolt, enabling the wireless readout of sensor data from within the metal structure. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜… ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜. Our approach opens up new possibilities for retrofitting existing machinery with smart, ultra-low-power sensors embedded directly into standardized components. Such sensor-integrating machine elements could enable continuous condition monitoring with minimal installation effort and without the need for radio-frequency based wireless communication, which is often severely limited in metallic environments.   Photo (1) Backscatter-Reader (2) Piezo-Transducer (3) Backscatter-Tag (4) Screw with integrated Piezo-Transducer
30.01.26
Today we held the finals of our Mazebot Challenge at the Institute for Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems at TUHH. The challenge is part of our course Design and Implementation for Software Systems. The Mazebot Challenge gives students the chance to apply the skills they learn in this course not just in simulation, but on real hardware, allowing them to experience first-hand the challenges that arise when software meets the physical world. This winter semester, 16 teams participated, and 6 successfully let a LEGO Mindstorms robot navigate autonomously through a maze using only three sensors: a color and a distance sensor, and a gyroscope. In today's final event, three short-listed teams presented their solutions and competed in an unknown maze. The winning team was determined through public vote of all course participants. Congratulations Lael Schunter and Gunther Sรถding!