PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Oliver Brock

Oliver Brock is a roboticist at Technische Universität Berlin whose soft robotic hands and ideas about intelligence link robotics to AI. He earned a Stanford PhD in 2000 and taught at the University of Massachusetts Amherst before moving back to Berlin in 2009. In 2013 his lab developed its first RBO Hand, and in 2015 its team won the Amazon Picking Challenge at ICRA in Seattle. He helped establish the Science of Intelligence cluster in 2019 and spoke at TEDAI Vienna in October 2024 about a new principle of intelligence. As of October 2026 he is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Robotics at TU Berlin.

Works
235
Citations
9,314
h-index
47

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1993–2000

    From Berlin to Stanford

    He completes a computer science diploma at TU Berlin in 1993 and a Stanford PhD in 2000. At Stanford he works on motion planning and control under Oussama Khatib.

  2. 2002–2009

    Professor at UMass Amherst

    From 2002 he is an assistant professor and then an associate professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

  3. 2009–2013

    The RBO Hand in Berlin

    He moves back to Berlin in 2009. In 2013 his lab develops its first RBO Hand, a soft robotic hand.

  4. 2012–2019

    Presiding over Robotics: Science and Systems

    From 2012 to 2019 he presides over the Robotics: Science and Systems Foundation.

  5. 2015

    Winning the Amazon Picking Challenge

    The RBO team from TU Berlin wins the Amazon Picking Challenge at ICRA 2015 in Seattle.

  6. 2019

    Establishing Science of Intelligence

    In 2019 he helps establish the Science of Intelligence cluster of excellence.

  7. October 2024

    A TEDAI Vienna talk

    In October 2024 he speaks at TEDAI Vienna, where he introduces a new principle of intelligence.

  8. As of October 2026

    A Humboldt professor in Berlin

    He is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Robotics at TU Berlin.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Oliver Brock yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Three NCCR Robotics Seminars - EPFL memento.epfl.ch. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. What makes Intelligence? Oliver Brock's take, from early robotics to TEDAI Vienna - scienceofintelligence.de scienceofintelligence.de. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Distinguished Lecture Series: Oliver Brock | Event | Feb 7, 2023 | Institute for Stochastics and Applications | University of Stuttgart isa.uni-stuttgart.de. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. SOMA SOFT MANIPULATION - Amazon Picking Challenge: And the winner is... softmanipulation.eu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. Oliver Brock: The science of intelligence — and a bold new principle | TED Talk ted.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Prof Dr Oliver Brock | AIDAQ aidaq.berlin. Checked 15 October 2026.