At this year’s IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025), I had the privilege of presenting our work on the AICOR Virtual Research Building (VRB) - a digital infrastructure initiative aimed at redefining how we conduct and disseminate robotics research and education in the cloud.

You can find my slides here.

Democratizing Access to Robotics Research

The VRB is designed as an open, collaborative platform supporting a global research ecosystem. Our mission is threefold:

• Foster a globally connected robotics research community

• Make high-quality robotics education accessible and inclusive

• Accelerate open science and reproducibility in robotics

At its core, the VRB hosts shared research infrastructure such as OpenEASE, a data repository that supports reproducible workflows and automated knowledge extraction.

Robotics Education in the Cloud

The platform also includes a suite of educational tools:

• Interactive modules and AI-driven tutoring systems

• Virtual laboratories enabling hands-on learning for students with limited physical access

• A collaborative, open-source textbook framework designed to grow with the community

Through initiatives like the EASE Fall School and student competitions, we’re engaging learners with real-world projects and skill-building opportunities.

Software Infrastructure for Scalable Research

The backbone of the VRB is a modular open-source software stack for cognitive robotics developed at the IAI at University of Bremen:

• Multiverse: a unified simulation backend based on USD, enabling interoperability across simulators

• PyCRAM: a general-purpose plan executive supporting multiple robots and task domains

• Giskard, RoboKudo, and KnowRob: motion planning, perception, and reasoning engines

• CRAM Cognitive Architecture: enabling complex robot behavior grounded in cognitive principles

This modular architecture supports rapid prototyping, reproducibility, and collaborative development at scale.

Join Us!

We invite universities, research institutions, and educators worldwide to become active contributors to the AICOR Virtual Research Building. By joining our community, you support a shared vision of open, reproducible science and equitable access to robotics education. Whether through sharing datasets, integrating educational content, or collaborating on cognitive architecture development, your participation helps build a sustainable, interoperable infrastructure for global research.

We will be presenting the VRB at ROSCon UK in Edinburgh (September 15-17), and are always looking for new use cases and partners.

Contact us at https://vrb.ease-crc.org/contact to become part of the community!