Hannes Höppner is Professor of Humanoid Robotics at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences and Technology (BHT) since October 2019 and heads the Soft Interactive Robotics Laboratory (SIRo Lab). His research addresses humanoid robotic systems that physically interact with humans and unstructured environments, with a strong emphasis on soft robotics, teleinteraction, and mobile manipulation.
Core research topics of the SIRo Lab include soft-robotic materials and mechanism design, soft-robotic hand and arm architectures, and soft and dexterous manipulation. This is complemented by research on human-robot interaction and teleinteraction, targeting intuitive, safe, and physically grounded interaction. Methodologically, the lab focuses on exploiting mechanical intelligence to simplify control, improve safety, and increase robustness in real-world applications.
Hannes Höppner received his PhD in 2016 from the Technical University of Munich, where he investigated human intrinsic stiffness modulation and its transfer to variable-stiffness robotic systems. From 2009 to 2018, he worked as a research scientist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, where he especially contributed to EU projects on compliant humanoids and soft manipulation. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Principal Investigator for the EU project SoMa. From 2018 to 2019, he was group leader for sports technology development at the Institute for Applied Training Science (IAT) in Leipzig, focusing on automatic motion tracking and athlete monitoring using vision-based and drone-supported measurement systems.
His work has been recognized with multiple awards, including the KUKA Innovation Award (2017) and the DLR Idea Award (2018). Within APPL-FM, his expertise contributes to physically grounded, interpretable robotic systems and their integration with data-driven methods.

Projects of Hannes Höppner