Dr. Ralph Lange :::

Curriculum Vitae

Ralph Lange has been R&D Manager in AI-based robotics at TRUMPF Machine Tools since April 2025. He and his team develop flexible, autonomous robotics solutions for sheet metal production, primarily for material handling. One example is the TRUMPF SortMaster Vision for sorting laser-cut parts without programming.

Previously, Ralph worked for twelve years at Bosch Research in the field of robotics, particularly in the areas of systems and software engineering as well as autonomous decision making and planning. He contributed to several robotics products (e.g., the ACTIVE Shuttle) and supported the business units on open-source and inner-source software engineering in robotics. Ralph has made a number of open-source contributions to ROS 2 (Robot Operating System), particularly from the micro-ROS project, which he co-initiated in 2018. In the last two years at Bosch, he was responsible for the global robotics research portfolio.

Ralph's alma mater is the University of Stuttgart, where he obtained his PhD in computer science in 2010.

Work Experience

Ditzingen, Germany
Apr 2025 - present
R&D manager in AI-based robotics
  • Technical lead of the R&D portfolio in the field of robotics for advanced automation for laser, bending, and other machines for sheet metal processing
  • Lead of corresponding international engineering team for product development and advance development
  • Strategic and technical management of cooperations with partner companies in the AI-based robotics domain
Schwieberdingen (until Oct 2014)
and Renningen, Germany
Jan 2013 - Feb 2025
Head of the robotics research portfolio (since May 2023)
  • …, i.e., project director for all robotics research projects worldwide at Bosch Research – from consumer robotics, to professional service robotics, to industrial robotics
  • Support of the project managers and teams on key research decisions, resource planning, external collaborations, transfer of research results, and much more
  • Strategy development with experts and management from Bosch Research, business units, and subsidiaries
  • Close collaboration with line managers on competence management and development
  • Coordination of research strategies with related portfolios such as artificial intelligence methods, automated and autonomous driving, production systems, and ICT
Chief expert for robotic systems and software engineering (since Jan 2022)
  • Research and internal consulting on systems and SW engineering in robotics and the use of the
  • Coordination of open-source contributions and of inner source collaborations in robotics
  • Representative of Bosch in the ROS 2 Technical Steering Committee and ROS-Industrial Europe (until May 2023)
  • Principal Investigator in the , in which methods for verifying deliberation capabilities of robots are researched
  • Frequent scientific publications, talks, and tutorials on ROS
Senior project manager in robotics systems and software engineering (Jan 2017 - Dec 2021)
  • Management of two internal research projects with first 8 and later 14 team members
  • Coordination of open-source contributions to ROS
  • Principal Investigator in the EU project OFERA, which developed to put ROS 2 onto microcontrollers
  • Initiation and lead of internal technical steering committee on middleware and inner source in robotics
Research engineer in software-intensive systems and robotics (Jan 2013 - Dec 2016)
  • Developed a library for efficient programming of high-level robot control logics, which is used in several products
  • Researched methods and algorithms for formally verifiable system design, where two major algorithms have been productized in the
  • Consultant for the SCODE method in several business unit projects – from mobile hydraulics to building climate control
Ditzingen, Germany
Dec 2010 - Dec 2012
Software developer for the for sheet metal processing
  • Developed new algorithms for skeleton-free processing, in particular for reliable punching of freeform scrap areas
  • Designed and specified data structures and algorithms for 2D geometry kernel. Supervised the implementation in C# by a Ukrainian offshore software development partner
  • Analyzed and resolved performance issues of complex optimization heuristics and other algorithms in the field of computational geometry
Stuttgart, Germany
Oct 2005 - Sep 2010
Research staff member of the and the Collaborative Research Center 627 "Nexus"
  • Lead two interdisciplinary working teams with successful publications
  • Planned, authored, and shepherded several research proposals
  • Developed prototypes/demonstrators, demonstrated them at conferences and public events
  • Supervised Diplom (≈ MSc) theses, student software projects, seminars, foreign MSc students, and student assistants. Prepared exams and lecture slides. Held tutorials and served as substitute lecturer
Böblingen, Germany
IBM Research & Development
In winters of 2001 to 2003
Working student at EL SW Linux Architech & Perform during semester break
  • Analyzed performance of Linux on x440 and zSeries mainframes
  • Developed software for gathering benchmark results in DB2 database
  • Benchmarked Java VMs for Linux on S/390 mainframe
Böblingen, Germany
Hewlett-Packard
In summers of 1999 and 2000
Vacation job as SW developer during summer holidays
  • Developed Java software for BEA WebLogic Application Server
  • Revised web-based database for computer manufacturing

Education

PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in Computer Science
Oct 2005 - Nov 2010
PhD studies in Computer Science (grade: with distinction) at the
  • Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Kurt Rothermel, Distributed Systems Group
  • Developed family of protocols and algorithms for real-time trajectory tracking, optimizing communication cost and storage consumption
  • Designed distributed index structure for scaling moving objects databases to hundreds of servers
  • Created expressive formalism for describing information sources in ontology-based information systems. Designed multidimensional index structure for efficient retrieval of such descriptions
Diplom (≈ MSc) in Computer Science
Oct 2000 - Sep 2005
Diplom studies in Computer Science (grade: with distinction) at the
  • Thesis topic: energy-efficient location management
  • Advanced courses in distributed systems and DBMS
  • Minor subject: electrical engineering

Publications

… are listed here

Peer Reviews

I am regularly serving as a peer reviewer for scientific publications in robotics, autonomous systems, Internet of Things, and context-aware computing.
In the last years, I reviewed (amongst others) submissions for , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Advisory Boards & Committees

I also act in a consultative capacity on advisory boards and committees for scientific events and projects. Current and recent roles are in:

Awards

Mar 2012
KuVS PhD Award of the special interest group for of the
May 2006
infos Graduate Award of
Jun 2000
DPG Abitur Award of
Sep 1999
Laureate of 17th

Volunteering

Brass ensembles (Posaunenarbeit) of Evangelical-Lutheran Church and YMCA
Since 1990
Active trombonist and trumpeter in the brass ensembles of (1990 to 2010), of (2011 to 2012) and of (since 2012). Teaching free brass lessons in three-year groups (Jungbläser) for more than 20 years, including organization of annual training camps. Trained more than eighty children, teenagers and adults successfully over the years.
Member of the since 2015. Head of this committee (Bezirksposaunenwart) since September 2024 and thus responsible for 17 ensembles and around 300 amateur musicians.
Politics
Since 2019
Member of the board of the local association (Stadtverband) of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) in Rutesheim. Elected member (Stadtrat) of the town council of Rutesheim from 2019 to 2024.
Open-source and open data
Since 2015
Contributions to a variety of projects such as OpenStreetMap and the Robot Operating System (ROS). Organization of several free workshops and courses for teenagers and adults in the field of software and electronics, especially on microcontroller projects (see for example ).