Fraunhofer IIS and Nuremberg Airport tested a robot assistant for passenger support

The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, together with Albrecht Dürer Airport Nuremberg, tested a mobile, AI-based robot as an information assistant for travelers. The demonstrator answered typical questions, for example about parking, restaurants, and check-in counters at the airport. The aim was to evaluate the acceptance and performance of humanoid assistance systems in public spaces. The assistant responded to spoken questions in multiple languages. To achieve this, researchers optimized various AI models to enable processing directly on the device as an edge AI solution, without cloud access. Edge AI (edge artificial intelligence) refers to running machine learning algorithms and models directly on local devices or machines rather than in the cloud. This ensures privacy and data sovereignty.

Without needing to take out their smartphones, travelers and waiting visitors were able to obtain information about the airport from an information robot in the departure hall.

Local, autonomous “robot speech brain” enables dialogue-based information services

Many people are familiar with voice-based digital systems from cars or interactive call systems, as well as AI chatbots on websites. These are typically implemented using large AI models that run in data centers via cloud connections. For the approach presented at Nuremberg Airport, three AI models were specifically reduced in size to operate locally and quickly: one model for multilingual speech recognition, one for understanding and answering questions, and one for generating spoken responses in the user’s language.

Normally, requests are transmitted to large, computationally intensive AI models in the cloud and processed in data centers. In the approach presented here, however, audio inputs are transcribed into text, the request is answered using a compressed local large language model (LLM) connected to a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system also developed at Fraunhofer IIS, and the response is then output via speakers using a text-to-speech model. The key feature: all models run locally on an edge device, and no sensitive audio data leaves the device.

For the project in Nuremberg, researchers at Fraunhofer IIS integrated extensive airport-specific information into these models to provide travelers with precise and context-aware answers.

“AI experts at Fraunhofer IIS in Nuremberg have developed a robot that serves as an autonomous information assistant. As a company rooted in the region, we are very pleased to be a partner. We offer Fraunhofer IIS a platform to gain practical experience and provide our guests with an exceptional, innovative information experience,” says Christian Albrecht, Head of Corporate Communications at Nuremberg Airport.

AI works without the cloud

Especially in situations where quick, up-to-date information is needed—without having to type into a search field—this modern AI-based source of information is particularly beneficial. But what happens if the Wi-Fi fails or the internet connection drops? This is where the Fraunhofer IIS approach proves its strength.

“With our edge AI expertise, we were able to design a highly efficient LLM and speech processing models compact enough to run directly on an embedded platform without the need for internet or cloud connectivity,” explains Dr. Axel Plinge, Head of the Efficient AI Group at Fraunhofer IIS. “This means that questions are processed and answered directly on the platform without needing to be transmitted or stored. This is a major advantage for data security and sovereignty. It is a real stroke of luck for our region to not only develop future technologies through this partnership but also make them immediately tangible on site.”

Application-oriented research with direct added value

The goal is to test both the appropriate hardware and system architecture under real-world conditions in an airport environment and to determine whether this form of interaction will be accepted by travelers. Therefore, not only technical functionality is being evaluated, but also aspects of user-friendliness, in order to gain further insights for building a practical, real-world system. With this robot assistant, Fraunhofer IIS and Nuremberg Airport demonstrate how modern AI technology can be integrated into everyday life: powerful, secure, and independent of external infrastructure.

The results of the test will be presented at our Communication Take-off event at Nuremberg Airport on June 24, as part of the Nuremberg Digital Festival NUEDIGITAL. Interested participants can register at: https://nuernberg.digital/de/events/2026/communication-takeoff-am-airport-nuernberg.