Jongseok Lee

Jongseok Lee

Robotics Researcher

Welcome!

I am a research scientist at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) since 11.2017. While working at DLR, I received my PhD ("summa cum laude") at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). My advisors were Prof. Rudolph Triebel (DLR & KIT) and Prof. Tamim Asfour (KIT). I completed my MSc in robotics, systems and control at ETH Zurich and BSc in aerospace engineering at TU Delft. I made my media debut by fishing drones :)

I work on uncertainty and probabilistic methods for AI‑based robotics, enabling reliable decision‑making and safe operation in the real‑world, with a focus on robotic manipulation in field‑robotics settings. Among others, I am one of the lead developers of the DLR cable-Suspended Aerial Manipulator (SAM). My work has been recognized through distinctions such as a Georges Giralt PhD Finalist Award and multiple KUKA Innovation Finalist Awards.

News

Check out my social media for more frequent updates.

  • [04/2026] This August, I will be joining NTU Singapore as a Nanyang Assistant Professor (tenure-track). I will be recruiting students and research staff — stay tuned :)
  • [03/2026] Presented my work at European Robotics Forum 2026 in Stavanger. Many interesting discussions on trustworthy AI from both academia and industry!
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  • [12/2025] Happy to present my work at the workshop on trustworthy AI of Robotics Institute Germany! Inspiring discussions on role of uncertainty in academia and industry.
  • [10/2025] I defended my PhD! I thank my advisors Rudolph Triebel & Tamim Asfour, and the committee: Marc Tousssaint, Raffaela Mirandola, Jan Niehues & Marvin Künnemann.
  • [07/2025] At the conference on advances in robotics 2025, I deliverd a tutorial on "Probabilistic Robotics 2.0: Uncertainty in Deep Neural Networks". See more details here.
  • [06/2025] At Automatica 2025, I successfully demonstrated a new vision system for the DLR humanoid TORO. I showed how active learning can be useful for semantic SLAM.
  • [05/2024] At ICRA 2024, we are hosting a workshop on "Back to the Future: Robot Learning Going Probabilistic". Big honour to be a lead organizer and also big international efforts! See more details here.
  • [04/2024] At Hannover Messe 2024, we demonstrated a collaborative robot and an AI-based solution for traditional textile manufacturing. There, I transferred by work on tuft recognition to robotic manipulation of linear deformable objects.
  • [04/2024] I finished about half-year long research visit to the KIT's High Performance Humanoid Technologies (H2T) Lab. I will miss my time at Karlsruhe :)
  • [10/2023] At IROS 2023, I co-chaired a session on "aerial systems: applications".
  • [10/2023] At IROS 2023, I delivered an invited talk at a workshop "Differentiable Probabilsitic Robotics". See more details here.
  • [08/2023] Our work on SPIRIT was featured on IEEE video friday. Check out these links: Link 1 & Link 2.
  • [06/2023] We got KUKA Innovation Award Finalist 2023. Check out these links: Link 1 & Link 2.
  • [04/2023] We were interviewed by the EU RIMA. Check out these links: Link 1 & Link 2.
  • [05/2023] Our RA-L2023 paper was on Helmholtz AI news-feed. Check out this link: Link.
  • [04/2023] We were interviewed by the EU RIMA. Check out these links: Link 1 & Link 2.
  • [11/2022] Our research on aerial manipulation was featured at the ProRobots channel. Check out this Link.
  • [10/2022] We are organizing an IROS 2022 workshop "Probabilistic Robotics in the Age of Deep Learning". Big honour to be a lead organizer!