Press and Media

Utilizing robots only pays off in mass production of industrial plants, involves elaborate programing by highly specialized programers, and is inflexible: these assumptions are a thing of the past. At automatica2022, the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU presents a completely different path to robot applications. The scientists’ idea implies that everybody has to be able to program robots in a fast and uncomplicated manner so that it is worth utilizing the robot helper even for a single application not needed for a second time – such as painting a hand-made individual piece. The objective lies in the human being able to focus on what he or she is an expert for (manufacturing the individual piece), and the robot taking over tasks that add less value, are uncomfortable, time-consuming or non-ergonomic (such as painting).

Fraunhofer Institutes for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE) and Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) and UBC Faculty of Applied Science (APSC) set up a framework for research collaboration in the field of industrial digital transformation in April. The focus of the collaboration lies on the digitalization of machines, processes, infrastructure, and ultimately on the digital transformation of organizations and businesses in the manufacturing industry.

May 30 to June 2, Hannover Messe 2022, at the joint Fraunhofer Booth: Advancing the industrial production of electrolyzeres and fuel cells. Considering manufacturing as a whole brings production to an entirely new level. Safe and high-performance soft robotics for near-human tasks. Intuitive programming makes robotics fit for a wide range of applications in industry and trade.

Hydrogen is a key element in the energy transition. To ensure that hydrogen can become generally established as an energy source, it must be produced at market prices, in sufficient quantities and in a climate-neutral manner, and used with a high CO2 reduction rate. This requires affordable, robust hydrogen systems in the form of electrolyzers and fuel cells. With the intent of launching their serial production in the future, Reference-factory.H2 provides both a design for guidance and a modular system based on new and specifically optimized technologies. This shall contribute to the economically viable production of electrolyzers and fuel cells, accelerate their market breakthrough and massively reduce the cost of hydrogen. Reference-factory.H2 will be presented for the first time at the joint Fraunhofer booth at the Hannover Messe 2022 from May 30 to June 2 (Hall 5, Booth A06).

Robots mowing lawns is a form of robotic assistance to which society has gotten used. But there are currently few concepts for robotic assistance in other tasks, which involve close proximity to humans, like housekeeping and care. The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU uses innovative switchable stiffnesses in robots to combine the required strength with the necessary safety. At the Hannover Messe Preview on March 16, 2022 and at the Hannover Messe from May 30 to June 2, 2022, the researchers will be presenting a robot arm that could facilitate the support of people in their direct surroundings.

It's all about high-tech dentures, prostheses that autonomously detect inflammatory reactions in the body, or individually adapted seats for wheelchairs. A German-Polish Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft High-Performance Center is researching new technologies for the use of 3D printing processes, known as additive manufacturing technology, in medical technology. For Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, it is one of two international High-Performance Centers launched in March that are explicitly dedicated to cross-organizational cooperation. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz are involved in the »Additive Technologies for Medicine and Health« (ATeM) Center on the German side. They cooperate with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Center for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (CAMT) at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is providing financial support for the project.

The region of Lusatia has the expertise needed to create innovations and jobs in the hydrogen economy. The Saxon state government and the German federal government are confident of this. For that reason, they are jointly funding the newly established Fraunhofer Hydrogen Lab Görlitz (HLG) with over 42 million euros. With the HLG, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is establishing an internationally unique research platform. From the end of 2022, novel technologies for generating, storing and using hydrogen along the entire hydrogen value chain can be developed and tested in Görlitz for fuel cells. This will strengthen the region in its structural transformation, as it will allow companies to settle there or develop further to benefit from the future market of hydrogen through technological leadership. The HLG will be located at the Siemens Energy Innovation Campus, where Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer and the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier visited the future construction site of the hydrogen test laboratory together with other guests today.

In the scope of a future-oriented collaboration in the field of industrial production, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is cooperating with the VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (VSB-TUO). The partners research and develop the potential offered by energy management technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent production in industry. The collaboration provides production companies with innovative solutions, which they can in turn use to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Fuel cells have huge potential, but there are not yet any clear structures and standards surrounding their manufacture. The huge number of options when it comes to production technologies makes it challenging for users or potential users to maintain an overview in their mind and to select the right production process to suit their needs. To help overcome this problem, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT are developing a virtual technology toolkit. This toolkit will help users to make the best production decisions when manufacturing fuel cells by enabling them to select the forming technology for bipolar plates that is most appropriate to the specific application.

Saxony's application for the establishment of the national hydrogen technology center was convincing in the first round of the nationwide competition – Now the final phase begins, in which the remaining three applicants will compete in feasibility studies.