Press / Newsroom

Maintaining wind turbines and identifying potential vulnerabilities is expensive and time-consuming, especially when they are located offshore. As a result, rotor blades are often simply replaced, a costly process, when damage is merely suspected. The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, working in concert with the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES, has developed a solution that can be used to identify cracks and breakage inside the blades remotely at an early stage.

An innovative measurement method enables optimized battery management in electric vehicles, helping to make them safer and extend their lifespans. Impedance spectroscopy from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM analyzes detailed measurement data on the battery’s state in real time during operation. This means batteries can also be used for safety-critical applications.

Cars are still the number one mode of transportation in Germany, in spite of their high carbon emissions. To make ecofriendler alternatives more attractive, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB are working with partners in the DAKIMO project to develop intelligent, intermodal transportation. An AI for multimodal route planning is being developed to help get people to where they are going seamlessly, conveniently, and reliably — and all without privately owned cars.

Less radiation exposure during diagnosis and treatment for breast and lung cancer: New Fraunhofer method combines X-ray imaging and radar.

Tumors of the pancreas seldom cause symptoms in their early stages. This means that in many cases, they are not diagnosed until late, when the chances of successful treatment are poor. A new non-invasive diagnostic method designed by Fraunhofer researchers is set to make it possible to detect this aggressive form of cancer early on with high accuracy, significantly improving the prognosis for treatment.

Ammonia has been traditionally known for fertilizer production. In the future, it could also play a key role in the Energy Transition as an efficient source of hydrogen and a climate-friendly substitute for fossil fuels since it can be produced from nitrogen and hydrogen with zero carbon emissions. Furthermore, ammonia offers a wealth of advantages in terms of transportation and storage. The Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM is working on a space-saving, efficient and, above all, decentralized ammonia cracking technology in numerous research projects.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP have set out to improve the work environment for production employees. They have developed an analytical concept that combines measurements of temperature, air quality, lighting and noise with workers’ subjective perceptions. As people become more comfortable, efficiency and productivity could also increase.

In the KIKERP project, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK are working with partners to develop an AI assistance system that evaluates refrigerators, washing machines and similar appliances that have reached the end of their useful life to determine the most effective next step: Are they suitable for repair and refurbishment, or do they need to be recycled instead? Incorporated into a cloud-based management platform, the system identifies household appliances based on images, helping to determine their quality and price so the used and refurbished products can be sold on e-commerce portals.

In the HydroConnect joint research project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology IEE studied whether and how Norwegian hydropower can contribute to climate action. In this interview, Philipp Härtel, a senior scientist at Fraunhofer IEE, explains why hydropower from Norway plays such a crucial role for Europe as a whole.

Phase change materials (PCMs) are an important building block for efficient thermal management. They can be used to conserve energy. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have teamed up with industry partners to develop emulsions made from PCMs and water or mixtures of water and glycol for applications such as air conditioning inside buildings and cooling industrial machinery. The new PCM emulsions achieve storage density twice that of water.