Expectations are high for tomorrow’s manufacturing: factories must be smart, changeable, efficient and sustainable. Industry 4.0 stands for an intelligent networking of product development, production, logistics and customers. The fourth industrial revolution will alter Germany as a top industrial location.
According to the German Industrie 4.0 Working Group, it revolves around “networks of manufacturing resources (manufacturing machinery, robots, conveyor and warehousing systems and production facilities) that are autonomous, capable of controlling themselves in response to different situations, self-configuring, knowledge-based, sensor-equipped and spatially dispersed and that also incorporate the relevant planning and management systems” (Recommendations for implementing the strategic initiative INDUSTRIE 4.0).
Virtual Reality in Industrie 4.0
A new web-based software platform is swiftly bringing the visualization of 3D data to every device, optimizing the use of, for example, virtual reality and augmented reality in industry. In this way, Fraunhofer researchers have brought the ideal of “any data on any device” a good deal closer.
A new web-based software platform is swiftly bringing the visualization of 3D data to every device, optimizing the use of, for example, virtual reality and augmented reality in industry. In this way, Fraunhofer researchers have brought the ideal of “any data on any device” a good deal closer.
Taking a holistic view, the aim of the Fraunhofer Lighthouse Project »E3 Production« is to research how to better plan, implement and monitor the flow of materials, energy and information in emissions-neutral E³ factories carrying out ergonomic, energy- and resource-efficient production.
E³ production means examining synergies and putting into motion a holistic solution for the process, process chain, factory and factory environment levels. Together with industrial partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU will develop and put to the test innovative technologies and pilot applications with a practical orientation in the E³ research factory.
How can acoustic sensors be used to make industrial installations more intelligent, safer and more efficient? In the joint project ACME 4.0, partners from industry and research will investigate the potential of acoustically monitoring machines and production processes. The goal is to develop an energy-autonomous, highly-integrated sensor platform that can be integrated wirelessly in industrial installations. Within the scope of the project, this technology will be tested in quality control in semiconductor production and in fault detection on axial piston pumps. The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project with 3.5 million euros over a period of three years.
Industry 4.0 aims to develop machines with built-in intelligence based on smart self-monitoring functions. Researchers have now come a step closer to the ideal of a self-maintenance machine. A technology developed as part of the iMAIN project provides real-time online monitoring of unprecedented quality.
Hannover Messe 2016: Das Unerwartete wird planbar
In Industrie 4.0 environments, robots are capable of interacting with people and technical systems. This year, Fraunhofer demonstrates with the DUPLOcator how a machine can recognize what to do next.
Alle Fertigungsabläufe sind auf dem Monitor zu sehen.
Everyone’s talking about “Industrie 4.0”, but opinions differ on how to set up highly flexible production that works as quickly – and as cheaply – as line production does. Fraunhofer researchers have found a solution: they organize production to operate without rigid plans and fixed chains, turning human coordination and decision-making skills into a key component of sequence control.
Die Innenansicht der StemCellFactory
Digitalizing and networking biotech production equipment is a huge challenge: relevant standards have yet to be established, and biology has a dynamic all its own. Using fully automated equipment for producing stem cells, Fraunhofer researchers have managed to adjust the process control to cell growth – delivering an adaptive system that is suitable for use in a number of sectors.
Industrie 4.0 – »Smart Glasses« im ersten Shop-Floor-Einsatz verkürzen Informationsprozesse
"oculavis", a software solution developed by the Fraunhofer IPT in Aachen to integrate smart devices within the production process, is now being used for the first time on the shop floor. From April 25-29, the Fraunhofer IPT will be presenting results obtained in industrial practice at the Hanover Fair in Hall 17, Booth C18 and Hall 2, Booth C16.
Experimental psychology tests of typical latencies are conducted on the “tactile interaction” augmented reality simulator.
Vehicles in logistics centers will be more intuitive to steer in the future, thus making work easier and safer. “Tactile” handles being developed by Fraunhofer researchers will make this possible: They employ pressure sensors to detect the direction in which a user is pushing or pulling the cart. Whenever there is a risk of a collision, the cart stops immediately.
Making smart data out of big data: Presswork 4.0 takes data that today is rarely or never evaluated and integrates it using an analysis and feedback system. This is then connected to create new knowledge, such as solutions for specific problems. The information is then made available to staff, for instance using smart devices, or sent directly where it is needed.
It costs companies a lot of money to have machines out of operation due to failure. This applies to press shops, too, the focus of Fraunhofer’s Presswerk 4.0 project. Researchers want to employ targeted data networking in manufacturing to help employees recognize and correct failures more quickly – and reduce failure-related downtimes by at least half. Smart, connected machines balance out disturbances so that material that normally lands in the scrap pile can be processed.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
