Cognitive Sensor Technologies

Dr. Theobald Fuchs and his colleagues at the Development Center for X-ray Technology EZRT are working with the Germanisches Nationalmuseum to develop standards for the computed tomography of musical instruments. Fuchs explains why this work is much more important than one might initially think.

• The video
  

Using a solution developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, the BMW Group in Regensburg is now giving their production assemblers digital assistants directly on their tools. The case in point: hand-guided electric screwdrivers. For every assignment, the tool tells its operator whether all screwing procedures for a given job were properly carried out. Done!

• The interview
  

Place the object inside, push the button and collect the CT scan. Taking an X-ray is that simple with ValuCT. Good collaboration among three partners played a crucial role in developing this technology.

• The video

Imagine your daily life without a smartphone. No emails, no quick online purchases. If that sounds difficult, you’re not alone; most people probably feel the same. It is almost impossible to imagine our society without digitalization now, and the process is set to continue. Our editorial team spoke to the institute’s directors, Professor Albert Heuberger and Dr. Bernhard Grill, to learn about the emerging digital trends and what we can contribute to them.

The interview

Space is teeming with satellites. They allow us to receive TV shows, give us Internet access on planes and ships, and keep communications going during disasters. We are working on a range of developments that will make this kind of communication more efficient, more flexible, and more stable in the future.

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The Internet and containers are two obvious innovations that have revolutionized logistics over the past decades. They linked up the world, created new and bigger markets, and ultimately drove enormous growth in global trade. Thanks to them, the world has become smaller. They also expanded economic opportunities – although only for businesses that recognized the potential of these innovations early on and mastered the full repertoire of possibilities presented by this new age. This is why it is so important to know today what the state of the art will be tomorrow. To do that, however, we have to know what innovations are on the horizon.

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A revolution is coming to factories and assembly halls. It goes by the name of Industry 4.0. First factories were mechanized and the electrified, and then IT systems were introduced to support business processes. Now the fourth generation of manufacturing has arrived in the form of industry 4.0. In this interview, Prof. Albert Heuberger explains what the term means and what Fraunhofer IIS can achieve in this area.

• The interview

The quality of cleverness is something we generally attribute to people. Now objects are set to become intelligent too – and not just individual smart objects considered in isolation, but as a networked whole. For ex- ample, objects will be able to determine their “condition” themselves and “talk” to each other. Researchers at Fraunhofer IIS are developing the basic technologies required for this Internet of Things – and are doing so for the entire chain of applications.

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The course is set: now the Leistungszentrum Elektroniksysteme (LZE) (High Performance Center for Electronic Systems) is embarking on its mission to establish itself as the leading center for electronic systems in Germany. Energy saving and energy efficiency – this strategic collaboration between research and industry is focused on nothing less than these key economic and social topics of the future. Something is happening at the heart of the Nürnberg Metropolitan Region about which others can only dream: world- class research with a well-defined practical orientation.

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X­ray technologies are excellently suited to the task of revealing even tiny defects or processes inside materials. To provide industry with suitable tools, the Development Center for X­ray Technology (EZRT), a division of Fraunhofer IIS, defines and expands the state of the art in the field of non­ destructive testing all along the product life cycle. Over the past year, re- searchers at the center have published many innovative new concepts. The researchers are especially proud of two new technologies: “HeiDetect Inline CT Compact R” and “MULIX”

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