Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVI

February 8, 2019

The additive production of components, also called 3D printing, allows higher degrees of freedom in the design of components. However, there is still no standardization that guarantees that a component will functionally survive the entire life cycle of a product. Especially in aviation, with life cycles of many decades, however, this safety must be guaranteed.

In order to solve this problem and create a highly complex certification process for this novel sample component manufacturing process, the consortium of the AMCOCS (Additive Manufactured Component Certification Services) project met on February 5, 2019 to kick off the project. At the site of the consortium leader Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), a joint venture of Singapore Technologies and Airbus, the project-executing agency DLR was given an understanding of the complexity of the research project and during a plant tour, the relevance of the necessary project output was explained on the basis of the Airbus body conversion from passenger to cargo aircraft – in this segment, EFW is the world market leader.

In addition to the consortium leader, the Fraunhofer IVI, with its expertise in the areas of Big Data processing and AI analytics, is the idea generator and implementation partner within the research project. Other project participants are Software AG, IMA Materialforschung und Anwendungstechnik GmbH and the Institute for Aerospace Technology at the TU Dresden.

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February 6, 2019

Everybody is talking about clean mobility solutions. The demand for innovative electric propulsion concepts is increasing. This is the perfect moment to expand the bus market by an attractive offer 'made in Germany'. For this new vehicle series, the Berlin-based ELO Mobility GmbH is collaborating with fuel cell manufacturer HyMove (Arnheim), the vehicle engineers of WS Consulting (Augsburg), the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (Dresden) and BTS Bus Trailer Service (Oberweira), among others. The project is led by the Engineering Center of ELO Mobility in Berlin.

»I really appreciate our diverse and highly specialized team of developers. By combining the hydrogen fuel cell technology with tried and tested yet highly innovative bus concepts, we are able to offer electromobility on the highest level«, says Dr. Henning Heppner, CEO of ELO Mobility. Depending on the local operational demands, transport providers will have different vehicle lengths and energy storage systems at their disposal.

»The international demand is high. However, all project partners would like to see their vehicles operating not only internationally but also in German public transport«, adds André Stephan, Head of Business Development of ELO Mobility. »The project constitutes a special chance for our industry location.« Because of very high customer interest in the pre-series production stage, the team of developers was able to start their work on vehicles of the first model year to be delivered in 2021/22. There is only a small remaining capacity for further commisions in this delivery period.

With the founding of the simul+ future initiative two years ago, Saxony's State Minister for the Environment and Agriculture Thomas Schmidt initiated a development that supports innovations in the field of agriculture and forestry and is the basis for today's simul+ InnovationHub. The central idea of this is successful initiative to transfer new technologies into practical use in rural areas through future-oriented projects and to focus the expertise of diverse partners is a key component of the InnovationHub, which was officially launched on December 6, 2018.   

Almost 100 guests accepted the invitation to Dresden's Kraftwerk Mitte and followed the talks held by high-profile speakers from science, economy and politics.

• Link to the program (in German)

The overall project consists mainly of five key topics:

• 5G experimentation field in agriculture and forestry
• Smart Farming und forestry technology
• Environmental technologies and sustainability
• Protection of nature and climate
• Digital villages and smart rural areas

The Fraunhofer IVI is able to contribute considerable expertise and experience gained both in the past and in current projects. The recently launched »Cognitive Agriculture« (COGNAC) Fraunhofer lighthouse project also addresses several of the abovementioned topics.

In addition, first foundations for a field swarm technology had already been laid several years ago. This technology is meant to replace heavy agricultural machinery and was developed under significant participation of the Fraunhofer IVI. Within the Feldschwarm^® growth core funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research BMBF, Fraunhofer and the TU Dresden work together with regional partners and global player John Deere in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.

December 5, 2018

The partners of the joint »DatenTanken« (DataFueling) project under the leadership of Saxony’s state capital Dresden received grants over a total amount of seven million Euro from the »Saubere Luft 2017 – 2020« (Clean Air 2017 – 2020) emergency program launched by the German federal government. The project has an overall investment sum of about 8.5 million Euro. The government provides funds for the establishment of charging infrastructure so that cities will be able to improve their air quality. »An environmental zone with bans on driving is no option for us. We plan to become a model city for electromobility and want to make sure that Dresden’s air is clean. That is why I am happy that the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy chose to fund our project«, says Dresden’s Lord Mayor Dirk Hilbert.  

In order to guarantee a sustainable, economic operation of the charging infrastructure, the Fraunhofer IVI will develop new and innovative business models within the two-year project term: customers will receive electricity at a reduced price if they, in turn, make their vehicle data available for further use.

André Rauschert, group leader at the Fraunhofer IVI, is convinced that DatenTanken will not only help to expand the charging infrastructure, but will also support the development of mobility concepts that are sustainable in the long term.

• More information
• Link to the press release (in German)
  

November 29, 2018 

In the past years, the Fraunhofer IVI has put a lot of effort into creating conditions that promote the reconciliation of their employees’ families and careers. Now, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has recognized the effort by giving an award.

Of the 38 Fraunhofer Institutes and Institutions that had applied for the FamilienLogo (FamilyLogo), the Fraunhofer IVI won the first place.

The logo falls into line with similar external certificates and comprises several subject areas:

• Information on and communication about the reconciliation of family and career at the institute
• Flexible work options and their creation
• Institute-specific childcare offers
• Organization of the Elternzeit (extended maternity/paternity leave in Germany) and re-entry after the Elternzeit
• Use of the Fraunhofer support options

The Fraunhofer FamilienLogo is awarded to all institutes that achieve an implementation value of 80 percent min. within the categories described above. It is valid for two years.

November 21, 2018  

Within the scope of the »Internationales Katastrophen- und Risikomanagement – IKARIM« funding intiative (International Disaster and Risk Management), the Fraunhofer IVI and other German partners were invited to a workshop in Vietnam where they presented current developments in hazard prevention.

The MobiKat system was positively received by both decision makers and response units of the Vietnamese partners. Next to a number of furhter technologies from Germany, Mobikat will be implemented in a planned three-year joint funding project dealing with disaster protection in the Hoa Binh province and the port city of Hai Phong.

Digital, connected and resource-efficient – these are the desired features of future mobility. The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) has been supporting research projects in digital test fields of several cities – one of them Dresden.

On November 14, 2018, results from the projects REMAS, SYNCAR, HarmonizeDD and IVS-KOM, all part of the Saxon research initiative »Synchrone Mobilität 2023«, have been presented at the event »Urban test environment for automated and connected driving«, which took place at the Dresden airport. In addition to presentations and an exhibition, visitors experienced the official launch of the first test corridor with five Roadside Units. By connecting wayside infrastructure, vehicle and backend, it was possible to demonstrate cooperative driving and lane changing in public for the first time.

• Press release (available in German only)

The »Cognitive Internet Technologies« (CIT) research cluster combines the expertise of 13 Fraunhofer Institutes working in the fields of microelectronics, information and communication technology, as well as manufacturing. Within the cluster, three virtual research centers were established: the centers for IoT Communication, Data Spaces and Machine Learning.

On November 6, 2018, the kick-off event for the mobility application area was held at the Fraunhofer IVI. Within this area, the Fraunhofer Institutes AISEC, HHI, IIS and IVI will develop technologies and concepts for innovative applications in the fields of traffic safety and efficiency in urban spaces.

On November 3 and 4, the third General Assembly of the European AEROFLEX project »Aerodynamic and Flexible Trucks for Next Generation of Long Distance Road Transport« was held in Rotterdam.

The project aims at developing and implementing novel technologies and concepts in the field of freight transport under consideration of the entire vehicle, thus increasing both energy and cost efficiency as well as safety and comfort.

The project partners met at the International Symposium on Heavy Vehicle Transport Technology HVTT15. Within several panel discussions and a side event created especially for purposes of the AEROFLEX project, there was the opportunity to discuss both the results of the first project phase and the upcoming developments with partners and the expert audience.

The event’s highlights are summarized in the current newsletter.

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