Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and LogisticsFocus on new technologies
The in-plant material flow is the most important part in the warehouse and in production. Efficient transports whether by fork lift, by automated guided transport system or by human workers need the adequate control technology and interfaces.
The department «Automation and Embedded Systems» designs and realizes solutions in the industrial field. Our activities are mainly focused on the research and development of self-organizing systems. Our competencies serve the areas of autonomy, decentralization, MAS (multi-agent systems) and the Internet of Things. We see it as our mission to further promote the quality seal "AI made in Germany" in its significance and to explore the field of human-technology interaction, e.g. using AR technology to make it more natural and adaptive.
As Autonomy is becoming an ever more decisive technology for Germany as an industrial site, we continue to see the greatest potential in the collaboration between humans and technology. We enable easy interaction through using a variety of interfaces. The right involvement of employees is seen as an essential feature of efficient processes. Complex systems can thus be easily controlled via augmented reality (AR) and the required information is displayed to the employee directly in the view field.
In addition, we support our openness towards innovation through participating in research projects, enabling further development of technologies and ensuring sustainability of systems. Recent developments and technologies acquired through industrial research activities are transferred to business appliance in order to benefit the end user.
IoT devices are becoming increasingly important as a result of the digital transformation. The use of the smallest devices in the Internet of Things is essential for any process. With us, you have a partner who can support you throughout the development process - from designing ultra-low power circuits, through energy harvesting, to using efficient communication media like NB-IoT up to 5G for data transfer and evaluation.