A Fraunhofer IML project focused on the automation of a gantry crane for the comprehensive automation of a transshipment terminal. A gantry crane was prototypically redesigned to enable it to perform independent processes. 

At the Fraunhofer IML booth at LogiMAT 2023, the institute will be showcasing an AI-controlled robot fleet “in action”, an open-source system for data acquisition using AI and camera, and a “Remote AI” (RAI) box that contains all the intelligence a robot needs to perform its tasks. 

 Image: Virgin Hyperloop

Deutsche Bahn has often struggled with delays. If the ideas of an engineer from the DB network control center are implemented, "early arrival" could become the norm. The hypersonic train, based on vacuum maglev technology, is reminiscent of Hyperloop and Cargo sous Terrain. 

 Photo: TUM

The proposal by scientists to pause the further development of artificial intelligence is currently being hotly debated. "That 's not helpful ," says Urs Gasser, a legal scholar from Solothurn in his view, a kind of AI certification process

Numerous innovations are attributed to Michael ten Hompel, head of the Fraunhofer IML. He is one of the inventors of shuttle technology in intralogistics, a driving force behind the Internet of Things and the Silicon Economy. He has now been awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit.  

Photo: Boeing

NASA, Boeing, and other industry partners are working on technologies to reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of single-aisle aircraft by up to 30%, using a "Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) " demonstrator.

 In the testing laboratory. Image: BMJ

In times when concerns about physically demanding jobs, such as those common in logistics, lead to the use of exoskeletons and power suits, unusual methods of relief also attract attention. One almost legendary idea came in 1971 from a British comedy troupe including John Cleese and Michael Palin. Now, this unusual proposal has been medically examined. The result: Not so bad at all. 

The rover, which is scheduled to explore the 27 km Martian moon Phobos in 2024, will likely only be able to right itself under extremely weak gravity conditions by performing several somersaults. Its main components were delivered this week from Bremen to the French CNES research center in Toulouse.

The "last mile," which here covers 1200 km, isn't quite weightless yet: Gebrüder Weiss is transporting twelve scientific experiments to the Esrange rocket base in northern Sweden for the Swedish Space Corporation's "SubOrbital Express" rocket mission. In space, they are intended to provide new insights under weightless conditions.

 H. Lamarr. Photo: LOC

The Lamarr Institute, which was recently opened in the presence of numerous celebrities and in cooperation with the Fraunhofer IML, aims to conduct cutting-edge research in the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Hedy Lamarr was a Hollywood film star and a pioneer of modern mobile communications.

Is there hope for better times? The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) is once again holding its "Future Congress" digitally, conveying optimism about a "Silicon Economy Continuum." This will be accompanied by a new "sense of space and time," which will certainly have a logistical basis.

Fig.: P2X/Oekoinstitut

Swissmem has ambitious plans. To achieve CO2 neutrality by 2050, the metal industry is intensifying its cooperation with the Swiss Power-to-X Collaborative Innovation Network (SPIN). The ultimate goal: the "defossilization" of Switzerland's energy supply. SPIN Day will take place in Dübendorf on June 23.

Photo: IML

SSI Schäfer and Fraunhofer IML have agreed to a close collaboration for three years within the framework of an "Enterprise Lab". The cooperation started on June 1st – practically with immediate effect, as was announced at LogiMAT.

In Germany alone, there are over 10,000 accidents involving conventional forklifts every year – primarily due to poor visibility. aims to remedy this Camera images of the surroundings are superimposed on the display of the AR glasses by the driver

Back in 2011, DLR researchers had the idea of ​​merging technology from Mars and lunar rovers into new e-mobility solutions for terrestrial road traffic. The result was a vehicle that, at first glance, looks like the legendary BMW . A clever re-import – and an experimental platform par excellence.