The new cloud software retoflow offers energy network operators an automated and efficient way to check these requests, model and simulate power grids and pipeline networks across sectors, and engage in long-term planning.

Through their HoloLayouts software, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA have developed an application in which multiple people can collaborate interactively on creating factory layouts that use space efficiently. The factory planning process can be experienced in a virtual environment, with changes made live and in real time.

Photonics focuses on the use of light with all its possibilities. From light control to laser technologies and data transmission, photonics is used in many fields such as medicine, industry, astronomy, microscopy or traffic safety. One of the leading research institutes in this field is the Dresden Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS.

The remobilization of finger joints that have been damaged by illness or injury is an emerging market in the field of demand-driven patient care. The FingerKIt consortium, which brings together five Fraunhofer institutes, uses AI to develop personalized 3D-printed joint implants so that these delicate finger parts can be replaced when necessary.

Fraunhofer researchers have now found a way to harvest enough energy to operate these sensors using vibrations from machines, equipment or buildings, as well as from temperature differences between pipes, lines or valves, and the environment.

Highly sensitive electronic components are the drivers of our digitalized world. Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) open up new possibilities for miniaturization in wide-ranging application areas.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF have developed various core components for the optical system of the hyperspectral satellite.

Forming presses are widely used as key elements of industrial production processes. From automotive technology to refrigerators, almost every product we encounter contains formed parts. The purchasing costs of these machines can reach double-digit millions, and it takes a great deal of time to set up and adjust precisely as needed. Given such a high level of investment, buyers expect machinery of this kind to keep running efficiently for a long time without any loss in quality.

The quality of industrial production processes is ensured by a large number of sensor-based individual inspections. This generates large amounts of data. However, until now, the information from the individual sensors has generally only been looked at in isolation.

The industry of the future will become more digital, more efficient and more automated. Autonomous driving systems and robots will make human work easier. To make this vision a reality, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS is developing sensors, optical components and actuators based on microelectromechanical systems that detect the environment and make interaction safe. In this context, sensors are becoming key technology of digitization: they form the interface between machine and human.