“IIP-Ecosphere: Next Level Ecosphere for Intelligent Industrial Production”
A collaborative project led by Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) is one of the winners of the innovation competition “Künstliche Intelligenz als Treiber für volkswirtschaftlich relevante Ökosysteme” (EN: “Artificial Intelligence as a Driver for Economically Relevant Ecosystems”) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). State Secretary Dr. Ulrich Nussbaum presented the Director of the L3S Research Center, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Nejdl, with the certificate for the successful project proposal “IIP-Ecosphere: Next Level Ecosphere for Intelligent Industrial Production” during the opening of the new Digital Technologies Forum in Berlin in September.
A total of 16 projects were awarded. The winners will now have the chance to realize their project in a funded, three-year implementation phase (01/2020 – 12/2022). The total volume of the project is 12 million euros, of which around four million euros will flow to LUH.
Consortium of science and industry
Together with 18 partners from science and industry – including the University of Hildesheim, the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Volkswagen, Siemens, DMG Mori and Sennheiser – the L3S research center and the Institute of Manufacturing Engineering and Machine Tools at LUH have developed a convincing concept for the expansion of intelligent production.
Objective
The goal is to build a new type of ecosystem to make the rapid progress of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of production technology usable, especially for medium-sized companies, and to exploit the potential of Industry 4.0.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is considered a key technology for intelligent production (Industry 4.0). Studies predict an increase in productivity of up to 50 percent through the use of AI. According to the BMWi, AI methods should therefore become even stronger drivers for innovative value networks and the creation of new products and business models. However, 65 percent of German companies with more than 100 employees do not yet use AI methods. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular not only lack the technical prerequisites and know-how for their use, but also the right business models. There are also concerns about data sovereignty and secrecy. IIP-Ecosphere will facilitate the applicability of AI methods in production and demonstrate them in real-world application scenarios. The activities aim to remove barriers and promote the sustainable involvement of new stakeholders. In particular, SMEs and start-ups are to be enabled to successfully apply and further develop AI methods for intelligent production themselves.
As part of the project, Bitmotec is developing an autonomous, AI-based camera system together with Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG, among others, to detect current and future products and to determine the gripping points for a robot.
List of consortium partners
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Artis Marposs Monitoring Solutions GmbH
Deutsche Messe Technology Academy GmbH
Gildemeister Drehmaschinen GmbH (DMG Mori)
Salt & Pepper Software GmbH & Co. KG
Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Verein Deutscher Werkzeugmaschinen e.V.
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Images: © BMWi/Bildkraftwerk Kurc