Mobile Autonomous Manufacturing

Guiding principle of the application field "Mobile Autonomous Manufacturing"

With the development of units for mobile autonomous manufacturing, sensor systems, especially 3D image sensor technology, are finding a rapidly growing field full of applications with great challenges. In the industrial environment, mobile autonomous systems are encountered as service robots, in logistics systems, in mining, or in agriculture, for example.

Fraunhofer IMS is facing these challenges with a newly created application field "Mobile Autonomous Manufacturing". Fraunhofer IMS develops sensor systems for autonomously acting units in production environments, which can create, move or join things at the place of operation. Thus, Fraunhofer IMS contributes to the vision of industrial production at any location, to the establishment of Additive Manufacturing (AF) in industry and construction, and to the cost-efficient construction and maintenance of infrastructure, for example for smart, self-repairing roads or cities.

Our offer

With the help of Fraunhofer IMS technologies, the development trends for robots and autonomous systems in the digital industry are to be supported, which aims to increase production efficiency and speed at reduced costs, with increasing demands on precision and quality. In the increasing automation, safety in working conditions also plays an important role.

The Fraunhofer IMS develops sensor systems for complex and autonomous logistics, sensor systems for mapping, environmental monitoring and safety areas, and human-robot collaboration (HRC) for human-friendly production environments.

Another key technology is artificial intelligence (AI), which holds great potential for additional economic growth and productivity gains. In the recent past, a new technology era has been opened up by means of AI, which is increasingly finding its way into our everyday lives. The developments in the field of AI are actively used by the Fraunhofer IMS for sensor-related data processing in sensor systems.

Numerous applications can be found in areas such as smart logistics, for which Fraunhofer IMS develops innovative artificial intelligence-driven sensors and systems for logistics robots and automation solutions and contributes to flexible solutions for warehouses and supply chain management. Furthermore, the vision to fully automate supply chains offers great development potential with Fraunhofer IMS technologies. For example, our smart solutions touch the areas of automated picking, transporting, sorting, smart forklifts, smart factories or smart warehouses.

In addition, we see the trend towards Industry 5.0 - humans are coming back. With developments of sensor systems for collaborative human-robot environments for Industry 5.0, we support humans in automated production environments instead of displacing them.

Our services

For cooperation with its partners, the Industry Business Area and the Mobile Autonomous Manufacturing program offer various options for bilateral and multilateral collaboration. The range of services extends from feasibility studies and development projects to product approvals. In addition to technical development, we also support our partners in financing their innovation. We check the possibility of public funding or look for further partners from our cooperation network to form a powerful consortium for a joint project.