The new MotionMining process offers companies the opportunity to analyze and optimize manual work processes in the warehouse, for example when processing shipping orders. The shelf demonstrator in the application centre of the Innovationlab demonstrates how an employee’s movements are recorded automatically and anonymously when goods and articles are removed from a shelf. This process is made possible by mobile sensors, wearables and small radio transmitters known as beacons. The data is then evaluated by means of machine learning algorithms. – MotionMiners is a spin-off from Fraunhofer IML.

The doks.innovation drones, which are equipped with intelligent technology, can view areas from the air, particularly in high-bay facilities, and record stock precisely. The flying robots become an »artificial head«: cameras provide data on the optical condition of goods, and sensors measure the temperature or even scents. In the application centre at the Innovationlab, a drone can be observed as it flies through a warehouse alley. – The company doks.innovation is a spin-off from Fraunhofer IML.

Daily stock control in the food retail trade is still a costly yet compulsory task today. With the smart combination of data glasses and scanner glove, employees can perform this work both faster and more ergonomically. An interface program enables glasses and gloves to communicate with each other and – more importantly – with the retailer’s ERP system. – The system was developed in a transfer project at the Innovationlab.

The innovative ergonomic workplace actively supports the employee at work and adapts to the respective work situation. It is used in the warehouse for goods in and goods out, articles being packed in cardboard boxes. – The solution was developed in a transfer project at the Innovationlab.

500 million Euro-pallets are circulating worldwide, more than 3 billion parcels are sent every year in Germany alone. The more parcels fit into a cardboard box and the more cardboard boxes fit onto a pallet, the more economical and ecological is the transport. The demonstrator in the application centre shows how Augmented Reality (AR) can help. – AR-supported palletizing is a development by Fraunhofer IML.

The more heterogeneous the articles are that have to be packed in a cardboard box, the more complex the task is: the digital packaging assistant »PAsst« intuitively guides the employee through the packaging process with an LED-based position display. – »PAsst« is a development by Fraunhofer IML.

The autonomous picking robot »TORU« is designed to pick individual rectangular objects – such as shoeboxes or books – in e-commerce dispatch warehouses. Conventional picking robots can usually only pick up complete load carriers such as pallets or crates automatically. However, »TORU« has intelligent object recognition, can accurately pick up a cardboard box – no matter where it is located – and overcome obstacles independently on its own. How the picking robot moves in the warehouse can be seen in the application centre at the Innovationlab.

With the Stack Access Machine (SAM), individual containers can be removed fully automatically from piled stacks. The highlight is the Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) that builds its own warehouse from the containers by stacking them directly on top of each other on the floor of the warehouse. Less is more: a permanent infrastructure that includes racks for the containers and rails for the service vehicle becomes redundant because of »SAM«. – »SAM« was developed by Fraunhofer IML.

Moving away from heavy and rigid storage equipment towards small, multifunctional vehicles: The climbing shuttle »RackRacer« moves independently horizontally and diagonally in the rack – without a lift or additional rails. So-called caterpillar elements, which are supported on individual support points in the rack, make it possible. – The »RackRacer« was developed by Fraunhofer IML.

Predictive Maintenance is a contribution to the profitability in companies. Intelligent systems recognize faults in machines before they actually occur. By means of a model, the researchers in the application center of the Innovation Laboratory illustrate essential processes in the strategic maintenance and involve the observer in the decision-making process. – Predictive Maintenance is a component of the showcase »Maintenance« in the application center of the Innovation Laboratory.

Today, nursing personnel, medical engineers and cleaning staff still have to agree on the cleaning and preparation of hospital beds, in a time-consuming manner via telephone or e-mail. With the new Smart Bed, these processes can be made significantly more efficient. A smart label digitally supports processes in control, maintenance and cleaning. As a result, a new human-technology interaction develops between the people involved in the process and the hospital bed in line with the Industry 4.0 principles. –Smart Bed is a development from the eponymous transfer project of the Innovation Laboratory.

The demands of work for employees in assembly are increasing due to the large number of product variants manufactured today: employees no longer have to take just two or three instructions into account, but dozens. However, support from a camera assistance system makes it easier for the employee to manufacture customer-specific products or to process complex series. – The assistance system was developed by Fraunhofer IML.

The automated production of individual pieces – with the so-called »batch size 1« – is a major challenge for industry today. The application centre at the Innovationlab shows how intelligent technologies can make production more efficient and flexible, for example by using the collaborative »Saywer« gripper arm. Industrial robots that work together with humans are gaining ground in logistics, but »Saywer« has a special feature: it can be configured by humans without time-consuming programming. – The solution is part of the »Assembly« showcase in the application center at the Innovationlab.

Digital technologies help to deliver substantial optimization potential when transporting goods. The advantages of dynamic dispatching, which can adapt to the actual conditions, are playfully illustrated in miniature in the Innovationlab’s application centre. This shows that communication between both the manufacturer and the logistics centre with the truck driver is particularly significant when it comes to dynamic dispatching. – The solution is part of the »Transport« showcase in the Innovationlab’s application centre.

Nowadays, every fifth German citizen does online shopping several times a week. The idea behind the vendor-neutral pick-up shelf is that parcels from different parcel service providers can be deposited here. This means that a recipient of several parcels only has to go to one location to pick up what they have ordered. The prototype of this shelf is a successful example of interaction between humans and technology. – The solution was developed within the Innovationlab’s Talent Workshop for Students.

The last mile determines the profitability of the entire logistics chain. Delivering smaller quantities of goods is cost-intensive and leads to a worsening of the traffic situation and environmental pollution. Based on the projection of a virtual urban area with a small puck and interactive control panels, the demonstrator in the application center makes it possible to test various delivery scenarios on the last mile that are well-acceptable for cities and to reproduce logistical difficulties and effects in a playful manner.

Nowadays, logistics centres have to react flexibly to changes in the market, products and new services. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to provide employees with the knowledge they need quickly and without disrupting daily operations. This is made possible by means of employee training using virtual reality (VR). Such a learning environment in virtual reality is part of the training, continuing education and planning space for logisticians in the Innovationlab’s application centre. – The software is a development by Fraunhofer IML.

In the working world of the future, people and technology work together as a team. The basis for this is an organizational platform that connects people and technology: the social network. This information-distribution-centre is the heart of the so-called Social Networked Industry, a high-tech but human-oriented working world. In the application center at the Innovationlab, you can log into a social network and communicate with people and machines in real time. – The Social Network is a work package at the Innovationlab and a development by Fraunhofer IML.

Human language instead of programming language: the Social Networked Industry Bot enables natural communication between people and technology. Using the software-based dialogue system, employees can chat with intelligent vehicles or load carriers and query their whereabouts or status messages. The objects report back via smart devices and can no longer be distinguished from people in their communication behavior. – The Social Networked Industry Bot is a development of the Innovation Laboratory.