Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT

Since the end of 2019, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen has been making research in industrial applications of 5G mobile communication technology – and now the findings from previous research projects are to be transferred to the construction and mining sectors. The aim of a consortium of research institutions and industrial companies in the "5G.NAMICO - Networked, Adaptive Mining and Construction" project is to drive digitization in construction and mining, as well as to increase the efficiency of work processes and relieve personnel of monotonous and dangerous work. To test the possibilities of the technology, our partners are using two newly established 5G networks: one at a reference construction site in Aachen and one in an underground mine in Sondershausen, Thuringia.

From high-gloss brochures to new cars: paint layers that are also supposed to shine in front of customers must be smooth and even to reflect perfect quality. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen, Germany, has developed an interferometric measurement method that can be used to reliably measure whether thin transparent layers of paint have been applied evenly: the possibilities offered by optical coherence tomography (OCT) for measuring such paint layers will be presented to the trade fair by the Fraunhofer IPT using a prototype at Control, the leading international trade fair for quality assurance from May 3 to 6, 2022 in Stuttgart.

Today, the Fraunhofer Project Center at the University of Twente is excited to announce a new identity. To better reflect its commitment to empowering innovation in the manufacturing sector, it is changing name to the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Advanced Manufacturing at the University of Twente (FIP-AM@UT). This new identity more closely represents what it does every day and continues the strong cooperation between the University of Twente and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany – Europe’s largest application-orientated research organization.

In laser processes, deviations in the laser's parameters quickly lead to serious defects in the component, which is why it is ideally necessary to react immediately. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen has developed a modular system based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) that can detect deviations during laser processing. The Fraunhofer IPT will be presenting the new possibilities for measurement and data acquisition in the ongoing process at the trade fair using a prototype at the "Laser - World of Photonics" trade fair in Munich from April 26 to 29, 2022.