From Research to Application: Projects at Fraunhofer EMFT

With the Soldering Mobile, the Center for Interconnection Technology in Electronics ZVE at Fraunhofer EMFT is now offering its customers an attractive alternative to onsite training courses at the Oberpfaffenhofen training center. The soldering station on wheels can be put into operation directly at the customer's premises using plug & play.

In the StroBA project, a Fraunhofer EMFT research team at the Oberpfaffenhofen site is taking a closer look at the effects of environmental impact on connector systems in cooperation with Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences: the aim here is to look at how damage and aging response is influenced by different types of micromotion (rotation and translation) and by design features and line routing.

Gear oils make a significant contribution to minimising friction and thus ensure the safe operation of production facilities. In the Smart Gear project, researchers at Fraunhofer EMFT are developing solutions to detect a drop in the performance of gear oils with the help of sensor technology and machine learning methods and to predict when the oil needs to be changed.

Nowadays, the evaluation of sensor data usually happens in the cloud. However, as a result of ongoing digitalization, the volume of sensor data being collected and analyzed is growing rapidly. In order to transfer the huge volumes of data quickly and securely, researchers at Fraunhofer EMFT are focusing on equipping sensors and actuators with artificial intelligence (AI).

Multi-resistant pathogens, for example MRSA (multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), can spread rapidly and become a serious health hazard in already weakened individuals, for example in clinics and nursing homes. A research team at Fraunhofer EMFT has joined forces with Asklepios Kliniken GmbH and the middle-sized company KETEK GmbH to develop a low-cost rapid MRSA test that could be used in a potential target application as a routine initial examination in hospitals.

Multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria (MRGN) have become increasingly widespread in recent years as a cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. A Fraunhofer EMFT research team is collaborating with the SME GBN Systems GmbH, the Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene at Regensburg University Hospital and Asklepios Kliniken GmbH to develop a compact, comprehensive system that will enable rapid on-site detection of MRGN bacteria.

Foods that are fresh to a high degree, such as raw meat and fish products, are susceptible to microbial spoilage processes. However, packaged products cannot be easily identified as fresh. Sensors integrated into food packaging can indicate the current freshness of the contents. In this way, food safety can be increased and food waste can be avoided at the same time. This possibility for real freshness monitoring would thus contribute significantly to the sustainable use of resources.

Natural disasters, acts of war or terrorist attacks are extreme situations for rescue workers: Many victims need initial medical care as quickly as possible. However, it is often hardly or not at all possible for the emergency services to reach the injured in a timely manner. In such situations, the "AirDoc" could be able to help out in the future: A young research team at Fraunhofer EMFT has developed the idea of a flying, autonomous first-aider. The medical drone robot is intended to reach dangerous, contaminated or inaccessible areas very quickly and provide first aid there autonomously.

Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institutes for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) in Sulzbach/Saar and the Fraunhofer EMFT in Regensburg are working together with the companies nanoAnalytics GmbH (Münster) and innoMe GmbH (Espelkamp) on a new measurement method for testing the effectiveness of vaccines in the ViroSens project.

Data rates up to the TBit/s range – such is the ambitious goal of the internal Fraunhofer project EOS. In order to get within reach of such extremely high data rates, the research team from Fraunhofer HHI, Fraunhofer IIS and Fraunhofer EMFT is seeking to convert several 56 Gbit/s digital-electrical message signals directly and without power-hungry signal processors (DSP) into a multi-stage, optically complex modulation signal.