F r a u n h o F e r I n s t I t u t e F o r I n d u s t r I a l e n g I n e e r I n g I a o

IAO Newsdecember 2014/January 2015

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Fraunhofer IAOThe basis for all work undertaken at the Fraunhofer IAO is

a deep conviction that business success in a globalized

arena is contingent on an ability to profitably leverage new

high-tech potentials. In order to optimally exploit these op-

portunities, companies must be capable of developing and

implementing customer and employee-oriented

technologies faster than their competitors. Work organi-

zation concepts must be simultaneously innovative and

anthropocentric. A systematic design, in other words, is the

outcome of pooled management and technical expertise.

This holistic perspective when it comes to project processing

ensures that equal consideration is given to commercial suc-

cess, employees‘ interests and social consequences.

Through its close cooperation with the Institute for Human

Factors and Technology Management (IAT) of the University

of Stuttgart, Fraunhofer IAO unites basic university research

with applied science and business practice.

More than 14 200 m2 of offices, laboratories and technical

installations are available to carry out contracted research.

Our customer-focused range of services is based on the

following areas of business:

• Corporate Development and Work Design

• Service and Human Resources Management

• Engineering Systems

• Information and Communication Technology

• Technology and Innovation Management

• Mobility and Urban Systems Engineering

energY eFFICIenCY You Can Count on

The building sector accounts for 40 percent of primary energy consumption in Europe. Home owners seeking for energy

efficiency are faced with confusing and sometimes contradictory information. Now, Fraunhofer IAO has developed a smart-

phone app in the EU project ENBUS! that helps home owners calculate the tangible benefits of energy efficiency measures

before investing.

VIsualIZIng teChnologY netWorKs

Research collaborations and related networks are becoming increasingly important in developing new technologies,

particularly since more and more of these activities are interdisciplinary. Fraunhofer IAO’s new “ResearchLandscaping”

method makes it easier to find suitable partners.

robo-Mate update

Just a little over a year has passed since BBC News ranked the Robo-Mate exoskeleton at No. 2, right after the announcement

of the new iPhone, and major technical progress has been made on several fronts.

OvervIew Of tOpIcs

eNerGY effIcIeNcY YOU cAN cOUNt ON New ENBUS! smartphone app helps home owners on the way to energy efficiency

“I’m an energy saver” – today this 1980s slogan is experien-

cing a revival as part of the “energy efficiency” movement.

But just like back then, very few people are doing it purely

for environmental reasons, since many products and solu-

tions promise significant savings. Energy efficiency measures

are intended not only to sustainably increase a house’s value,

but also to improve comfort, preserve the building’s structure

and appeal visually. Above all, the measures must make

sense – financially and ecologically. This requires return-on-

investment figures laying on the table in advance.

To guide home owners through the information jungle

surrounding energy efficiency in buildings, Fraunhofer IAO

and partners from research and industry have developed

an app as part of the EU project ENBUS! The app provides

homeowners with a free and neutral benefit assessment of

energy efficiency measures. When planning a renovation,

estimating the benefits is important but also quite difficult

because the building industry and manufacturers of energy-

efficient building materials and appliances promote their own

offers while providing their own biased advice. Unbiased

experts, on the other hand, are expensive and the process

is complex. This deters many homeowners.

In the ENBUS! app users start with selecting a building type

and its location. The software then models the energy sav-

ings that could be made with the wide range of products

and building materials stored in the app, and delivers addition-

al support relating to energy efficiency in buildings. “We’re

doing more than just show that energy efficiency pays off in

theory,” says Dr. Thomas Fischer, project manager at Fraun-

hofer IAO. “We’re showing home owners how their invest-

ment translates into a concrete economic benefit.” Only

then, believes Dr. Fischer, will home owners be adequately

supported on the path to energy efficiency and be able

to make decisions based on concrete figures measured out

in euros and cents.

The ENBUS! app is currently available as a prototype for

iPhone and iPad. In the future, the software will be rolled out

to other platforms and the content will be comprehensively

supplemented. The aim is a solution that reproduces real

buildings as accurately as possible and is still easy to use.

In accordance with the user’s requirements, the system can

then make comprehensive proposals for energy efficient

improvements based on the individual case.

Contact

Fraunhofer IAO, Dr. Thomas Fischer

Phone +49 711 970-2037

thomas.fischer@iao.fraunhofer.de

Further information

www.enbus.eu

app store

ENBUS

Developing new technologies might be the mainstay of many

organizations, but that doesn’t make it any less complex. A

single organization developing products entirely on its own is

the exception rather than the rule; development takes place

more often within open, loosely connected networks. But

who are the experts in any given technology area and how

good a match are their skills for your company? Fraunhofer

IAO developed “ResearchLandscaping” to help you find the

right partner.

This structured method fleshes out a map of experts that

identifies potential partners and partner networks, analyzes

their skills profile and visualizes the findings. Organizations

find out, for example, which networks (also known as expert

hubs) exist in the relevant research areas, which technology

areas they excel in and which level of competence they

achieved as well as to what extent they are open to collabo-

rating. The visual landscape helps organizations find the right

experts to help set up the technology development networks

they need. To find the relevant information, Fraunhofer IAO

uses specially developed semantic search tools to trawl what

is known as smart data: comprehensive technology and

science databases as well as selected areas of social media.

vIsUALIZING tecHNOLOGY NetwOrKs“researchlandscaping” brings together science and industry experts

how “researchlandscaping” works

Using “ResearchLandscaping” to work up such an overview

is a three-stage process. Based on the company’s request,

the first stage determines the selection criteria and the cor-

responding relevant data sources for the desired expert net-

works. This is followed by a gap analysis – which indicates

how the company’s own network can be augmented by bring-

ing in additional experts – and then the technology networks

are determined using smart data. Finally, a “force fit” helps

identify and evaluate interesting partners, then aids in visualiz-

ing the results and defining specific recommendations for

how to proceed.

The “ResearchLandscaping” method offers a valuable over-

view of the expert landscape in a relevant technology field,

and in doing provides companies with a sustainable way of

building and expanding highly effective technology networks

with the right experts.

Contact

Fraunhofer IAO, Dr. Antonino Ardilio

Phone +49 711 970-2246

antonino.ardilio@iao.fraunhofer.de

© ZHAW (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften)

A key focus of the initial twelve months of the EU-funded

Robo-Mate project was to define the various production pro-

cesses of end-users from different industries (e.g. automotive,

automotive components, dismantling, and scrap recycling).

This has allowed the project consortium of 13 partners from

academia and industry to identify their needs from both a

worker and a business perspective. One of the major achieve-

ments on the industrial end was detailing two specific use-

cases for the exoskeleton with a potentially high impact for

the end-user partners (CRF, COMPA and INDRA). The use-cases

support one and two handed manipulation of objects up to

7.5 kg and 15 kg, respectively.

On the worker end, design experts, human factors specialists

and end-users teamed-up and concentrated efforts on what

workers need to more efficiently and safely perform tasks,

particularly in heavy and repetitive lifting. The Robo-Mate exo-

skeleton design consists of a core, anthropomorphic trunk-

module that reduces compression forces in the lower back and

provides a base for arm and leg extensions of varying complexi-

ty. These modules can be passive, partially or fully activated,

and anthropomorphic, or not, depending on the required use.

Furthermore, Robo-Mate will be outfitted with tag readers,

radio-frequency tracking (RFID), or other work-piece identifica-

tion systems, as well as the inclusion of heads-up displays and

vision recognition to maximise direct interaction with the pro-

duction process. Safety is tantamount; therefore, the system

will ensure the highest possible level of safety, even in uncer-

tain and dynamic manufacturing environments.

The next major project milestones going forward involve put-

ting prototypes to work and evaluating them. To that end, in

the first quarter of 2015, the Zurich University of Applied

rObO-MAte UpdAteMilestones in human-Machine Cooperation

Science (ZHAW) and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) will

produce and test the first subsystem prototypes. At the same

time, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO is

simulating the production processes of our end-users to en-

sure that Robo-Mate is used most effectively and to assess the

impact on productivity and on ergonomics-driven workplace

design. The coupling of the exoskeleton models to the soft-

ware system Classic Jack of Siemens PLM software and the

enhancement of Siemens Process Simulate with new manufac-

turing resources represent the innovative research activities

performed by Fraunhofer IAO as well. And of course, with the

crux of the Robo-Mate project centred on user-friendly interac-

tive human-robot cooperation in industrial environments, work-

ers will play a significant role in this process. In the summer of

2015, representatives from selected industries will participate

in a prototype workshop at one of the end-users’ facilities.

Overall, the project is effectively moving along and striding

towards realising and impacting earmarked objectives in the

industrial workplace related to safety and improved working

conditions, greater production efficiency and higher produc-

tivity. Thanks to Robo-Mate, the interactive, safe and competi-

tive factories of the future are coming ever closer.

Contact

Fraunhofer IAO, Dr. Prof. e. h. Carmen Constantinescu

Phone +49 711 970-2282

carmen.constantinescu@iao.fraunhofer.de

Further information

www.robo-mate.eu

Enhanced Robo-Mate

design concept.

Published by

Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO

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Nobelstrasse 12, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Phone +49 711 970-2124, Fax +49 711 970-2299

presse@iao.fraunhofer.de

www.iao.fraunhofer.de/press

Editorial staff

Verena Krug, Juliane Segedi, Katrin Bohnenberger, Jan Ehrhardt,

Sandra Friedrichs, Laura Terberl

Layout and typesetting

Franz Schneider

Cover page

Anette Grimmel using © Tiberius Gracchus und skarin – Fotolia.com

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