Open Lab Day showcases initial demonstrations

On the Open Lab Day of the 5G4KMU Transfer Center on July 14th, researchers will demonstrate 5G application prototypes. (Source: University of Stuttgart IFF/Fraunhofer IPA, Photo: Rainer Bez)

The Transfer Center 5G4KMU operates 5G campus networks at five locations in Baden-Württemberg. Researchers develop and test innovative products and business models together with industry there. An Open Lab Day on July 14th will showcase the first demonstrators resulting from these collaborations.

Packaging machines today feature a high degree of automation. Accordingly, there is a large number of sensors and actuators installed, which are connected to the machine control. The data exchange currently takes place over a complex cable network, which is integrated into the machines with considerable effort.

But this could soon change: "Real-time data exchange could just as well be done wirelessly via the mobile network," says Fabian Haag. The researcher from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA heads the Transfer Center 5G4KMU. In this research center, scientists work together with small and medium-sized enterprises from Baden-Württemberg to test new product and business ideas made possible by the latest mobile standard 5G.

Open Lab Day on July 14th, 1 PM

A research team from the Transfer Center 5G4KMU, together with packaging machine manufacturer Koch Pac-Systeme GmbH and J. Schmalz GmbH, a producer of vacuum grippers, has developed a concept for a 5G communication box. It is intended to handle data exchange between sensors, actuators, and machine control in the future. The research partners will demonstrate how the communication box is supposed to work on July 14th during the Open Lab Day of the Transfer Center 5G4KMU in Freudenstadt.

Whether sensor-actuator communication, mobile robots, driverless transport systems, medical technology, or networking of machines: The research team has already tested a range of potential applications for 5G together with various companies. During the Open Lab Day, researchers will present various demonstrators developed from these projects, together with industry partners.

These guided lab tours will be complemented by talks from different speakers and an open exchange. The Open Lab Day of the Transfer Center 5G4KMU is themed "5G in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises – Application and Implementation in Industry" and begins at 1 PM. Participation is free of charge. More information and registration at: s.fhg.de/LabDay5G4KMU

About the Transfer Center 5G4KMU

The Transfer Center 5G4KMU has been operating 5G campus networks at five locations in Baden-Württemberg for about a year and a half: in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Reutlingen, and Freudenstadt. The research center involves, besides Fraunhofer IPA, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization IAO, the wbk Institute for Production Technology of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Reutlingen Center for Industry 4.0 of Reutlingen University, and the Center for Digitalization, Leadership, and Sustainability Schwarzwald (short: Campus Schwarzwald) in Freudenstadt. The Ministry of Economy, Labor, and Tourism of Baden-Württemberg funds the Transfer Center 5G4KMU with a total of around six million euros.