Lighthouse Projects

Fraunhofer is tackling the current challenges facing German industry. With its flagship projects, it sets strategic priorities in order to develop concrete solutions for the benefit of Germany as a business location. The topics are geared towards the requirements of industry. The aim is to quickly turn original scientific ideas into marketable products. The participating Fraunhofer Institutes pool their expertise and involve industry partners in the projects at an early stage.

Current projects

ALBACOPTER

Relocating parts of urban traffic into the air is not a dream for the future any longer. Within the ALBACOPTER^® flagship project led by Fraunhofer IVI, an airborne experimental platform will be developed and approved for testing and demonstration flights that combines the VTOL capabilities of multicopters with the aerodynamic advantages of gliders.

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BAU-DNS

The construction sector needs to play a significant role in the achievement of German and EU climate policy targets. In Germany, around 40 percent of all CO₂ emissions stem from the construction and operation of buildings. The majority of this is attributable to heating and power, which is why more existing buildings need to be renovated sooner, more efficiently and with renewable energy sources.

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EMOTION

EMOTION aims to demonstrate, for the first time, how the newly introduced concept of "empathic production systems" enables more effective and efficient cooperation between actors in production as well as the transformation towards resilient value communities. This project will conceptualize a reference model by taking the interoperability and sovereignty of individual actors into account.

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FutureCarProduction

The consortium behind the Future Car Production project aims to develop comprehensive approaches to assess new car body concepts in the automotive industry. To this end, methods, processes and technologies must be established to methodically evaluate and technologically guarantee ecological sustainability while meeting the conflicting priorities of technical performance and costs.

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FutureProteins

The flagship project “FutureProteins” combines the production of alternative protein sources in closed agricultural systems with an integrated use of all by-products to create further protein raw materials. Selected plants (potatoes, wheatgrass and alfalfa), insects (mealworms), filamentous fungi as well as microalgae serve as alternative protein sources within the project.

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NeurOSmart

The NeurOSmart project aims to set a new standard for intelligent hybrid computing architectures in autonomous machines and transportation systems. For this purpose, a high-performance sensor system, AI-supported preprocessing and a novel high-performance, analog-neuromorphic, ultra-low-power in-memory accelerator chip are combined.

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RNAuto

In the future, innovative pharmaceuticals such as new vaccines and mRNA-based gene and cell therapy methods will be available to large numbers of patients as part of an affordable healthcare system. This will create a need for automated production technologies that can safely and reliably produce drugs in accordance with the high standards required for pharmaceuticals (GMP certification).

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SWAP

The Fraunhofer lighthouse project Heterogeneous, Workload-Optimized Robot Teams and Production Architectures ("SWAP") is developing new technological concepts to shape the production of the future.

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Completed projects

MaNiTU

Solar cells with the highest efficiencies deliver electricity cost-effectively, demanding less space and materials. High efficiencies also enable new products, such as energy-independent buildings or electric cars, which can be recharged via solar cells. However, the efficiency of silicon solar cells can no longer be arbitrarily increased. The physical limits responsible for this can be overcome using tandem solar cells.

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ShaPID

The nine Fraunhofer institutes cooperating in the flagship project "ShaPID” aim to provide targeted support to the chemical industry in these efforts by pooling their applied research to achieve challenging sustainability goals and, at the same time, intensifying their R&D ties with one of the most innovative industrial sectors.

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EVOLOPRO

The aim of the Fraunhofer lighthouse project "EVOLOPRO" is to develop a biological manufacturing system that complements existing Industry 4.0 work within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as part of the research focus on biological transformation with new biological mechanisms.

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Cognitive Agriculture

In the "Cognitive Agriculture" lighthouse project, eight Fraunhofer Institutes are jointly researching the basic principles for producing agricultural products in an environmentally friendly, resource-saving and highly efficient manner. Possible solutions lie in sensor technology for data acquisition as well as in the digitalization and automation of agricultural processes.

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Machine Learning for Production ML4P

In the Machine Learning for Production (ML4P) lead project, we assume that performance in modern production facilities - both in the process and piece goods manufacturing industries - can be optimized with the help of machine learning.

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futureAM – Next Generation Additive Manufacturing

With futureAM, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is systematically driving forward the further development of additive manufacturing of metallic components! To this end, six experienced institutes in the field of additive manufacturing have entered into a strategic project partnership.

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eHarsh - Sensor systems for extremely harsh environments

The aim of the lead project "eHarsh" is to develop and provide a technology platform on the basis of which sensor systems, consisting of sensors and electronics, can be developed and manufactured for use in extremely harsh environments. The realization of such systems requires interdisciplinary skills, starting with the selection of appropriate materials and technologies, through various development skills, system integration for the application, to the evaluation and prediction of reliability and operational behaviour.

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Go Beyond 4.0

To date, digital printing and laser processes have rarely been used in mass production to individualize products. However, this combination could be used to customize series products in a resource-saving and cost-efficient manner, right down to one-offs. The new Fraunhofer lighthouse project "Go Beyond 4.0" is tackling this challenge.

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