Automation Engineering

The project focuses on increasing the efficiency of strawberry frigo seedling cultivation in rack-based systems. To counter rising labor costs and the shortage of seasonal workers, the planting process is being analyzed and an automation concept developed. Expertise in the cultivation of strawberry frigo seedlings in rack systems is provided by the project partner Karls Markt OHG. Key requirements and parameters serve to define and automate the ideal process of planting a frigo strawberry plant into the substrate. The goal is to handle the organic plant seedlings and develop an automated solution for placing them into the substrate.

For the construction of wind turbines using panel-based designs, individual panels are to be assembled into a tower structure. As hub heights continue to increase, conventional tower construction methods are becoming less economical. To simplify the joining of these elements, the fitter is only required to screw on and secure the joining component of the connection system from the inside of the tower. The connection systems themselves are to be automatically supplied and positioned from the outside of the tower.

To achieve this, an automation solution in the form of a bolt insertion robot has been developed. The robot autonomously traverses the connection line, detects the boreholes, and provides the necessary fastening elements to the fitter for assembly.

Special shipbuilding in Germany is characterized by small batch sizes and the use of various materials. One of the key steps in hull construction is welding. The objective of this research project is to develop a system for programming welding robots in shipbuilding, which automatically generates the required robot programs for welding based on 3D sensor data of the current components.