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How is a digital twin generated from machine data? How can companies apply the new 5G mobile communications standard in their production? What software is required to power the Industrial Internet of Things? These are the questions currently being addressed by the three Aachen-based Fraunhofer Institutes in collaboration with 15 partners from industry who have joined their new research community in the International Center for Networked Adaptive Production, known as ICNAP. In the course of their first annual meeting, the ICNAP partners ranked these three subject areas as being in particularly urgent need of attention and selected them to be the focus of research and development projects in the coming year. It is anticipated that by the end of the year 2019, these will have been fully explored in three separate studies.

Sensors continuously record measurements in plant and machinery to check that everything is running according to plan and to enable any errors in the industrial production environment to be recognized at an early stage. However, as a rule, evaluation of the data is decentralized and takes place after a time lag. In contrast to this, the 5G wireless standard permits direct, wireless measurement in real time. Fraunhofer in Aachen has teamed up with Ericsson to offer a unique test environment for 5G applications in industry. The partners will be using the example of aero-engine component manufacture to demonstrate live, for the first time, the opportunities provided by the technology at the Hanover Fair from 23– 27 April 2018 (Hall 17, Booth C24).

Researchers from three Aachen-based Fraunhofer Institutes are working together in the Fraunhofer High Performance Center for Networked, Adaptive Production to realize the complete connectivity of machines and sensors with the goal of evaluating all recorded production data with intelligent algorithms in real time and flexibly adapting processes accordingly. At the Hannover Messe Preview on February 6 and at the Hannover Messe proper from April 23 to 27, 2018, they will demonstrate what diagnostic and forecasting possibilities this yields for the manufacture of demanding products for various sectors.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT and Ericsson announce their collaboration in exploring use cases for 5G in the manufacturing environment.