Suction excavators are mainly used in areas where smaller building structures need to be exposed very precisely. For example, a defective gate valve of a water supply pipe that runs under a sidewalk needs to be replaced. Here it is important to ensure that gas, telephone or power lines are not damaged by the suction process and that people in the vicinity of the suction vehicle are not harmed. In order to automate such a digging process, it is essential to recognize the situation in addition to precisely controlling the vacuum cleaner and planning and executing certain paths. As part of the doctoral project, innovative AI methods are to be investigated and applied to the suction excavator task on a test basis. The aim is to show whether it is possible to train a neural network based on image and distance data in such a way that the suction process is controlled directly by the network. Such a concept could be transferred to a large number of similar applications and would increase process quality while reducing costs at the same time.
Climate change brings with it many challenges, and wine and sparkling wine production is not unaffected. Extreme weather conditions affect the composition of the grapes and therefore also the fermentation process during wine and sparkling wine production. Small, family-run wineries in Rhineland-Palatinate, the backbone of the regional wine industry, face major challenges. In contrast to larger wineries, they often lack the technical and financial resources to adapt to the new conditions. The aim of this research project is to investigate how climate change affects the composition of grapes and how winegrowers can adapt their fermentation processes in order to continue producing high-quality wines and sparkling wines. This project not only secures the future of small wineries, but also contributes to the preservation of the cultural landscape and regional diversity in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the same time, it raises public awareness of the effects of climate change on viticulture.
Total final energy consumption in Germany is significantly influenced by heating and water heating in buildings. In 2022, the final energy consumption of private households amounted to 28.6 % of total energy consumption and is therefore higher than the consumption of the entire industrial sector. In order to achieve climate neutrality by 2045 as demanded by the German government, the energy consumption of buildings must be significantly reduced. This requires advanced energy supply systems that use renewable energies. As part of this research project, innovative thermo-electrical and electromechanical processes are being researched in order to supply buildings with energy in a highly efficient manner. In addition to researching the various energy supply methods, AI-supported computer systems are being used to investigate the optimization of overall building energy systems. The aim is to achieve a high level of energy efficiency and climate neutrality through a sensible combination of the respective thermoelectric and electromechanical systems
The aim of the research project is to find out how fasteners in timber-concrete composite construction behave when there is a fire. Wood-concrete composite construction is an innovative construction method that combines the advantages of wood and concrete to create load-bearing and sustainable buildings. In the event of a fire, the concrete is designed to prevent the wood from being exposed to the fire without protection. The fasteners are used to connect the two materials, concrete and wood.
The project aims to gather theoretical and practical information to improve the safety and performance of fasteners in timber-concrete construction in the event of fire. The results should contribute to the development of new and safer fastening options to enable a wider range of applications. The project will also contribute to the development of rules and standards for fire safety in timber construction.
The overarching aim of this project is to develop an ultra-slim concrete component. This can save resources and weight and thus protect the environment. As the most widely used building material in the world, concrete is indispensable, but causes high greenhouse gas emissions. Elsewhere, work is being carried out explicitly on the substitution of emission-causing substances. The approach of this project is to reduce the amount of concrete generally required by using effective methods. For example, high-strength concretes are selected that also require smaller quantities of material due to prestressing.
To transfer tensile forces in the concrete, it is necessary to incorporate steel, which requires minimum cover dimensions and thus "dead" material to protect against corrosion. In this project, the tensile forces are transferred via carbon tapes, which replace the integrated reinforcement in the concrete. This is the only way to achieve a significant reduction in material. Nevertheless, the findings from the development of the carbon tapes can also be applied elsewhere, for example in existing buildings.
The materials are analyzed and developed using computed tomography methods and photogrammetry. This allows the bonding behavior of the carbon tapes in particular to be precisely recorded.
In times of climate change and sustainability, the construction sector must also make its contribution. The amount of CO2 released during concrete production is the biggest challenge here, which is why research is being carried out into the use of alternative construction systems and materials. Due to its worldwide availability, ease of use and low energy requirements during processing, clay is an excellent building material for producing resource-saving and reusable components. For these reasons, RPTU is conducting research into walls made from rammed earth elements at its Kaiserslautern site. The aim of the research is to develop large-format wall elements that are easy to transport and enable simple assembly and disassembly. Dismantling and reuse eliminates the need to dispose of construction waste. Furthermore, earth is also much easier to recycle than concrete. All in all, earth building is therefore a sustainable alternative to concrete construction.
Autonomous robots that work independently have great potential, for example on construction sites, in agriculture or in disaster control. However, it has so far been difficult to network different machines with each other, especially if they come from different manufacturers. A key problem with the use of mixed robot systems is the lack of uniform standards: Machines from different manufacturers often do not speak the same "language", which makes direct collaboration difficult or impossible. This often leads to expensive adaptations and complex programming.
It is precisely these challenges that the project at RPTU is addressing. A so-called middleware is being developed, a technical mediation platform that functions like an interpreter between the machines. This middleware should not only ensure that robots can communicate with each other in a standardized way, but also that the exchanged data is correctly understood and interpreted. At the same time, work is being done to ensure that robots adapt dynamically to the situation at hand and flexibly change their tasks and behavior depending on what is needed in the overall system. It is particularly important that the system is suitable for practical use. The technologies developed are therefore tested in real-life scenarios, for example with autonomous construction vehicles on uneven terrain or in cooperative disaster control operations.
The aim is for these machines to be able to communicate directly with each other and carry out tasks together without the need for costly retrofitting each time. Initial tests will show how well the system works in realistic operational areas, for example on construction sites or in emergency situations. In the long term, the aim is to create a basis for new products and services from which small and medium-sized companies in the region in particular can benefit.
The industrial production of enzymes - e.g. for animal feed, detergents or the paper industry - is often carried out with the help of fungi. These microscopically small creatures produce important enzymes if they are provided with a precisely controlled environment in the bioreactor. However, the path to optimal production is complex. Even small differences in the nutrient supply, oxygen content or movement in the reactor can cause the fungal cells to grow differently. Instead of spreading out in a finely distributed manner, they then form dense, spherical structures. This change in shape affects how well the fungi produce enzymes - sometimes production can drop sharply.
This is where a new research project comes in. Scientists at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fraunhofer ITWM and BASF SE are working together to find out how enzyme production can be specifically improved using a clever combination of biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The aim is to cultivate fungi such as the widespread Aspergillus in such a way that they can produce enzymes reliably and in large quantities - even on an industrial scale. At the heart of the project is a new method in which data from the bioreactor is recorded in real time and analyzed using modern AI models. This makes it possible to directly identify how the oxygen content or stirring speed, for example, affects fungal growth and enzyme production - and the conditions can be adjusted automatically. This saves time and resources and facilitates the transition from research to industrial practice.
The gray emissions from the construction of buildings contribute a relevant share to global greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the construction industry uses considerable amounts of resources and also generates around half of the waste produced nationally. To achieve the climate targets, the construction sector must therefore undergo fundamental change.
Wood-concrete composite ceilings (HBV ceilings) are an ideal way to reduce gray emissions, as the building material wood binds carbon as it grows. By replacing the tension zone in the concrete with glulam ribs, a lightweight ceiling construction with a thin concrete surface is created. At the end of their life, the materials are currently separated by type. The concrete slab is broken up and can be used as filler material and waste wood is thermally recycled, i.e. incinerated. By reusing components as such in future, not only can resources be conserved and waste avoided, but the considerable greenhouse gas emissions for the production of new components can also be prevented. In addition, the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere remains stored if the wooden ribs are not incinerated. In addition to their function in the load-bearing structure, building components can therefore be used as CO2 reservoirs instead of sources.
To ensure that an HBV ceiling can be designed reversibly, research is being carried out at RPTU on a precisely prefabricated, multi-part "plug-in system" for the dry interlocking of the timber and concrete cross-section. Without the previously prescribed use of screws cast into the concrete, this connection is easy to loosen at the end of its service life. In order to ensure the reusability of the timber and concrete cross-section, the dry joint must be optimized so that it can specifically counteract the characteristic deformation behaviour of the material combination.
In plant cultivation - from food to houseplants - plant protection products (PPPs) are used to keep plants healthy. However, if these products are used incorrectly, they can harm the environment, e.g. if they end up in the groundwater.
This research project is investigating how PPPs can be sprayed directly inside the plant using a mobile robot. This would make it possible to significantly reduce the amount of PPP used, which would make a significant contribution to environmental protection.
The robot performs three work steps: Drilling, injecting and sealing. First, a special robot arm is developed for this purpose and, building on this, environmental recognition. Control concepts are being developed to enable the robot arm to be controlled using AI. The aim is to find out how reliably the robot can perform this task and whether it can replace the previous, often laborious, manual work process.
In order to meet Germany's ambitious climate targets, which envisage a significant reduction in CO2 emissions in the agricultural and transport sectors by 2030, conventional fossil fuels must be largely replaced by renewable energy sources. One promising solution for commercial vehicle applications is the use of renewable fuels such as hydrogen. Hydrogen engines offer many advantages for energy-intensive applications such as heavy commercial vehicles and mobile machinery with typically long operating times under possibly extreme conditions. These require robust energy systems with high storage density and fast energy supply options and must be flexible in terms of location and time. These requirements can be met very well with an easily storable fuel such as hydrogen. In addition to being climate-neutral, hydrogen engines also enable virtually emission-free operation, which can help to improve air quality. The key to achieving the desired emission neutrality is to largely avoid the formation of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The aim of the research project is therefore to develop an innovative system that makes it possible to recover water directly from the exhaust gas of a hydrogen engine. This water can then be used to cool the combustion process by re-injecting it into the engine, thereby minimizing the formation of NOx during combustion. Conventional concepts require an external refill of (distilled) water, which requires large water tanks and regular refill intervals. By recovering water on board the vehicle, the aim is to significantly reduce or ideally completely eliminate the need for refilling water. In the three-year project, the concept is to be virtually developed and optimized using state-of-the-art simulation methods. At the end, a prototype will show how this innovative technology can be implemented in practice.
Additively manufactured components often have surfaces after production that are not yet sufficient for industrial use. The HybridAM project is developing processes that improve the quality and service life of components while at the same time conserving energy and resources. The focus is on components that are manufactured using high-speed laser deposition welding (HS DED-LB), a flexible and highly efficient process. For the post-processing of the components, various methods are combined into so-called hybrid process chains in order to make optimum use of their advantages. It is essential that the approaches can be implemented on conventional machine tools, which are already available in many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based on the project results, a digital model will be created that enables the selection of the optimal process chain for different applications and can advance additive manufacturing in a technically, economically and ecologically sustainable manner.
The AURORA-6G project is developing innovative technologies to significantly increase productivity and flexibility in industrial production. The focus is on intelligent 6G networks, autonomous robots and a semantic framework that enables components to be integrated quickly and easily into existing systems.
The so-called AURORA framework creates the basis for new business models such as "as-a-service" concepts in production and intralogistics. Thanks to standardized, flexible interfaces and so-called "skills", robots can be controlled more efficiently, set up more quickly and, if necessary, monitored remotely.
The technological basis is 6G networking, which enables direct and powerful communication between machines, vehicles and robots. This is supplemented by edge computing to reduce the load on the systems and XR technologies that facilitate operation and monitoring. The connection to digital twins also supports the planning, simulation and optimization of production and logistics processes.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the manufacturing industry plays a central role in employment and value creation. In the face of growing challenges such as global competitive pressure, rising costs and disrupted supply chains, innovations - particularly in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) - are crucial for competitiveness, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Despite its great potential, AI is still underutilized in industrial practice. The main reason for this is the gap between research and application, as many AI approaches are not designed for the complex conditions of real production data.
The aim is therefore to make AI research more practice-oriented: the development and testing of concrete applications in production, a targeted focus on the needs of SMEs and an accelerated transfer of knowledge and technology should help to transfer AI solutions into industrial practice more quickly and easily.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are faced with the challenge of making their production processes more efficient and flexible in the face of growing product diversity. The effort involved is particularly high in robot-assisted production, as product variants often still have to be programmed manually.
This is where the project comes in and aims to facilitate access to modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, collaborative robots and digital control systems. The aim is to optimize production processes in a semi-automated manner without displacing people from the center.
The core of the project is a model that gradually introduces companies to new automation solutions. Historical production data is used to make suggestions for process design, which are then adapted by specialists. This is supplemented by a flexible software infrastructure based on open standards, which enables simple integration of existing systems.
Close cooperation with industry partners is intended to create practical solutions that show SMEs concrete paths towards Digitalization and sustainable automation.