Articles – Magazine of the Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems IKS

Safetronic 2025
Focus on holistic safety for road vehicles

Almost a quarter of a century! To be more precise, Safetronic, the international conference on holistic safety for road vehicles, has been around for 24 years. A lot has happened during this time - and it should stay that way.

April 2, 2025

Portrait Katie Fitch
"The interaction between research and industry inspires me"

Dr. Katie Fitch has been head of the department Trustworthy Digital Health at Fraunhofer IKS since November 2024. Katie's enthusiasm for mathematics led her to the engineering section early on. Then she discovered medical AI research for herself.

March 27, 2025

Industry 4.0
Toolbox offers more flexibility in production

The ability of a production system to adapt independently to new circumstances promises efficiency gains and thus cost advantages. This also applies to late change orders in the production process - a case for the new tool set from Fraunhofer IKS for flexible and resilient production.

Industry 4.0

March 18, 2025

DEEP Series, Part 3
Subtasks enable solving complex inspection problems

DEEP is a machine learning toolchain by Fraunhofer IKS for the reliable AI-assisted automation of quality inspection systems. For this purpose, DEEP automates various specific Fraunhofer IKS technologies. This part of the series of blog posts focuses on the specific technological contents of modular concept learning.

Artificial intelligence

March 11, 2025

AI in Workforce Management
Reinforcement Learning Shift Planning Agent Set to Transform Hospital Staffing

Faced with cost pressures and a shortage of healthcare professionals, organizations are challenged to increase efficiency. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into workforce management offers promising approaches. In a joint project, Fraunhofer IKS and ATOSS Software have developed an AI-controlled shift planning agent that automates staff scheduling while demonstrating remarkable scalability.

AI in medicine

March 6, 2025

Safe Intelligence Day 2025
Automation: Three Insights from the Industry

What are the key ideas shaping the current automation landscape? Read on to learn about three insights that emerged from discussions between participants at Fraunhofer IKS’ Safe Intelligence Day 2025.

Industry 4.0

February 25, 2025

Artificial Intelligence
Railway AI Systems: The Importance of Operational Design Domain (ODD)

As the railway industry advances, integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems has become essential to improve efficiency and enhance the attractiveness of rail transport. However, implementing AI in railway operations comes with several challenges. Ensuring safety is the top priority while simultaneously increasing throughput.

Artificial intelligence

February 18, 2025

UN International Year of Quantum Science and Technology
Quantum Computing Comes Knocking on the Door of Business

The United Nations has declared 2025 to be the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. This is to recall and celebrate the fact that 100 years have now elapsed since the beginnings of quantum mechanics. It is an occasion for a critical review and an optimistic preview of quantum computing technology, including from the point of view of business.

Quantum computing

February 11, 2025

DEEP Series, Part 2
Insufficient Data? No Problem!

DEEP, the machine learning toolchain of Fraunhofer IKS, enables the automation of quality control in production environments, even if the requirements are complex. The technologies FAST and Robuscope, likewise developed by Fraunhofer IKS, are essential components of this solution.

Artificial intelligence

February 5, 2025

Interview with Niels Syassen, SICK AG
“It makes sense to start by solving a simple problem”

Quality assurance is one of the, if not the most crucial competitive factors for industrial companies. German companies have long since recognized this and generally do not have to contend with quality issues. But that comes at a cost. Artificial intelligence is now believed to become a game changer in quality assurance. Dr. Niels Syassen, Executive Board member with responsibility for SICK AG’s Technology & Digitalization portfolio, explains how this will work.

Industry 4.0

January 29, 2025

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