Articles – Magazine of the Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems IKS

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

Autonomous Driving
Myths and reality

There are so many myths about autonomous driving and safety in the public debate. We're going to look at four of them here from a US perspective.

Autonomous driving

January 16, 2025

DEEP Series (Data Efficient Evaluation Platform), Part 1
Reliable AI Enables Automation of Quality Inspection in Industry

Machine learning (ML) is considered a promising technology for the automation of quality control in production environments, even if the requirements are complex. However, ML approaches require sufficiently large datasets for training of the system, which are often unavailable. The ML toolchain DEEP (Date Efficient Evaluation Platform) from Fraunhofer IKS addresses this challenge.

Artificial intelligence

December 18, 2024

Autonomous driving
Where driverless cars still have some catching up to do

Autonomous driving can work well in precisely defined areas of use. Yet if driverless cars are let loose into the free-for-all of everyday road traffic unprepared, difficulties can crop up that these vehicles are not prepared to cope with. Three examples.

Autonomous driving

December 4, 2024

Safetronic 2024 Review
Extending existing processes of Functional Safety

Complex behavior presented by modern vehicles relies on complex sensors recognizing the environment of the vehicle. Unfortunately, this functionality does not operate in a black-white scheme.

Autonomous driving

November 20, 2024

Safetronic 2024: Preview
A Linux based OS solution for safety related applications up to ASIL-B/ SIL-2

High-performance computers (HPC) as the central elements of E/E-architectures in software-driven vehicles need an adequate operating system solution. Linux is a good choice for HPCs.

Safety engineering

October 23, 2024

Safetronic 2024: Preview
Architectures for Safe Automated Driving

The demanding integrity and availability requirements of Highly Automated Driving need to be addressed by suitable architectures.

Autonomous driving

October 7, 2024

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