https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/ Fraunhofer IKS is your partner in the development of innovative software approaches for the areas of Industry 4.0 and autonomous driving. en Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:03:20 +0200 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:03:20 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/portrait-katie-fitch-the-interaction-between-research-and-industry-inspires-me Thu, 27 Mar 2025 09:43:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/industry-4-0-toolbox-offers-more-flexibility-in-production Tue, 18 Mar 2025 17:13:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/serie-deep-teil-3-subtasks-enable-solving-complex-inspection-problems Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:29:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/serie-deep-teil-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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/reinforcement-learning-shift-planning-agent-for-hospital-staffing Thu, 06 Mar 2025 16:56:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/reinforcement-learning-shift-planning-agent-for-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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safe-intelligence-day-2025-automation-three-insights Tue, 25 Feb 2025 18:47:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safe-intelligence-day-2025-automation-three-insights 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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/railway-ai-systems-the-importance-of-operational-design-domain-odd Tue, 18 Feb 2025 15:56:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/un-international-year-of-quantum-science-and-technology Tue, 11 Feb 2025 14:45:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/un-international-year-of-quantum-science-and-technology 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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/serie-deep-teil-2-insufficient-data-no-problem Wed, 05 Feb 2025 09:00:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/serie-deep-teil-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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/interview-with-niels-syassen-sick-ag-it-makes-sense-to-start-by-solving-a-simple-problem Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:32:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/autonomous-driving-myths-and-reality Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:35:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/serie-deep-teil-1-reliable-ai-enables-automation-of-quality-inspection Wed, 18 Dec 2024 12:00:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/serie-deep-teil-1-reliable-ai-enables-automation-of-quality-inspection 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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/autonomous-driving-where-driverless-cars-still-have-some-catching-up-to-do Wed, 04 Dec 2024 11:30:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safetronic-2024-review-extending-existing-processes-of-functional-safety Wed, 20 Nov 2024 16:00:00 +0100 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safetronic-2024-preview-a-linux-based-os-solution-for-safety-related-applications Wed, 23 Oct 2024 16:47:00 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safetronic-2024-preview-a-linux-based-os-solution-for-safety-related-applications 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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safetronic-2024-preview-architectures-for-safe-automated-driving Mon, 07 Oct 2024 16:18:00 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/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.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/interview-with-jessica-kelly-representation-of-women-at-fraunhofer-iks Wed, 25 Sep 2024 16:18:00 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/interview-with-jessica-kelly-representation-of-women-at-fraunhofer-iks The days of hollow “women's power” phrases are over. This has long since become a social demand for equal opportunities for women, which is clearly formulated, emphatically demanded and often put into practice - albeit with varying degrees of commitment. Jessica Kelly, who has been a researcher at the institute since 2022, explains what it looks like in science and at Fraunhofer IKS.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safetronic-2024-explainable-statistical-evaluation-of-an-ads-functionality Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:07:00 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/safetronic-2024-explainable-statistical-evaluation-of-an-ads-functionality Algorithms used in automated driving systems are complex and use non-deterministic deep neural networks. Some variants of deep neural networks can be explained theo­retically but their behavior under all conditions for the set of safety-critical scenarios to be covered by the automated driving system in the given operational design domain is generally not readily understood. Here is how it could work – a new approach.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/interview-alexandre-sawczuk-da-silva-international-team Thu, 29 Aug 2024 18:23:00 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/interview-alexandre-sawczuk-da-silva-international-team Research teams at the Fraunhofer IKS live and breathe diversity. The researchers come from a total of 25 countries. Dr. Alexandre Sawczuk da Silva from Brazil is one of them. In this interview, he describes his path to Fraunhofer research.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/can-generative-ai-revolutionize-modern-healthcare Wed, 21 Aug 2024 15:54:00 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/can-generative-ai-revolutionize-modern-healthcare Artificial intelligence and LLMs in particular are seen by many as a beacon of hope for the overburdened healthcare system. Above all, AI-based automation could quickly provide relief for knowledge management routine tasks. Until that happens, problems with security and safety must be solved and legal requirements fulfilled. Fraunhofer IKS research is addressing both of these issues.

]]> https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/future-of-production-industry-5-0 Mon, 12 Aug 2024 06:30:00 +0200 https://safe-intelligence.fraunhofer.de/en/articles/future-of-production-industry-5-0 Industrial production is undergoing radical change. With constant technological advancement and societal change, industrial automation must also reinvent itself to meet changing requirements and challenges – with the keyword here being adaptive production.

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