From Research to Application: Projects at Fraunhofer EMFT

The SUE project (Self-driving Urban E-Shuttle) developed an autonomous people mover designed to serve as a highly automated feeder vehicle for regional public transport. The aim was to enable reliable and safe autonomous driving under real infrastructure conditions - at speeds of up to 50 km/h. A key component in achieving this is a robust, redundant localization technology developed at Fraunhofer EMFT.

SENNA is a programmable neuromorphic processor based on a mixed-signal, circuit‑switched Field‑Programmable Spiking Neuron Array (FPSNA).

Every year, over 3 million immobile people worldwide suffer from severe, mostly preventable pressure ulcers, with around 0.6 million in Germany. Pressure ulcers not only cause personal suffering but are also time-consuming and costly to treat. Current prophylaxis methods require significant commitment from nursing staff and do not provide continuous security. Therefore, there is an urgent need for individual and continuous monitoring for effective pressure ulcer prophylaxis. SoreAlert, a potential spin-off from Fraunhofer EMFT, addresses this need with a smart patch that allows for automated monitoring of at-risk body areas and provides early warnings for pressure ulcers.

In the PCB direct contacting research project (T-1753), Fraunhofer EMFT investigated PCB direct contacting systems for highly reliable mechatronic and drive technology applications. The aim was to evaluate commercially available systems in terms of technical performance, reliability and economic suitability under realistic environmental and stress conditions.

Gear oils make a significant contribution to minimising friction and thus ensure the safe operation of production facilities. In the Smart Gear project, researchers at Fraunhofer EMFT are developing solutions to detect a drop in the performance of gear oils with the help of sensor technology and machine learning methods and to predict when the oil needs to be changed.

The aim of predictive maintenance is to maintain operating resources proactively and with foresight. This should reduce downtime and maintenance costs to a minimum. Researchers at Fraunhofer EMFT are testing new concepts that use machine learning methods to efficiently process even extremely heterogeneous data and make accurate maintenance predictions for production facilities.

Fraunhofer EMFT is conducting research on miniaturized suction probes for soil water analysis. The goal is to enable demand-based fertilization by real-time monitoring of the nitrate content in soil water.

Efficient use of resources while maintaining high yields from the fields has become a central topic for agriculture. Monitoring various plant parameters, such as their water or nutrient content, plays an important role here. Currently, such parameters are deducted from soil samples by complex and lengthy processes in laboratories. The scientists at Fraunhofer EMFT are working on the development of reliable and faster methods to monitor relevant plant parameters.

In the project ‘Insect cells as sensors for environmental toxins’, Fraunhofer EMFT is developing a novel test method in which living insect cells are used as sensitive biosensors. This allows even the smallest toxic effects of pesticides to be detected quickly, without labelling and automatically. The aim is to identify risks at an early stage and support the development of bee-friendly pesticides – an important contribution to the protection of insects and biodiversity.

A reliable food supply is one of the elementary basic needs of our society. What has long been taken for granted is gaining new urgency in the face of current challenges such as climate change, supply chain problems, labor shortages and political and military aggression. Researchers at Fraunhofer EMFT are working on innovative solutions for more productive and at the same time more sustainable agriculture and forestry as part of the EU project AGRARSENSE.

Fraunhofer EMFT is developing CAELIA Health, a startup-project, a AI-powered solution for inhalation therapy in asthma and COPD. The system helps patients use their inhalers correctly in daily life, provides clear feedback, and makes therapy measurable – without adding complexity. Its goal is to improve adherence, enhance treatment outcomes, and enable millions of patients to live with fewer symptoms. With CAELIA Health, patients gain more control, confidence, and quality of life.

For Bavaria, the agricultural sector has a significant economic importance with a turnover of around 121 billion euros per year. However, conflicts with the economic goals of farmers and the sustainable goals of environmental and animal protection initiatives occur from time to time due to the different interests involved. Especially the emission of ammonia gases leads to social discussions. Researchers at Fraunhofer EMFT are developing a more efficient measurement method for detecting ammonia gases in agriculture. The aim is to contribute to more environmentally friendly and animal-friendly agriculture.

Whether in automobiles – especially in the context of autonomous driving – or future industrial manufacturing: plugs and electrical connection technologies have a key role to play in digital networking. They are the main interface between machines, control units and data processing systems and so they provide the basis for the functionality, simple handling and reliability of automation technology.

The research project »Velektronik - Vertrauenswürdige Elektronik (ZEUS)« of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), aims to establish a networking platform for trusted electronics as an interface between research and industry.

Edge computing is considered a key for new IoT applications. In order to bring artificial intelligence into future edge products, Fraunhofer EMFT researchers are working together with Fraunhofer IIS and Fraunhofer IPMS as part of the EU ANDANTE project to develop innovative mixed-signal artificial neural network (ANN) accelerator with computation-in-memory (CIM) ability. These are intended to enable the construction of solid hardware and software platforms for AI application development.

With the Soldering Mobile, the Center for Interconnection Technology in Electronics ZVE at Fraunhofer EMFT is now offering its customers an attractive alternative to onsite training courses at the Oberpfaffenhofen training center. The soldering station on wheels can be put into operation directly at the customer's premises using plug & play.

Aquaplaning and black ice turn streets into dangerous slides, which often leads to serious accidents. Within the framework of the high-performance center »secure intelligent systems« (LZSiS), Fraunhofer EMFT and Uedelhoven Studios are working together on a solution to the problem. A real-time warning system shall identify the potential danger due to water or ice on the road surface, thus enabling a predictive detection of the road conditions. Such an early warning system would increase the road safety for all traffic participants.

Approximately 80 % of the CO2 footprint of average electronic components is created already during their production. A Fraunhofer EMFT research team is working on optimizing semiconductor manufacturing processes in order to minimize the use of climate-damaging process gases. In this context, the scientists are also testing more climate-friendly alternatives to etching gases used as standard today.

The SmartMan project aims to make semiconductor packaging production intelligent and sustainable in order to manufacture error-free and resource-efficient electronics.

We all know it: wintertime is cold season and cough or headache tablets are often part of everyday life. But our gastrointestinal tract absorbs medication differently. In the “e-Pille” project, scientists from the Fraunhofer Institutes ITMP, EMFT and IZM are researching the points in the gastrointestinal tract where different active ingredients are best absorbed. The aim is to optimize the formulation of new drugs when taken orally.