Press releases

A digital holographic sensor checks the quality of metal bipolar plates for fuel cells with an accuracy of a few micrometers, enabling complete inline quality control for the first time. The sensor data provides the basis for a digital twin of the entire forming process. The digital twin should help understand the causes of recurring errors and optimize the production process.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed sensor systems and measuring equipment that detect leaks in hydrogen lines and tanks. Applications for the new technology include continuous monitoring of hydrogen shipments and facilities in the chemical industry. The researchers use multiple sensor technologies to provide safety equipment covering as many scenarios of the future hydrogen economy as possible.

Highly efficient solid-state heat pumps without compressors – that is the vision of Fraunhofer researchers. With the recent completion of the ElKaWe research project, they took a big step towards realizing this vision. The team made great progress in terms of material and system design, and set up the first electrocaloric demonstrators to show the vast potential of this technology.

How can the vitality of trees be assessed quickly and reliably? In the TreeVitaScan project, researchers from Fraunhofer IPM and the University of Freiburg are testing a comprehensive data model that combines multispectral laser scanning with AI-supported data evaluation. This should make it possible to determine the vitality of individual trees automatically, reliably and across a wide area.

In industrial stamping processes, several hundred sheet metal parts are typically produced per minute. Together with the stamped parts manufacturer Quittenbaum GmbH, researchers at Fraunhofer IPM have now for the first time developed and installed an optical inspection system that checks the dimensional accuracy of every single component in high-speed stamping processes – with an accuracy in the range of 100 micrometers.

Dr. Chiara Lindner, postdoc and employee of Fraunhofer IPM for many years, was honored with the “For Women in Science” Award on November 12, 2024. The award, endowed with 25,000 €, promotes four successful young female scientists from Germany who have distinguished themselves through their work in the experimental natural sciences.

As part of the Pic2Bridge research project, Fraunhofer IPM is working with the Institute of Concrete Structures at TU Dresden and fokus GmbH Leipzig to optimize the bridge planning and maintenance process. This is to be achieved with the help of an automated AI process that can create a 3D bridge model from just a few photos. The project work starts on November 12, 2024 with a virtual kick-off event.

Professor Daniel Carl, Deputy Director of Fraunhofer IPM, took up the professorship of “Production Control” at the Institute for Sustainable Systems Engineering INATECH on October 1, 2024. The focus is on the optimization of production processes by using optical measuring and testing methods.

Modern joining and bonding processes such as welding or gluing can produce very strong and durable connections. However, this is only possible if the corresponding surface areas are very clean – in particular, free of organic residues. The F-Scanner from Fraunhofer IPM detects even the slightest contamination and inspects surfaces across large areas, completely and fully automatically – currently, for example, at three manufacturers of electric vehicle components. Fraunhofer IPM is presenting its F-Scanner at the EuroBLECH trade fair.

Already for the second time, the Photonica Summer School inspired twenty young international scientists. They spent a week gaining an insight into five Fraunhofer Institutes and their research in the field of photonics, traveling from Braunschweig to Berlin via Jena and Dresden. Fraunhofer Photonica was organized by the Fraunhofer Group for Light & Surfaces under the direction of Fraunhofer IPM.