What potential do sensory data and their targeted processing and presentation in augmented reality (AR) have for companies? How can increasingly complex processes of the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) be simplified by means of user-dependent AR visualization? Researchers, founders, companies and associations will talk about the needs in industry and trade as well as possible IIOT-AR use cases in the areas of object recognition, visualization and localization.
As part of the Hightech Summit 2021 "Engineering the Digital and Green Future in Mobility, Manufacturing, Medicine & Media", M4_LAB as a cooperation project of the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart invited to the Techbreakfast "Sensory Data and AR in Production and Logistics" on the morning of October 19, 2021 at Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart.
The guests were welcomed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Volker Coors, project manager of the SensAR project and head of the Institute of Applied Sciences at HFT Stuttgart. Prof. Coors started his welcoming speech directly with the motivation for organizing the Techbreakfast: "We want to discuss our use-cases with companies and at the same time show how transfer is realized via our research through, for example, company start-ups at the HFT. Because transfer always has to be implemented together with companies as well."
Subsequently, the HFT researchers from SensAR project introduced the respective topics of the SensAR subprojects with their short presentations. The speakers were supported by the project team, which was represented by a total of six professors and five staff members.
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eberhard Gülch: Localization and object recognition using point clouds and cameras
- Prof. Dr. Stefan Knauth: Localizationand indoor position determination via smartphone
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Uckelmann: Reading out sensor data and providing the data for the user interface
- Prof. Dr. Gero Lückemeyer: Visualization: User interface for displaying sensor data
Finally, HFT student and co-founder of PrintToScan, Marcel Griesshaber, explained the young company's idea, which has already won the Start-up BW ASAP Tech Award, in his presentation " Object digitization: CAD design directly on the component" .For him and the other two co-founders, Hannes Plott and Adrian Schäffler, the Techbreakfast was a success: "It was great that awide range of people and industries were presenthere, so that we could extensively present our start-up project and also reach completely new interested parties from sectors that we had not previously considered."
Finally, Marcel Griesshaber, HFT student and co-founder of PrintToScan, explained the young company's idea, which has already won the Start-up BW ASAP Tech Award, in his presentation "Object digitization: CAD design directly on the component". For him and the other two co-founders, Hannes Plott and Adrian Schäffler, the Techbreakfast was a success: "It was great that a broad spectrum of people and industries were present here, so that we could present our start-up project extensively and also reach completely new interested parties from sectors that we had not previously considered."
In the second part of the Techbreakfast, the expectations and wishes of the guests were asked during a short round of getting to know each other, and initial questions were taken for the subsequent discussion. At the bar tables, the guests got to know each other better and exchanged ideas in small groups in a relaxed breakfast atmosphere. There was particular interest here in solutions for indoor navigation, and different technical approaches for different use cases were discussed in more detail for all sub-areas. "We had few participants, but this was actually an advantage for the discussion, it was very intense," Volker Coors sums up.
In the last part of the event, all participants were again invited to a joint discussion. Here, previous fields of application of AR/ and VR were compared with the future possibilities and it was reflected at which point of the hype cycle we are. The participants agreed that we are already on the path to enlightenment – a great incentive to continue research in this area, to train experts and to engage in intensive exchange.
Markus Leidinger, Futurice GmbH, one of the guests: "It was exciting to hear about the cases you are preparing for in research and the directions and topics you are taking. I was able to reflect well on the topics for me and it was exciting to hear the different points of view.
Formats like this one are helpful in bridging the gap that sometimes exists between research and application. Meetings like this stimulate collaboration between companies and universities."
The SensAR research project at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation with € 750,000 in the Transfer program line. The exchange with users and transfer of the results is therefore very important in this project.
The M4_LAB project of the HFT Stuttgart and the Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation is developing structures and formats for more innovation and transfer from transdisciplinary research for energy-efficient urban development, sustainable management and production in the Stuttgart metropolitan region. This transfer project is funded by the federal-state initiative "Innovative University".
From 18.10. to 20.10.2021, the Hightech Summit returned to the site and this year was dedicated to current technology and digitization trends with a focus on "Green & Digital". Supported and organized by bwcon GmbH, DataLabTraining and Land BW.