Visit of ministerial director Ulrich Steinbach at the wbk – Institute of Production Science

Ulrich Steinbach visited the learning factory of the wbk as well as various test stands and the measuring room. In the learning factory, students and representatives from industry can directly see and try out various industry 4.0 applications on a real industrial assembly line for electric motors. They can design assembly steps manually or automatically as required, there is a decentralized control system and a station for human-robot collaboration. Here, what is learned is directly linked and applied in practice. University teaching as well as advanced training for industry is given a special application orientation.

In the measuring room of the wbk at the pheasant garden, a computer tomograph and optical measuring instruments are used in addition to various tactile coordinate measuring machines. These devices enable measurements of the finest microstructures as well as the characterisation of entire components. In order to enable measurements of low uncertainty, the measuring instruments are located on their own foundations. In addition, the temperature is regulated to +/- 0.5°C by a powerful air-conditioning system. The measuring instruments are used for research purposes as well as for service measurements.

In addition, the Ministerial Director received information on current research topics and future trends in production, for example on the Innovation Campus Mobility, the new AgiloBat research project, the 3-D Print Cloud and the current status of the Karlsruhe Research Factory. "We thank Ulrich Steinbach for his visit and the appreciation of our research work", says Prof. Gisela Lanza, head of the wbk Institute of Production Science.