From April 20 to 24, this year’s Hannover Messe will take place in Hannover. Under the lead theme “Industrial Transformation,” it showcases the latest products and solutions for automation, digitalization and electrification of industry. Rheinmetall will also this year present innovations in the fields of robotics and autonomous systems and show how these are embedded in new data ecosystems.
The subsidiaries Rheinmetall Technology Center and Yardstick Robotics present at the Industry 4.0 joint stand:
- a driving stand for live teleoperation of a vehicle in Düsseldorf and a logistics vehicle on the exhibition grounds,
- the control center as the digital heart of teleoperation and other digital solutions, and
- the collaborative robot “YARO Cobot” – a specially developed and extremely robust robot for reliable deployment in harsh, unstructured outdoor environments.
Rheinmetall steers MAFI-Truck from Hannover to Düsseldorf
Teleoperation provides greater safety and flexibility precisely where automated systems reach their limits, for example in demanding traffic situations or in complex environments. Humans can safely intervene at these moments, even over longer distances. The solution developed by the Rheinmetall Technology Center and MIRA GmbH is applicable in logistics, urban public transport and special applications, and complements automation with human oversight.
In the project “POQUASIA – Post-Quantum Secure Generic IoT Application,” a scalable, real-time capable, and generic Internet of Things (IoT) platform was developed and successfully tested. At the trade fair booth, visitors can observe vehicles remotely driven from Hannover to Düsseldorf, and outside the exhibition area Rheinmetall, in cooperation with Götting KG, will steer a MAFI-Truck. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and supports the European IPCEI-CIS initiative for realizing a Multi-Provider Cloud-Edge Continuum.
YardStick demonstrates AI-powered robotics solutions
YardStick Robotics GmbH is a manufacturer in the field of AI-supported robotics solutions for extreme, unstructured, unpredictable environments. The specialized robotic systems “YARO Cobot” are developed for the toughest deployments – i.e., robots for the dull, dirty & dangerous tasks. YardStick Robotics is currently working on solutions ranging from the deep sea to, prospectively, extraterrestrial missions. The focus, in keeping with the motto of “Robots for the World’s Toughest Jobs,” is on the safe automation of industries that previously had no access to such robotics solutions.
As part of the BMWi-funded RoX project, YardStick Robotics demonstrates, using an AI-assisted workpiece inspection example, how a path-planning service can be integrated with simple training algorithms. End users can have trained robot trajectories optimized and then reintegrated into their applications, so robots become usable even for non-experts. The RoX research project centers on a federated ecosystem in which data, services and components can be described, exchanged and combined digitally to offer end users more affordable and flexible solutions.
Trustworthy and sovereign infrastructure as a basis
The basis for this is a trustworthy, sovereign infrastructure. It transparently governs which partner has access to which information and when. This makes data available that was previously difficult to share. The spectrum ranges from plant information (such as robots, end effectors and sensors) to workpiece data and live data from the manufacturing process. Software components are also integrated – from simple drivers to AI capabilities to complete solutions. On this basis, AI-assisted robotic applications can be developed, expanded and operated intelligently with ease.
At the joint stand of the Industry 4.0 platform, a variety of industrial solutions will be presented that can make a meaningful contribution to digital transformation. The stand brings together three thematic areas: Manufacturing-X showcases concrete applications that make value chains more competitive, resilient and sustainable. The IPCEI-Cloud-born 8ra initiative presents concepts and technologies that will realize a multi-provider cloud-edge continuum. And in the mobility of the future sector, it will be demonstrated how the blueprint for data ecosystems from the manufacturing industry can also transform mobility.
