In this daily Report from Hannover Fair控制工程网版权所有, we focus on developing projects and technologies of particular interest to the Control Engineering audience. This report focuses on three new initiatives from the Fraunhofer Institute.
Automated precision and micro-assembly processes
The global manufacturing industries increasingly require flexible automation solutions for handling and assembly processes that are capable of reducing costs and meeting ambitious quality requirements. The Fraunhofer Institute

for Production Technology (IPT) notes that such assembly systems would be required to achieve single-digit micrometer accuracies by means of integrated high-resolution sensors.

Fraunhofer Institute efforts aim to improve automated precision and micro-assembly processes.

In response, the Institute is developing a flexible assembly system for various positioning控制工程网版权所有, alignment and joining operations, enabling the automated assembly of micro-optical systems.
The IPT system includes sensor-based alignment modules with miniaturized grippers and integrated adjusting axes for multiple degrees of freedom, which make it possible to compensate for positioning errors and enable conventional, cost-efficient handling devices to align components with high degrees of accuracy. Scientists at the Institute are creating palletsCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, magazines, and containers for micro-components to allow a continuously automatic micro-productionCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, even in multi-company supply chains.
Further research activities are focused on the development of a highly flexible assembly cell consisting of several interlinked robots capable of flexibly applying handling控制工程网版权所有, joining, and measuring equipment. Eventually, the facility will be outfitted with mechanisms of self-optimization, enabling the machine to adapt itself to changing environmental conditions and to optimize assembly processes without human intervention. www.ipt.fraunhofer.de
New directions for future automation technology
The Fraunhofer Institute for Information and D