Autor: Thomas Vögele

With EO smart connecting car, the DFKI Robotics Innovation Center in Bremen developed an experimental platform for new technologies in the area of electro mobility. Based on a consequent implementation of the electric drive train, the EO features functionalities that are important for a transition from traditional solutions for personal mobility to new mobility concepts of the future. An example for such functionalities is the ability of the EO to optimize itself for specific applications through morphologic modification and a modular architecture. A first demonstrator of the EO was presented in spring 2012.

Shoe manufacturing provides employment to a large number of European citizens. Large parts of the manufacturing process are still dominated by manual work. Robotic solutions to automate and optimize the production can ensure that European companies, in particular manufacturers of high-quality, high-price fashion shoes, retain their competitive edge on the global markets. There are many sectors of industry, in particular industrial production, that have a strong need for practical, flexible, and human-like manipulation and gripping. This is true in particular for SMEs characterized by fast changing product-cycles and the need for robots that can be integrated in manual product lines. In general, all industrial sectors with a high percentage of manual labour, a large number of product variants, and non-standardized or delicate products do need robots that exhibit a general flexibility and the capacity for human-like manipulation. Shoe manufacturing is an example for an industrial sector ...