raunhofer magazine - startseite fraunhofer-gesellschaft...ficult to process mechanically....

Lead article

Tailor-made light

Photonics

Unlimited viewing pleasure

Energy

Moving ahead with wind energy

Environment

Water for millions

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Fraunhofermagazine2/09 special

issue

60 YEARSOF DEDICATION TO THE FUTURE.

"What will remain is change. What will change remains."This saying by the German historian Michael Richter aptlydescribes the history of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Fraun-hofer was founded 60 years ago on 26 March 1949. At thattime, it was necessary after the destruction caused by war toadopt new structures for research and development and pro-vide impetus for economic reconstruction. Since then, theFraunhofer-Gesellschaft has been constantly changing. In sixdecades it has developed from a small association of onlythree employees to a leading organization for applied re-search in Europe. Today the volume of research conductedby 15,000 employees in 80 research establishments totals1.4 billion euros.

This incredible development has only been possible becauseFraunhofer made a virtue out of its ability to change andadapt with foresight to new conditions. More flexible andadaptable than any other research organization, Fraunhoferlearned in its 60-year-old history to consistently respond tochallenges and courageously seize new opportunities. Cor-porations and organizations that do not renew themselvesbecome outdated. Fraunhofer remains "young" because ithas always changed its structures, and because it focusesabove all on young, motivated employees. The creativity anddedication of our scientists, clear market orientation and theguiding principle of rewarding success are the secrets ofFraunhofer’s unabated dynamic progress.

We have now modernized our visual image to emphasize to the public the consistent advancement of the FraunhoferGesellschaft, as a driving leader of innovation and as a technological partner to industry. Marking our 60th anni-versary, the universally established Fraunhofer insignia hasbeen given prominence at the foreground of our modifiedlogo. We have also redesigned the customer magazine you now hold in your hands. In many respects it resemblesthe old Fraunhofer magazine, and yet it is entirely new – another change.

In any case, it is our continued aim to inform you about current research findings, new technologies and innovations

in the growing world of Fraunhofer. This issue focuses onphotonics, optical technology being a branch of industry inGermany that is almost without equal in its power to inno-vate. The companies involved invest an average of aboutnine percent of their turnover in research and development.By comparison, only three percent is spent on R&D in otherindustrial sectors. In the cover story, you can find out aboutthe new opportunities and applications that have beenopened up by the latest generation of fiber lasers, which aredistinguished primarily by their excellent beam quality. Anoutput power of several kilowatts has meanwhile beenachieved, making this new laser generation also increasinglyinteresting for use in production. But the enormous potentialof laser as a universal tool is far from exhausted. Experts esti-mate that only about 50 percent of possible laser applica-tions have been exploited. In the coming years, we can lookforward to further innovation and leaps in development.

Innovation is the only way to overcome crisis – a tenet thatholds as much truth today as it did 60 years ago: it remainsthe only way forward. Once again, the need to rebuild cannot be successfully mastered without perseverance, creativityand confidence in our capabilities. This makes Fraunhofermore important than ever. Having remained young, dynamicand aware of the responsibilities we hold, we accept the as-signment we took on 60 years ago – to strengthen Germanyas a location for business and industry and to secure its fu-ture through innovation.

- 3Fraunhofer magazine 2.09 3

Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Bullinger. © Bernhard Huber

Changing and renewing

EDITORIAL

04 - CONTENT Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

8Lead ArticleTailor-made light

Light is a universal tool which can be used for cutting, drilling and welding –this opens up a range of applications.

24Virtual reality

makes products safer

It’s hard to predict the interaction of electronicsystems. Virtual environ-ments can help.

36Joint research for

a better future

Fraunhofer opens a re-search unit in Portugal, the“Center for Assistive Infor-mation and Communicati-on Solutions”.

28mp3 - A German

success story

Researchers developand market the famousformat.

42Putting sunshine

in the power grid

Solar cells produce electrical power. But can the grids cope with the quantities?

52Putting the illusion

to work

Virtual reality allows re-searchers to see todayhow tomorrow’s factorieswill operate.

Lead ArticleTailor-made light

Photonics will be one of the key technologiesin the 21st century.

Touch-function OLED

Lighten the room without a switch.

PhotonicsUnlimited viewing pleasure

Extremely flat, virtually unlimited large colorflat screens are now a reality.

60th AnniversaryWorking for the future

Fraunhofer turned 60. In interviews three Pre-sidents look back on its history and forwardtowards the future.

Information TechnologyTV viewers become co-directors

How the consumers can add their own items.

Virtual reality makes products safer

The new view on electronic systems.

Using the computer to avert disasters

A competence center to help specialists toidentify weak points in the infrastructure..

mp3 - A German success story

The famous format is made by Fraunhofer.

Access to the future

The flexible room concepts of the future.

EuropeResearch - an export hit

International revenues are increasing.

Joint research for a better future

In Portugal Fraunhofer researchers develop anew generation of electronic devices

InterviewOur future is international

How Fraunhofer has become an internationalplayer.

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EnergyPutting sunshine in the power grid

Solar cells produce an increasing amount ofelectricity. How urban grids can cope with it.


Researchers develop new technologies for theconstruction and maintenance of turbines.

Telltale heat

A new technology makes defects in rotor blades visible.

EnvironmentWater for millions

Beijing has difficulties supplying water to all itsinhabitants. But there are solutions.

Life SciencesPlastics made from whey

Lots of materials such as paints and fine chemicals can be produced from biomasse.

ProductionPutting the illusion to work

Virtual reality allows researchers to see todayhow tomorrow’s factories will operate.

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- 05Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

06 Spectrum

33 Compact

40 International

54 Global News

ContentCONTENT

SPECTRUM Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Where to affix hip prostheses?Artificial hip joints are firmly anchored by screws. But where on the bonewill they securely be held in place? And if an implant needs to be ex-changed, where is the best place to affix the new one? A mathematicalmodel will soon determine the best areas for screwing on artificial hipjoints. The model is being developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer In-stitute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Dresden in col-laboration with the biomechanics laboratory of the University of Leipzig.It will enable doctors to reliably calculate the density and elasticity of thebone from CT scanner images. The scientists induce oscillations in isolat-ed hip bones, analyze the responses to deduce the bones’ properties, andcompare them to the corresponding CT images. The new model is ex-pected to be ready for use in two years’ time.

In principle, glass would be an ideal material –if it wasn’t so brittle. Its brittleness makes it dif-ficult to process mechanically. Researchers havenow developed a cost-efficient process for ap-plying tiny structures to glass. They vaporize theglass in a vacuum and condense it on the sur-face of a wafer. This produces structures lessthan two micrometers wide, which is equivalentto a fortieth of a hair’s breadth. It may be possi-ble in the near future to manufacture LEDs ormicro-mirrors for scanners in this way. Theprocess was developed by MSG Lithoglas AG incollaboration with Schott AG and the Fraun-hofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegra-tion IZM.

The structures were produced simply by ablat-ing individual glass layers in advance, for exam-ple by etching. The expensive screenprintingmethod involves high temperatures andchanges the optical properties of the glass.

Storms, rain, hail – wind turbines have towithstand a great deal. In future, a newrobot will inspect the rotor blades of suchsystems for material defects. “RIWEA” isan excellent climber, and can find anycrack and detects even the tiniest offaults. The robot is currently being devel-oped by researchers at the Fraunhofer In-stitute for Factory Operation and Au-tomation IFF. Wind turbines are normallyinspected by technicians, who personallyexamine the rotor blades at dizzyingheights. But humans can easily miss

something given the sheer size of thesurface under inspection: each rotorblade is up to 60 meters long. The robot,however, can detect even the smallest ofirregularities. Equipped with an infraredradiator, an ultrasonic system, a high-res-olution camera and a thermal camera, itregisters faults in the material on the ba-sis of temperature patterns on the sur-face.RIWEA delivers an accurate reporton the condition of the rotor bladeswithout putting humans at risk.

Robot inspects wind turbines

Miniaturized glass caps on a silicon wafer for protectingmicro-mechanical structures. © Lithoglas

In future, a robot could inspect rotor blades for potential damage. © Fraunhofer IFF

6 -

Tiny glass structure

- 7Fraunhofer magazine 2.09 SPECTRUM

A new sensor will make it easier to carry outlong-term blood pressure measurements. Thedevice determines the blood pressure directly inthe artery and transmits the data wirelessly to areader attached to the patient’s belt. The sys-tem was developed by researchers at the Fraun-hofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits andSystems IMS in Duisburg together with thecompany Dr. Osypka and other partners. Thefirst clinical trials are already underway. In orderto find a suitable drug and the correct dosagefor patients with high blood pressure, doctorsoften have to monitor the patients’ blood pres-sure over a longer period of time – a tediousprocess. The patient has to wear a blood pres-sure meter on their body, and a pressure sleeveon their arm regularly inflates itself to recordthe latest values – even at night.

The new sensor measures the blood pressure30 times per second, but without the patienteven noticing. It is no more than about a mil-limeter in diameter, including its casing. Thedoctor inserts the tiny helper into the patient’sfemoral artery in the groin. The data are for-warded via the connected transponder and theexternal reader to a monitoring station, wherethe medic analyzes them.

European researchers are currently working on new composite materialsmade of wood and plastic in a project called “BioStruct”. The aim of theproject is to develop improved wood plastic composites (WPC). The WPCsused so far have several disadvantages: they cannot withstand high tem-peratures and are not very stable. “We are working on the next genera-tion of natural-fiber-reinforced polymers,” explains project manager Dr.Jan Diemert of the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT inPfinztal. The new composites are designed to be more resilient and tem-perature-resistant. This will make them fit to cover the central consoles ofcars, for example, which have to withstand relatively high loads. Twentypartners from ten different nations intend to develop the novel materialsover the coming four years. The project is being funded by the EU.

Electronic learning systems need to beflexible, interoperable and easy to use inorder to successfully convey knowledge.Experts at the Fraunhofer Institute for In-formation and Data Processing IITB havedeveloped a software tool called“Crayons”. Teachers can use the softwareto create advanced web based learningcourses that enable students to repeatwhat they have learned in class at homein greater depth.

“Crayons” makes it possible to link vari-ous elements such as texts, images,videos and assignments. “One of the advantages of Crayons is that it can

be operated intuitively,” says project manager Daniel Szentes. Crayons can beused even without any prior knowledgeabout programming – so school students,too, can use the software to compile acourse for friends who need additionalcoaching. Crayons acts as a kind of con-venient Wikipedia. Texts, formulas, ani-mations or pictures from the teacher’scourse can be used either exclusively oras a supportive template. All the authoror the learner needs in order to create orlearn the content is an Internet connec-tion and a browser such as Internet Ex-plorer or Firefox.

Learning at the computer

Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

New electronic learning systems like Crayons make lear-ning a more enjoyable experience. © Rainer Sturm/pixelio

The tiny pressure sensor measures the blood pressure directly inside the femoral artery. © Fraunhofer IMS

Measuring bloodpressure

High tech made of wood

8 - LEAD ARTICLE Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Fiber lasers have excellent beam quality.© Volker Steger

Tailor-madelight

Text: Birgit Niesing


“For the rest of my life I will reflect on what light is,” said Al-bert Einstein. The Nobel Prize winner was not alone in beingfascinated by light. As a phenomenon, it has held the atten-tion of all cultures throughout the ages. Scientists like Josephvon Fraunhofer, Max Planck and Einstein attempted to un-lock light’s secrets. Its unique properties were first put tobetter use in the second half of the 20th century, when thedevelopment of the laser made it possible to control pho-tons and turn light into a universal tool of unmatched preci-sion and performance. It can cut, drill and weld a host ofdifferent materials, store data on DVDs and transport infor-mation. Laser light is strong enough to cut through thetoughest steel and can be dosed so carefully that it can beused to gently treat the eyes and skin.

“Given the unique physical properties of the photon, indus-trial production in the 21st century will be shaped by thelaser. With the shortest energy pulses, highest energy densi-ties and smallest interaction zones, no other tool can becontrolled in time and space more quickly and precisely thanlight,” states Prof. Reinhart Poprawe, Head of the FraunhoferInstitute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. The enormouspotential of this universal tool has not yet been fully exploit-ed. Experts estimate that only about 50 percent of all poten-tial laser applications have been realized. Completely newpossibilities are opened up, for example, by a special type ofsolid-state laser: the fiber laser consists of an optical fiberwhich is doped with small quantities of an active material –mostly ions from the group of rare earths. When activatedthey release energy in the form of laser radiation. Optical el-ements – such as laser mirrors – are integrated directly in thelight-conducting fiber. This makes the system highly compactand robust, and the new fiber lasers achieve excellent beamquality. They develop hardly any heat, since the large surface

area of the fibers, which are often several meters long, en-sures even and efficient cooling. A further advantage: fiberlasers do not require elaborate adjustment. From beam gen-eration in the diode through to the processing optics thelaser beam does not leave the fiber. “Compared with con-ventional technologies, fiber lasers offer huge cost-cuttingpotential and are generating a steady stream of new applica-tions. In addition to high efficiency, their thermal and me-chanical stability, small size and scalability make fiber lasersvery attractive for production operations,” explains Prof. An-dreas Tünnermann, Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Ap-plied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena.

The fiber laser – a new production tool

Fiber lasers are regarded as a breakthrough development inlaser technology with enormous innovation potential. Thisnew laser generation is suitable for marking, inscribing, cut-ting and welding. But it can also remove or structure materi-al. Fiber lasers have reached an output power of several kilo-watts, with close to diffraction-limited beam quality. Thismakes the new laser generation increasingly interesting foruse in production.

For a fiber laser to become an efficient tool, however, theenergy contained in the beam must be optimally guided,bundled and shaped. This task is performed by the opticalsystem. Lenses, prisms, mirrors and other elements give thelaser beam its direction, shape and power-density distribu-tion. Scientists at the IOF have developed a new type ofbeam shaping optical system based on non-regular mi-crolens arrays. This system considerably improves the distri-bution homogeneity of the laser beam.

Light is a universal tool which can be used

for cutting, drilling, melting, joining and metal

removal. What’s more, its potential is far from

exhausted. Tailor-made light can open up an

ongoing stream of new technical applications.

Photonics will be one of the key technologies

in the 21st century.

LEAD ARTICLE


High precision is essential to micromaterial processing. In future, particu-larly powerful, ultra-short-pulsed fiber lasers should make it possible toachieve drill-hole geometries that no longer require secondary processing.The pulse duration of some 100 femtoseconds to a few picoseconds pre-vents the materials from melting or cracks from forming. IOF researchershave already succeeded in drilling high-quality microholes in metals witha thickness of up to 1 mm (by comparison: in one femtosecond light trav-els a distance of 0.3 μm). Working in cooperation with their colleagues atthe Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dres-den, the IOF researchers have also developed a new microstructuring sys-tem. This fiber laser operates with a high mean output of about 30 W, apulse repeat rate of up to 100 kHz and extremely short pulses, enabling avery wide range of materials to be structured without being damaged.The researchers achieved the outstanding parameters of the system bymeans of a new fiber design. The microstructured crystal fiber – with anouter diameter of a few millimeters and a length of a few 10 centimeters– contains the waveguide structures for the pump and laser radiation.

The new laser systems are also interesting for the manufacture of compo-nents for use in medicine, biotechnology and bioanalysis. These productshave to be made of biocompatible materials which do not react with oth-er media. This represents a particular challenge for the joining technolo-gy, which cannot use any fillers and must not influence the material orcause contamination. Researchers at the ILT have developed the“TWIST®” technique, based on fiber lasers, which enables weld seamswith a width of 100 μm to be produced at a speed of up to 18 m/min.The technique is even suitable for welding transparent plastics. Thanks tothe new beam sources, the properties of the laser radiation can be adapt-ed to the absorption behavior of polymers. Additional absorbers are notrequired. With this new technique, microfluidic chips can be producedwhich feature very small channel widths and channel distances.

Fiber lasers also open up new potential in material cutting. “Comparedwith conventional lasers of the same power, the focal radii of fiber lasersare ten times smaller. This means that higher intensities can be generatedon the tool, and the cutting speed rises,” explains Dr. Thomas Himmerfrom the IWS. The researchers at the IWS are even using fiber lasers in aremote process to quickly and reliably cut complex structures – for exam-ple electrical sheets for drive systems or generators. In this process thebeam of light is moved by swivel-mounted deflection mirrors in a scanneroptical system. The laser spot moves at the rate of several meters per sec-ond, enabling parts of complex shape to be cut in just a few seconds.

The performance capability of the process has been demonstrated by theIWS researchers. They cut a hole matrix of 100 circles with a diameter of6.5 mm in various thicknesses of stainless steel sheet. The 50 μm thinsheets were cut in just 1.2 seconds. The time taken to cut the 0.2 mmthick sheets was 2.6 seconds. The researchers were able to make com-plex cuts at a speed of 100 meters per minute. By comparison: conven-tional methods only reach an average cutting speed for multi-layeredcontours of about 20 meters per minute. In the BRIOLAS project fundedby the German Research Ministry, IWS scientists are now working on fur-ther fundamentals for remote laser cutting with brilliant high-powerlasers. Initial successful experiments have shown that the remote laser

cutting technique represents a highly productive approach with great fu-ture potential for the flexible processing of metal sheets and strips.

Remote laser cutting also increases productivity in the manufacture ofairbags. New cars are fitted with a number of different airbag types forthe front, sides and windows. This variety of types requires flexible andhighly productive manufacturing plant. Up to now, gas lasers have cutthe airbag parts from lengths of polyamide fabric up to three meterswide. The thermal cut melts the edge of the fabric so that the materialdoes not fray. Up to 20 layers of material can be cut at the same time,but the cut quality of the individual layers differs considerably. Re-searchers at the IWS have combined remote processing with continuousfeeding of the fabric lengths. In cooperation with the company Held Sys-tems Deutschland GmbH, the new generation of airbag laser cutting sys-tems has been built. They enable fabric with a width of 2.5 meters to becut at a material throughput speed of up to 20 meters per minute withan accuracy of 0.5 mm. The first systems are already in use in the indus-try, and companies have been able to increase productivity by 50 to 90percent compared with conventional multi-layer cutting.

Shortwave light for tiny structures

Fraunhofer researchers regularly present the results of their work in semi-nars, in order to accelerate transfer into wide application. At the end ofSeptember the institutes will be holding the 5th International Fiber LaserWorkshop in Dresden.

The short-wave EUV beams can be efficiently guided using the high-temperature collector mirror. © Fraunhofer IOF


Since the earliest days of the semiconductor industry, microchips havebeen produced by means of light exposure. So that smaller structureswith more transistors can be produced in future, however, a leap in tech-nology needs to be made to a new generation of lithography. Extreme ul-traviolet EUV lithography is a promising candidate. The principle behindthis technology is that light with a wavelength of 13 nanometers is guid-ed by a reflection mask onto the silicon wafers to produce nanometerstructures. If successful EUV technology will revolutionize the entire semi-conductor industry and extend the validity of Moore´s Law that semicon-ductor performance doubles every 18 months. Research scientists at theILT, the Department of Laser Technology at RWTH Aachen University, andthe companies AIXUV and Philips Extreme UV are developing just suchEUV light sources.

The work on EUV requires new tools and production techniques. Theshort-wave EUV radiation is absorbed by all materials, and even by air,which means that the entire light exposure process has to take place in avacuum. Transparent masks and lenses cannot be used, calling for the de-velopment of new systems. For example, special chucks are needed topick up the silicon wafer and exposure mask and hold them so that theyare stable in the vacuum. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ap-plied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF have developed electrostaticchucks for the EUV lithography process that are extremely flat. The IOFuses special glass materials and has developed new technologies to in-crease the flatness of the chucks. The height deviations of more than 100nanometers previously measured have been reduced to 74 nanometerswith the new material.

The use of highly reflecting mirrors is a particularly efficient means ofguiding EUV light. Researchers at the IOF are working on new collectormirrors for EUV lithography, with the aim of improving their long-timestability and reflection properties. For this purpose, the researchers coatedthe collector substrates with high-temperature gradient systems. Molyb-denum-silicon coatings are optimized for a maximum reflection of 13.5nm and a working temperature of 400 degrees Celsius. The production ofhigh-precision projection optics is an ambitious task when this involves re-flectors for EUV light. IWS researchers achieved a reflection level of over70 percent, which is the highest obtained anywhere in the world.

New production technologies are made possible not only by new lasergenerations and new light sources. The skilful use of conventional lasersystems also opens up new processing techniques. The laser can be used,for example, to apply tiny structures quickly and cheaply. Researchers atthe Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen, work-ing in cooperation with the company Freudenberg Anlagen- undWerkzeugtechnik GmbH, have developed a laser-structuring system thatmakes it possible, for example, to create ventilation structures in moldingtools, or tribological structures on three-dimensional surfaces, withoutany distortion – and 80 percent faster than with conventional etchingtechniques. A further advantage is that the manufacturing costs areabout 70 percent lower.

Plastic and metal are not very compatible, but thanks to a new laser-based technique they can form a good partnership. Plastic-metal-hybrid

The new laser structuring system enables high-precisionmicrostructures to be produced three-dimensionally. © Fraunhofer IPT

Laser welding with fiber lasers even makes it possible to bond transparent plastics. © Fraunhofer ILT

LEAD ARTICLE


components can be produced using the LIFTEC® method. The metalliccomponent is heated through the plastic using laser radiation, until themetal starts to gently melt the plastic and can be pressed into the plasticcomponent. The metal is heated again and pressed deeper into the plas-tic by further mechanical pressure. This enables the two otherwise incom-patible partners to be combined. “The key element of the process is acomponent with a higher melting temperature than the plastic joiningpartner. Apart from metals and ceramics, high-temperature plastics canalso be used for the more temperature-resistant material,” explains Dr.Arnold Gillner, Head of the Microtechnology Department at the ILT.

The generative production process Selective Laser Melting (SLM) has al-ready proved successful in some sectors of industry for the direct manu-facture of metallic functional components. A laser beam is used to selec-tively melt consecutive layers of metal powder, allowing a component tobe produced directly from 3-D CAD data. Extensive knowledge of SLM

process control and the resulting mechanical properties has already beenobtained for processing titanium and steel materials. The dental industryis using the technique to make dentures and in the tool and die industryit is being used to produce inserts with near-net-shape cooling channelsfor injection-molding and die-casting tools. Now researchers at the ILTare working on the qualification of the SLM technique for aluminum al-loys such as AlSi10Mg. The German Research Ministry is supporting the“Alugenerativ” alliance project. Aluminum alloys are used in particular inthe auto industry, mechanical engineering and the aircraft industry. Series-identical functional prototypes, individual parts and small series are madefrom aluminum, mainly by die casting or conventional prototyping. Onthe example of a valve made of AlSi10Mg, researchers at the ILT workingin close cooperation with the industrial partner Festo have proved thatcomponents can be produced much more quickly with SML. It only takesseven working days to produce six series-identical functional prototypeswith the generative technique. By comparison: this takes 120 workingdays with die casting and 30 with conventional prototyping by milling,erosion and turning. “The mechanical properties are equal to those at-tained by conventionally produced components, and some properties areeven improved. This is a decisive criterion for use in industry,” explains Dr.Wilhelm Meiners from the ILT.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF inFreiburg are working on innovative, infrared-emitting semiconductor disklasers. The system combines the advantages of a semiconductor-baseddiode laser with those of a classic solid-state laser. As the active area con-sists of a semiconductor heterostructure, the emission wavelength can bevaried over a very wide range. The external resonator produces very goodbeam quality. These new lasers have been realized with emission wave-lengths of between 1.9 and 2.8 μm, longer-wave lasers are planned. Thehigh output power (up to 5 W ) opens up a wide range of applications,from laser surgery and medical diagnosis to remote detection of gasesand air turbulence. For example, semiconductor lasers which radiate lightwith a wavelength of around 2.2 μm make it possible to see clearlythrough human blood and create new potential in blood vessel en-doscopy, a fact jointly discovered by research scientists at the FraunhoferInstitutes IAF and IMS.

The examples show that research scientists succeed again and again inextending the repertoire of light as a tool. The optical technologies areamong the most innovative in Germany. On average companies in thissector invest around nine per cent of their sales revenue – and in somecases as much as 25 per cent – in R&D. In other sectors of industry onlythree per cent of sales revenue is expended on R&D.

Many other branches of industry also benefit from the wide-ranging in-novations in the optical technologies sector. “Optical science and engi-neering represents a key, cross-sectional and enabling technology for thefuture markets of the 21st century,” says Prof. Eckhard Beyer, Chairman ofthe Fraunhofer Surface Technology and Photonics Alliance and Director ofthe Fraunhofer IWS. Optical technologies can be found in virtually all sec-tors – from nanotechnology and medical engineering to communicationand information systems. The optical technologies are a major drivingforce of economic activity in Europe.

Fiber lasers create new potential in the remote processing of materials. © Fraunhofer IWS

- 13PHOTONICSFraunhofer magazine 2.09

Ouch! Whoever comes too close to a switched on lamp or light bulb can easily burn their fingers. No wonder, be-cause a conventional light bulb converts more than 90 percent of energy into heat and merely five to ten percentinto light. Organic light emitting diodes, or OLEDs, by contrast convert five times more electricity into light andgenerate very little heat. This type of lighting can be touchedwithout misgivings even when it has been on for hours. The cold light source opens up completely new design possibilities. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS in Dresden have developed a touch-controlled OLED lamp.

Touch-controlled lighting

These new lights do not need an on-and-off switch. “All you have to do is touch the OLED surface with a finger and the light switches on," Jörg Amelung of IPMS explains.Touching the light again will switch it off. The light can also be dimmed slowly by holding your finger longer on the surface.

"Usually, the implementation of touch functions requires additional touch-sensitive foils on the device. Our lampworks even without these foils. The OLED itself detects thetouch signals," says Amelung, describing the operating principle. His research colleagues have taken advantage ofthe design of OLEDs, which consist of a metal cathode, atransparent anode and an embedded organic semiconductorlayer between them. The transparent anode can also serveas a sensor element measuring changes in electrical capacity,which are caused, for example, by finger contact. "Thismeans that any OLED can be fitted with a touch function –cost effectively and without decreasing the efficiency of the light emitting diode," Amelung emphasizes.

And there are a lot of other benefits to OLEDs: they deliverwarm, evenly distributed light, can be mounted on any sur-face and consume very little electricity. Experts expect thatthis new form of lighting will replace the traditional lightbulb in the next few years. At Plastic Electronics 2008, IPMSdemonstrated the first interactive touch-controlled flat lightsource. But it is likely to take another few years before OLEDtouch-function lighting is available for sale.

Touch-function OLEDGood-bye light bulb! It’s not long before rooms will be litby organic light emitting diodes. The new lighting can evenbe switched on by touch.


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14 - PHOTONICS Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

The prototype appears inconspicuous on thelaboratory table, surrounded by cables and elec-trical components of all kinds. It could be mis-taken for just another computer monitor. Butthe screen is not connected to a computer, nei-ther does it display documents or spreadsheets.Instead, a radiant light shines from the narrow,black plastic frame. At first glance, one wouldhardly imagine that this small screen is pavingthe way for the largest flat-screen televisions inthe world.

Extremely flat televisions in any size

This is precisely what Hermann Oppermann ofthe Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability und Mi-crointegration IZM in Berlin is working on, to-gether with the Israeli start-up company Oree.He hopes to use a new concept in backlightingto produce extremely flat liquid crystal displays(LCDs) of almost unlimited size. "Until now LCDscreen sizes have been limited to 42 inches,"Oppermann says. "This is due to the way inwhich they are illuminated." Because the light

that illuminates the screen is projected from theedges where the light sources are located, tothe front of the screen. If the screen exceedsthese dimensions, light intensity decreases to-wards the middle of the television and the col-ors fade. This is where the PhD engineer andhis project partners are applying a completelynew concept. Light from small but powerfullight emitting diodes (LEDs) on the back of thetelevision penetrate the liquid crystal display di-rectly from behind. Only 800 microns thin, thelight conducting foil, which was developed byOree, ensures that light in the three primary col-ors red, green and blue is evenly distributedover the entire surface. Oppermann has inte-grated LEDs of these three colors in modulesand embedded them at regular intervals in thefoil, which is so thin that the flat screen is lessthan two centimeters deep.

"Through this technique, television screens can be produced in any size," explains Opper-mann who leads the project at IZM. "We havedemonstrated with our prototype that the system is scalable.” This has been proven in

the laboratory, where screens of this type canbe seamlessly combined with one another.Whether the television is 50 or 500 inches in size depends solely on the customer’s re-quirements.

Oppermann and his team tested colored LEDsfrom manufacturers around the world to findout which ones were best suited and appropri-ate for the new approach. For some years nowthe market for LEDs has been booming, be-cause they emit a lot of light, consume little en-ergy and are at the same time substantially lesssensitive than other light sources. "LEDs areprogressing rapidly. An exciting part of ourwork was to observe how the different LEDtypes are designed and to incorporate theircontinuously improved efficiency in our proj-ects," says Oppermann, who has already opti-mized car headlights, traffic lights and manyother forms of lighting.

The three-color LED modules which he uses in this project allow a wider color range thanone would normally expect from LCD televi-

Unlimited viewing pleasureExtremely flat, virtually unlimited large color flat screens are now a reality – thanksto a new approach in backlighting technology.

Text: Britta Danger


sions. A cold-light source is usually employed,which emits only white light. The colors andbrightness of the image must be individuallyregulated on the LCD liquid crystals. These canblock the light pixel by pixel, while the lightsource continues to radiate with undiminishedforce. The new concept is completely different."We control the brightness and color of eachLED," Oppermann explains. "If red is not re-quired in the image in certain areas of thescreen, the red LED can be set lower in thoseareas. And if the image is dark, its brightnesscan be dimmed.” In this way a deep black iscreated which can not be replicated on mostLCD televisions. At the same time, the televisionconserves electricity.

Heat must be dissipated as efficiently as possible

Hermann Oppermann chose diodes with aver-age power and smaller dimensions, althoughthere are significantly more powerful varietiesavailable. In effect, heat is generated wherevera lot of energy is released, and there is no

room for an active cooling system in flatscreens. This creates special design require-ments in the design of the RGB modules.

"LEDs are limited in their performance by tem-perature. If they are not cooled well enough,efficiency drops, they age faster and fail,” theengineer explains. Heat must therefore be dissi-pated as effectively as possible. This is a diffi-cult task, because the materials that dissipateheat well are quite expensive – not a good prerequisite for large scale production. Lesscostly materials, however, deform at high tem-peratures and destabilize the structure of themodule. "A healthy compromise between costand performance needs to be found," statesOpermann. The researchers favor a combina-tion of ceramic and metal.

LEDs give off intense light, but as sources of radiation they also affect their immediate envi-ronment. “Diodes that emit blue light, in par-ticular, have very high light intensities, whichcan damage polymers, for example," says Oppermann. As a result, the interaction be-

tween components has to be investigated. To ensure that the finished product works reli-ably in daily operation, Oppermann subjectedthe LED modules to rigid load testing. They had to withstand temperature differences ofnearly 200 degrees Celsius in temperature test-ing, in order to ensure that the interfaces be-tween the various components would not disconnect or deform. The efficiency of theLEDs had to be proven in power cycles. Each individual LED was turned on and off thousandsof times at elevated temperatures. No detailwas omitted, including the small plastic dropthat protects the LED. To make sure that itwould not yellow, the thin plastic film was separately irradiated with UV light. "A yellowtone would increasingly absorb UV light andwould, ultimately, not let any more lightthrough," Oppermann says.

After extensive simulations and trials, the com-bination of LED modules and light conductingfoil has passed the test. From a small prototype,it’s now only a small step to tomorrow’s color-ful, extremely flat LCD televisions in any size.

Thin light-conducting foil with an integrated LED. © Gil Benesh Ravivs

PHOTONICS

Working for the future

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft was founded 60 years ago on March 26,1949. The objective of the new organization was to promote appliedresearch and thereby help to secure Germany’s future. What was onlya small association with just three employees at the time, has overthe past decades developed into the leading organization for appliedresearch in Europe. Today, 15,000 employees generate a research vol-ume in excess of 1.4 billion euros.

How has Fraunhofer succeeded in developing from an upstart that wasbarely taken seriously into an established member of the researchcommunity? What challenges has it had to master? What changes doesthe organization need to make in order to remain an attractive re-search partner in the future? In interviews with Fraunhofer maga-zine, Professor Max Syrbe and Professor Hans-Jürgen Warnecke, formerpresidents of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, look back on the historyof the organization. The current president, Professor Hans-JörgBullinger, talks about further developments planned for the futureand tells why Fraunhofer will still be an important research and de-velopment partner several decades from now.

The interviews were conducted by Birgit Niesing

16 - 60th ANNIVERSARY Fraunhofer Magazine 2.09


You were nominated President of theFraunhofer-Gesellschaft in 1983. Atthat time, Fraunhofer had about 3500employees in 32 institutes and a re-search volume worth 360 million Ger-man marks. What were your goals?

I set three main objectives. The first was to pre-serve established systems, such as the Fraun-hofer model of performance-related basic fund-ing and the organization’s structure, in whichthe institutes act as independently specializedprofit centers – for it was these principles thatmade Fraunhofer so successful in the first place.In addition, I wanted to increase the organiza-tion’s performance, for example by improvingthe availability of information, extending theuse of computer-based research and develop-ment methods, intensifying the dialog betweenscientists on a national and international level,and introducing targeted training measures. An-other goal was to gain more lead time formeeting important medium-term requirements.

Did you have to meet any specialchallenges during your presidency?

Yes, there were several challenges to be mas-tered. One major task was to ensure that Fraun-hofer grew not only in size but also in quality.We wanted Fraunhofer to be recognized byother research organizations and by the publicas being on a par with its rivals. We also need-ed to build our corporate identity and, last butnot least, make a significant contribution to-wards German Unity.

The German reunification took placeduring your time as President.Shortly after the fall of the wall,Fraunhofer helped to re-build thescientific community in the new fed-eral states. What were your primeconsiderations at the time?

The GDR had perfectly capable research and de-velopment groups in the natural and engineer-ing sciences. What we needed to do was to of-fer people good prospects in their work and fortheir families – initially in the free GDR and thenin unified Germany. And we needed to winthem over as new contributors to Fraunhofer’senduring performance.

What was behind the exceptionallysuccessful integration of the re-search establishments and scientists?We greatly shortened the conventional, ex-tremely time-consuming administrative processof founding an institute by establishing spon-sorships and Fraunhofer branch offices at boardand institute level. In addition, employees fromthe new states were immediately included withequal rights in the Fraunhofer committees.

In a paper published as early as1984, Fraunhofer expressed its in-tention to support spin-offs fromthe institutes. What were your rea-sons for this?

Innovations are only complete once they havebeen successfully launched on the market.However, it was not always possible to find theright company to complete innovation process-es successfully initiated by the Fraunhofer insti-tutes. Scientists with entrepreneurial talent weretherefore increasingly prepared to do this them-selves by founding spin-off companies, andFraunhofer always readily supported such proj-ects in the interest of its own objectives.

The organization’s first alliance –the Fraunhofer Group for Microelec-tronics – was founded in the sameyear. What were its objectives?

Microelectronics was and still is a key technolo-gy that determines the speed of innovation,both in products and in production, in sales andin corporate management. The United Statesand Asia were trendsetters from the outset.Germany and Europe wanted and had to estab-lish its own competence in the field. The Fraun-hofer-Gesellschaft had established six competi-tive institutes with the support of the federalstates and intended to strengthen their per-formance through collaboration and coordina-tion.

Looking back on your time as Presi-dent today, what would you say youachieved overall?

My work for Fraunhofer began in 1966 when Ibecame a member of the senate. At that time,Fraunhofer was still a street urchin in the scien-

tific community. In 1969, I was appointed direc-tor of a Fraunhofer institute and from 1970 on-wards I was an active member of the joint com-mittee between Fraunhofer and the federalresearch ministry. I was President from 1983 to1993, and then worked as a tutor for under-graduates and Ph.D. students at the old insti-tute. In other words, I have dedicated almostmy entire life to Fraunhofer. To sum up not onlymy own achievements but also those of mysuccessors, I would like to quote German Presi-dent Horst Köhler, who said: “Germany needs afuture; Germany needs Fraunhofer.”

Prof. Dr. Max Syrbe. © Fraunhofer

Prof. Dr. Max Syrbe 1983–1993 President of the Fraunhofer-

Gesellschaft

60th ANNIVERSARY

18 - Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Professor Hans-Jürgen Warnecke wasappointed President of the Fraun-hofer-Gesellschaft in 1993, 44 yearsafter its foundation. At that time,it had about 8000 people working in47 institutes. The organization gen-erated revenue of more than one bil-lion marks for the first time thatyear. What goals did you have inmind when you took on the task?

One important goal was to establish closer rela-tionships with industry and, above all, to in-crease earnings from the industrial sector. In myopinion, innovations can only be achieved bycollaborating with industry. Without this collab-oration, research findings would simply remainfindings. But an innovation, i.e. something fun-damentally new, entails the translation of newideas into products, services and structures. Notuntil new findings are applied in industry andsociety does an innovation take place.

So one of your targets was to in-crease the institutes’ earnings fromindustry. What prompted you to focuson this target?

It is the special task of Fraunhofer to build abridge between research and industry. Con-tracts from industry are essential for any organi-zation that conducts applied research, as indus-try has the most direct contact with customersand the market and knows what is needed andin demand. While I was President, Fraunhofermanaged to significantly increase its revenuesfrom industry. My objective was to generateabout 40 percent of our revenues through con-tracts with industrial partners, and the institutesachieved exactly that.

You helped to promote the establish-ment of groups and alliances withinthe Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. What arethe advantages of such a groupstructure?

Today, the greatest progress is made in techni-cal fields between the different disciplines. Thismeans that institutes with different skills needto work together. The formation of groups andalliances has helped to improve collaborationbetween the institutes.

During your time as President, theFraunhofer-Gesellschaft started to gointernational. What were the reasonsfor this?

Fraunhofer had already begun to establish itselfon an international scale under President MaxSyrbe, and I extended these efforts. At the be-ginning of the 1990s, we founded the firstbranches in the United States. The reasons forthis are evident: if our industrial partners actglobally, Fraunhofer too has to position itself in-ternationally. We need international experiencein order to remain a competent research part-ner to businesses.

The GMD (Forschungszentrum Informa-tionstechnik GmbH) was integratedduring your time as President. Whydid you campaign for this?

Here in Germany, we are good at collectingnew findings. However, we are often not sogood at translating them into products andservices – particularly in the field of informationand communication technology. The GMD re-search organization was integrated into theFraunhofer-Gesellschaft in order to improve thissituation. The goal was to implement researchfindings better and more quickly in industry andthus to drive innovations forward.

Looking back on your time as Presi-dent today, what would you say youachieved overall?

During my presidency, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft was still in its start-up phase. Wesucceeded in moving closer towards our goal ofturning Fraunhofer into a highly regarded re-search organization. Back in 1949, Fraunhoferwas founded as a ray of hope that would openthe door to an economic comeback after thedestruction and dismantling caused by the Sec-ond World War. But the organization had tofight for many years to gain recognition and se-cure funding. It was not until the 1970s thatFraunhofer began to develop into a capablesupporting organization for applied research.Today, it is a highly esteemed partner and hasbecome an indispensable member of Germany’sresearch community.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Warnecke 1993-2002 President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Prof. Hans-Jürgen Warnecke. © Fraunhofer

60th ANNIVERSARY


Professor Bullinger, you were ap-pointed President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in 2002, the year inwhich the organization’s financialvolume reached one billion euros forthe first time. Fraunhofer then hadjust under 13,000 employees. Whatwere your goals when you took of-fice?

My objective was not to increase the organiza-tion’s revenues or the number of its employees,but rather to continue the outstanding work ofmy predecessors. I also wanted to boost Fraun-hofer’s performance capabilities. This increasedefficiency naturally helped the organization togrow further. I believe that growth is not one ofFraunhofer’s goals as such, but that it happensas a natural consequence of our actions – this iswhere we differ from a business enterprise.

You initiated a new strategicprocess at Fraunhofer. In 2003, theresearch organization defined twelveleading innovations – fields with ahigh market potential, in whichFraunhofer institutes were signifi-cantly involved. Later on, the or-ganization also established signpoststo future markets. How does thisstrategic process work?

Of course, the institutes had already developedtheir own strategies before 2002, but thesewere difficult to compare. In order to achievemore in a joint effort, the different strategicprocesses had to be brought into line. Thegroups and alliances, too, developed compre-hensive, aligned strategies in a bottom-up plan-ning approach. However, what was still missingin 2002 was a top-down process. This meantthat the institutes and alliances were not ableto match their development targets with thoseof the organization as a whole. By defining ourleading innovations, and integrating the newexecutive committee – in which the specializedskills of the alliances are represented –, we initi-

ated a strategic process for the entire Fraun-hofer-Gesellschaft. This strategy is being contin-uously pursued, and it incorporates the insti-tutes, the employees and our trustees. Today,our strategic process is far more sophisticatedthan that of many other research organizations,and this has helped us to enhance our publicprofile.

For many years, Fraunhofer had ahard time establishing itself as arecognized research organization.What is its status today?

All the presidents have contributed towardsmaking Fraunhofer one of Germany’s most rec-ognized research organizations today. My pre-decessor, Prof. Warnecke, did a lot for Fraun-hofer’s reputation in the industrial community,and we still profit from that now. Fraunhofer

does not have as long a tradition as the MaxPlanck Society or other research organizations.It was more of an upstart. By linking the insti-tutes to the universities, and by cooperatingwith the Max Planck Society, the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology MIT and the Johns Hop-kins University in Baltimore, we have managedto strengthen our profile in the scientific re-search sector. And we are now also firmly es-tablished in the world of politics. Fraunhofer isinvolved in numerous committees and is also amember of the “board for innovations” createdby German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The factthat Germany needs innovations is a definiteplus for us.

Fraunhofer has initiated and builtup numerous innovation clusters overthe past years. What are these clus-ters about?

The basic idea behind the clusters is tostrengthen our strengths. The question was:where and with whom can we develop thesestrengths? The principle can best be explainedusing the example of the innovation cluster“Optical Technologies” in Jena. Jena is home tothe Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics andPrecision Engineering IOF, a university that iswell positioned in the field of optical technolo-gies, and numerous medium-sized industrial en-terprises. This is the perfect setting for combin-ing basic and applied research and transferringit to industry. We have a great advantage interms of funding: the partners each carry athird of the costs for the cluster, which lieswithin Fraunhofer’s financial possibilities. Theclusters have proven very successful, and otherorganizations are following suit. The best clus-ters are sponsored by the German Federal Min-istry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Fraunhofer is growing: this year,MeVis Research GmbH joined the fold,the foundation of a new institutewas announced in February, and theResearch Establishment for Applied

Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Bullinger. © Fraunhofer

Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Bullinger President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft since October 2002

60th ANNIVERSARY


Science (FGAN) plans to join Fraun-hofer soon. What are the reasons forthis growth?

When we integrate new units, we always ad-here to the following basic principle: we buildup new establishments around core groups ofoutstanding people. If we feel that these peo-ple fit in with the Fraunhofer culture, possessexcellent scientific skills and are prepared to col-laborate with industry, we take a closer look atthe establishments. When we integrated MeVis,we not only carried out an evaluation processbut also spoke openly to its staff and presentedthe Fraunhofer principles to them. We askedthem whether it was a good match, and itmatched perfectly.

What about the planned integrationof FGAN?

In this case, the situation is different. The incen-tive to integrate FGAN came from the defenseministry. The idea is to concentrate German se-curity and defense research. Following the at-tacks of September 11, security research facedentirely new challenges. For the first time, theGerman government set up a defense researchprogram that focused on security. In the past,the FGAN institutes have mainly been active inthe field of defense research, while the securityaspect is new to them. Here, too, we have hadnumerous talks and discussions with employees.

Why did Fraunhofer found the Insti-tute for Wind Energy and Energy Sys-tem Technology IWES?

The new institute pools Fraunhofer’s existingactivities in the field of wind energy. In addition,the Institute for Solar Energy Supply TechnologyISET, which specializes in electricity suppliesfrom renewable sources, will be integrated intoIWES during the course of the year. The objec-tive is to set up a sufficiently large unit to beable to make rapid progress in this topical fieldof research. The wind energy sector is a goodexample of how we are expanding our strategicprocess. We need to find future-relevant topicsfor new institutes in consensus with the organi-zation. One particular topic currently on thehorizon is that of electro-mobility. We are nowtrying to establish a suitable type of organiza-tion for this area together with those institutes

that could contribute to it. Identifying suchstrategic topics will become increasingly impor-tant in the future. Of course, we will continueto keep our eyes peeled for outstanding re-search groups that could fit in well with Fraun-hofer.

What developments will Fraunhoferundergo in the coming years?

We must continuously verify whether the insti-tutes’ topics are still relevant or whether it istime to adopt new ones. The organization as awhole, too, needs to ascertain whether itshould get involved in new research areas. Oneexample from the past is the field of life sci-ences. When it became evident that a megatrend was developing in this area, Fraunhoferbuilt up capacities in the field. Another megatrend is that of renewable energies, in whichFraunhofer is already excellently positioned. Thisis now being joined by new issues such as ener-gy storage. Here, we need to pool Fraunhofer’sexisting skills even more effectively. In future,the institutes will act more strongly under theunified Fraunhofer brand. We need to fully ap-preciate the value of Fraunhofer as a networkand realize that the institutes are even strongerwhen they join forces.

Europe is gaining in importance. Howmust Fraunhofer position itself inthis respect?

Our foreign earnings have significantly in-creased in recent years. Almost one fifth of ourincome now comes from outside Germany –mostly from other European countries. We are aGerman research organization, and it is our taskto strengthen Germany’s economy. But themore Europe is becoming a European Commu-nity, the more Fraunhofer has to go from beingGerman to becoming European. However, inview of the speed with which this unificationprocess is taking place, we still have some timeleft. Fraunhofer is collaborating with numerousother European research organizations, and itscurrent activities will be expanded step by step.We also want to use the opportunity of settingup our own institutes in selected spots. Wehave started this process in Portugal with thesupport of the Portuguese government, andhave also just founded Fraunhofer Austria.

The global economy is experiencing amajor crisis. Is this affecting theFraunhofer-Gesellschaft?

We are concerned about the crisis, and we areobviously aware of the serious effects it is hav-ing on our customers. We have noticed that theobjectives behind our contracts have changedradically. Our customers no longer want devel-opments with a technology roadmap to 2030.Now, they want developments that will yieldconcrete results even before the end of theyear, or at the latest by next year. The goodnews is that Fraunhofer’s employees are actual-ly able to meet such demands. We currentlyhave more orders than last year, when our op-erational figures reached an all-time high. Butthere is the risk that customers encounter finan-cial difficulties and become unable to pay. Wesee that many companies have understood thatthey can only escape the crisis by investing inresearch and development and by reducingcosts.

60 is an age at which most peoplestart to think about retirement. How can Fraunhofer manage to remainan attractive research partner inthe future?

Fraunhofer has a great advantage in being ableto acquire young, motivated employees. Mostof our scientists work at Fraunhofer for five toten years and then move on to research or in-dustry. The secret behind Fraunhofer’s successhas always been and always will be its employ-ees. Within our organization, they need to beable to find a corporate culture, a canon of val-ues and promising career opportunities so thatthey can develop. One of the most importantaspects of creating value is appreciating value. Ifwe manage to achieve this, we will continue toenter new fields and market segments in the fu-ture and will still be an attractive research part-ner when we are 80 or even 100 years old.

60th ANNIVERSARY

“With their high level of competence, flexibility and excellence, the scientists are contributing to the economic success of many companies. They are helping to preser-ve Germany as an attractive business location.”

Dipl.-Ing. Michael Macht, Executive Vice President for Production and Logistics of the Dr. Ing. h.c. f. Porsche AG

60 YEARS OF DEDICATION TO THE FUTURE.

www.fraunhofer.de

Photo: Matthias Heyde

22 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

TV viewers becomeco-directors

Viewers of the LIVE Olympic Show aired by theAustrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF werethrilled, as they were able to actively participatein the program as co-directors. They were ableto choose which Olympic sport they wanted to watch and could provide feedback on theirprogram selection via remote control. The pre-senters blended into the picture helped them to maintain an overview. When the marathonwas broadcast, the helpers in the studio point-ed out that interviews with the top runnerswere being shown on another channel, and

yet another channel was broadcasting the startof a sailing regatta. Later on, they announced intime that the marathon runners were nearingthe finishing line.

The sports enthusiasts were also able to accessplenty of extra information. The medal table,facts about the athletes or background informa-tion on the competition and the venue ap-peared in windows on the screen. Anyone whowanted could also phone the studio, speak tothe presenters or even give a commentary

The days of passive TV consump-tion will soon be over. In thefuture, TV viewers will becometheir own program directors andwill even be able to add theirown items to the program.

Text: Evdoxia Tsakiridou

© ORF

themselves. In the past, this would have in-volved a great deal of technical effort. Today, it can all be done easily and simply via Skype.This software for free Internet video telephonymakes it possible to integrate amateur com-mentators into the current broadcast, whichmeans that viewers can actively contribute tothe program.

Developing interactive formatsand technologies

Sponsored by the EU, the LIVE research projectis being coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institutefor Intelligent Analysis and Information SystemsIAIS in Birlinghoven and is worth a total of 11million euros. The Austrian Broadcasting Corpo-ration ORF and seven other partners in industryand higher education are also involved. Thegoal is to develop new, interactive formats andtechnologies. Subscribers to Telekom Austria,who watch television via the Internet and DSL,were able to take part in the LIVE field test dur-ing the Olympics. They didn’t require any train-ing or special equipment. Their remote controlsand the set-top boxes already connected totheir TVs were all they needed, reports IAISproject manager Jobst Löffler.

Four parallel broadcasting channels, including areverse channel for feedback, were available tothe users. The channels were fed with twelvelive data streams on the Olympic Games in Bei-jing. The ORF also used archived material in theproduction so that interesting documentationsand up-to-date summaries could be transmittedduring the live program. The archived materialused during live broadcasts is normally pre-se-lected, but this means that the production teamis not able to react quickly to unexpectedevents or to provide new impulses during thetransmission.

“The innovative feature of LIVE is that contentfrom various different sources can be incorpo-rated in the rapidly changing environment of alive broadcast while getting the viewers in-volved, too,” explains Jobst Löffler. For the firsttime ever, the images recorded by the differentlive cameras can be linked with archived materi-al and background reports while at the sametime integrating viewers’ preferences.

Of course, no director anywhere in the worldcan keep an eye on 12 data streams simultane-ously while sorting through archived materialand evaluating viewers’ requests, but LIVE pro-vides digital tools that help to process the infor-mation. A media analysis system developed bythe IAIS handles content from multimediasources on the basis of voice and video recogni-tion techniques. It then indexes the content andarchives it. The material can be used in multipleways: for documentation purposes, as a recordof the channel’s program history, and as rawmaterial for other productions.

At the heart of the new system is an intelligentdatabase which merges and manages all the in-formation. It is in this database that thearchived material is semantically linked, pre-se-lected and suitably allocated. This is also whereviewers’ feedback is appropriately integrated in-to the program. The director receives not only

information on viewers’ preferences, individualevents and real-time analyses of video andarchived material, but also recommendations as to which archived contents would fit in withthe program.

A new age of television

The project enabled the program makers to simultaneously present several aspects of a live event for the first time, and to cater fortheir audience’s wishes. “The broadcaster en-ters into a real dialog with its audience, and thecontent is democratized and individualized. I also envisage users being able to contributetheir own items in future, and being able to access information or to order things from thebroadcasting corporations. A video-on-demandservice, for example, would enable them to simply download their preferred films via the TV set,” says Philipp Krebs, who is supportingthe LIVE project on the part of the ORF.

The new age of television may well begin very soon. Already, the Internet is blurring the fixed boundaries between the PC and theTV. Philipp Krebs is convinced: “Users now expect more than just fixed, scheduled pro-grams that only allow you to channel-hop during the ads.”

The necessary technology and equipment is currently being developed by the research scientists in the EU’s LIVE project. The re-searchers intend to present their concept to Europe’s major broadcasters in the next fewmonths. If everything runs smoothly, passive TV consumption will become a thing of thepast. Just like the audience that participated in the field test during the Olympic Games, the viewers of the future will be able to decidefor themselves what they want to see. They will “watch TV and at the same time enjoy the freedom of the Internet”, to quote JobstLöffler.

The viewers influenced the Olympic Games broadcasts by giving the directors feedback on their wishes and preferences via their remote controls, while a presenterguided them through the program selection. © ORF

- 23INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYFraunhofer magazine 2.09


Virtual reality makes products saferElectronic systems increasingly control machinery and equipment. Their capability to interact safely, securely and reliably is not always readilypredictable. Fraunhofer researchers in Magdeburg and Kaiserslautern are developing virtual environments that facilitate graphic and intuitive analyses of precisely this in the design stage.

Text: Hellmuth Nordwig

With the dimensions of a gym and a weight of 235 tons, this machine tool is a real monster.It is used to machine large mechanical compo-nents such as turbines for power stations. “Youcan’t buy such machinery off the shelf. It’s one-of-a-kind,” says computer scientist Marco Schu-mann from the Fraunhofer Institute for FactoryOperation and Automation IFF in Magdeburg.“And the control software is also only writtenonce for this complex machine alone.” Since the costly machine tool is intended to be put into operation as soon as it has been installed,hardly any time is left to test its programs thoroughly.

Tests in virtual reality offer one way around this.A machine can already be visualized and testedin the design stage just as well as if it really ex-isted. The Fraunhofer IFF in Magdeburg built itsVirtual Development and Training Centre VDTCfor such virtual reality (VR) applications. Itsheart, the “Elbe Dom” is far more than a 3-Dmovie theater. The large-scale 360-degree pro-jection gives visitors the sensation of being sur-rounded by a realistic environment. The re-searchers go a step further in their mixed realitytesting facility: The virtual giant machine is cou-pled to a real control unit to which it respondsexactly as its counterpart on the factory floorwill in the future. This enables software devel-opers to take all the time they need to verifythat the machine executes commands as in-tended. Engineering and programming errorscan be corrected before millions of euros ofdamage occur.

Before reaching this point, first and foremost,the researchers in Magdeburg had to develop aunified data format, i.e. a language shared be-tween engineers and VR specialists. Exportingdata from CAD (Computer Aided Design) appli-cations to a VR system was difficult work earli-er. Now, the shared data platform makes it pos-sible to immediately utilize the results of virtualtests to make improvements to a design. Similarpreliminary work had to be done on the datafrom the control software so that the virtualequipment performs exactly like its real counter-part does later.

The opportunity to already familiarize future op-erators with new machinery during the plan-ning phase is a major advantage. In addition, amanufacturer can realistically demonstrate thecapabilities of a machine that does not yet existto potential customers.

”Magdeburg is an outstanding center of re-search in this field,“ said Federal Minister of Ed-ucation and Research Annette Schavan, praisingthe Fraunhofer’s experts on the occasion of theapproval of three new joint projects within theVirtual Technologies Innovation Alliance. One ofthe projects, ViERforES, was additionally select-ed as a pilot project in the government’s pro-gram supporting Advanced Research and Inno-vation in the New States. ES stands forembedded systems, the innumerable microcom-puters and mini-processors essential to ordinaryelectronic equipment – from elevators to televi-sions. ”On the road or in a hospital, we fully re-

ly on machinery and devices, often even trust-ing them with our lives – safety is imperativehere,“ says Prof. Peter Liggesmeyer Director ofthe Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Soft-ware Engineering (IESE) in Kaiserslautern, alsoinvolved in ViERforES.

Qualitative features such as safety and securityare not directly measurable though. Therefore,IESE researchers are developing methods to an-alyze safety and security and their interaction inembedded systems. Ultimately, it will be essen-tial to process results, even for complex sys-tems, so that they can be captured quickly andeasily. The researchers are concentrating on vi-sualizations that incorporate humans’ sense ofsight and help present complex situations com-prehensibly at a glance. The goal is to enabledevelopers to intuitively recognize how soft-ware components interact and how they mustbe modified to make such products as a pace-maker or a car even safer and more reliable.

Industrial processes too are no longer conceiv-able without embedded systems. Robots areequipped with a multitude of sensors that serveto protect workers. While a machine may be re-quired to stop the moment an individual entersits workspace, this only happens when a robotis able to process signals effectively enough.Developers can run tests on variants of sensorand processor configurations in virtual realitywithout having to actually purchase and installthem. Realistic simulation makes potentialsources of danger intuitively identifiable. The

researchers are also developing similar applica-tions to monitor logistics and power engineer-ing systems.

Virtual reality is indispensable for the develop-ment of cars of the future. Conventional meth-ods are virtually no longer able to comprehen-sively test the complex interaction of hardwareand software in conjunction with a car’s me-chanical and electrical systems. Every luxuryclass car already contains around seventyprocessors – in part from various manufacturersand with widely varying software. Dependablycoordinating all these systems is already a chal-lenge likely to become only more difficult in thenear future. The industry has vehicles on thedrawing board with drive-by-wire electronicsteering and braking in lieu of mechanical con-trol systems. Drivers will nevertheless sense thesame resistance when they depress the brakepedal for instance – and cars of the future shallalso be as safe as oday. Virtual technology willenable German manufacturers to continue tolive up to their reputation as suppliers of excep-tionally reliable products.

Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Employees can try their hand at operating new equipment before it exists. © Dirk Mahler

ViERforES

The German acronym ViERforESstands for Virtual and Augment-ed Reality for Maximum Embed-ded System Safety, Security andReliability. The project is but onein the Federal Ministry of Educa-tion and Research’s high-techstrategy and is being supportedthrough 2010 with 7.5 millioneuros. The project partners arethe Fraunhofer IFF in Magde-burg, the Fraunhofer IESE inKaiserslautern and the universi-ties in both cities.

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Using the computer to avert disastersEurope’s vital infrastructures – electricity, water, telecommunications – areincreasingly interlinked. As a result, there is a greater risk that failureswill simultaneously affect the whole continent. Researchers are now settingup a competence center to help specialists to identify weak points in the in-frastructure more easily and to eliminate them.

Text: Brigitte Röthlein

Railway bridges destroyed, streets flooded,homes and businesses without electricity andclean water – in August 2002, floods in theElbe-Danube basin resulted in several critical infrastructures failing at the same time. Manyareas of Germany, Austria and the Czech Re-public were affected. In Austria alone, morethan 250 road and railway bridges were de-stroyed. The total damage was estimated atover 12 billion euros.

Our lives are increasingly dependent on techni-cal systems. Closely interlinked networks supplyenergy, water, heating and telecommunications.Natural disasters, terrorist attacks or technicalfailures can, in the worst case, paralyze wholecities or regions, endanger human life andcause considerable economic damage. A re-search group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS in Sankt Augustin – as one of the part-ners in the EU project DIESIS (Design of an Interoperable European Federated SimulationNetwork for Critical Infrastructures) – is devel-oping new security research tools that will enable risk analyses to be conducted morequickly and efficiently.

Utility providers, network operators and govern-ment agencies responsible for public securityhave a need for ways of detecting weak pointsin infrastructures and eliminating them beforeproblems occur. Modern security research mustview the many different aspects of infrastruc-ture systems in their entirety, and consider theclose interdependency of these systems. Infra-structure systems in Europe are now closely in-terlinked, which in some circumstances can trig-

ger a domino effect, following an incident inone particular place. ”40 years ago, for exam-ple, you knew that telephones would still workeven if there was a large-scale blackout, as thetelephone network had its own power supply,“says Dr. Erich Rome, who is coordinating theDIESIS project. ”Now, by contrast, many tele-phones are additionally plugged in to ordinarypower sockets and therefore cease to operatewhen the power grid fails. And telephone callsare no longer transmitted via a single network.There are numerous mobile phone networks,analog and digital landline networks, and Inter-net and satellite services.“

National differences in technology and infrastructure

An incident on November 4, 2006 illustrates theunexpected effects that a relatively minor pow-er outage can have, due to this close interde-pendency. Simply because a cruise ship was be-ing transferred from Papenburg along the Emsriver to the North Sea, a 380-kV high-voltagepower line that crossed the river had to be tem-porarily taken offline for safety reasons. Largesections of the power grid serving western andsouthern Europe subsequently collapsed. Morethan ten million households in Germany, France,Belgium, Italy, Austria and Spain were deprivedof electricity for up to two hours. Inadequateplanning and a lack of coordination when re-configuring the distribution network were thecause. Certain sections of the European grid be-came overloaded, resulting in a cascade ofemergency shutdowns. To provide a means ofassessing such complex interdependencies, se-curity researchers have developed numerical

simulations capable of depicting real-life situa-tions to a high degree of accuracy on the com-puter. These simulations can then be used toplay out different events and see how the sys-tems react in the worst case scenario. Thismakes it easier to understand interactions be-tween the systems, identify weak points, andeliminate them in the real network.

”It’s true that simulators already exist,“ ErichRome tells us, ”but they are usually limited toone infrastructure and can only simulate onetype of system.“ It would be more useful to beable to study the links between different infra-structures and establish what effect they haveon each other. ”There are still many unresolvedproblems, because there are no universal stan-

Project Partners

Five European research centers are collabo-rating on the EU’s DIESIS project(Design ofan Interoperable European Federated Simula-tion Network for Critical Infrastructures):– the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent

Analysis and Information systems IAIS– the Campanian Consortium for Research in

Informatics and Industrial Automation(CRIAI), Italy

– the Italian National Agency for New Tech-nologies, Energy and the Environment(ENEA)

– Imperial College London, UK– The Netherlands Organisation for Applied

Scientific Research (TNO).

diesis-project.eu


dards for linking simulators, and so everybody isdeveloping their own interfaces,“ says the IAISresearcher. There are also national differences interms of technology and the regulation of infra-structures within Europe. Simulations may alsobe based on different technologies, making itdifficult for them to be interlinked. ”Our rolewill be to design suitable interfaces that enabledifferent infrastructure simulations to be linked,as a precursor to developing a universal stan-dard,“ says Rome. Users of this standard will beable to collaborate with other designers insteadof having to develop everything alone. This willsave a lot of time and money, and it will be eas-ier to compare research results.

Initially, through a series of workshops andmany discussions, the partners working on theDIESIS project in Germany, Italy, the UK and theNetherlands aim to establish the researchers’needs and build up a database of existing sce-narios. At the same time, they are developing a

prototype. This is intended to demonstrate, byway of a real-life simulation, that the objectivecan be achieved in a user-friendly way and atan affordable cost. The security aspect is alsoimportant. The more information the simulationcontains about critical infrastructures, the betterit needs to be protected against unauthorizedaccess. ”We intend, of course, to provide acomplete package of functions,” says ErichRome. ”This includes anonymization of the dataand tight control of the portals to the pro-grammes. There are still some loopholes thatwe need to close.“

Pan-European cooperation onsimulation

The new tools are helping the providers andoperators of infrastructures to develop more extensive security measures than before. ”Forexample, errors in the planning and implemen-tation of infrastructures can be identified and

corrected,“ explains Rome. An example of a serious planning error comes from the USA. InBaltimore, a road, a mains water pipe, a powersupply line, its reserve cable and a telephonecable were laid directly above a railroad tunnel.All the systems failed when a train loaded withchemicals exploded inside the tunnel.

The task of the UE’s DIESIS project is to designa pan-European, standardized e-platform formodeling and simulation tasks. This platformwill subsequently be put to use by the EuropeanInfrastructures Simulation and Analysis Centre(EISAC). The ultimate aim is to establish pan-European cooperation in the field of critical infrastructures simulation. The EISAC facilitiesare to be shared by researchers, infrastructureoperators and government security agencies asa means of gaining a better understanding ofthe mutual interdependencies between Europe’scritical infrastructures and to make them saferand more reliable.

A high-voltage power line was shut down so that acruise ship built in the Meyer dockyard in Papenburgcould be transferred to the North Sea. Consequently,large sections of the power grid supplying western andsouthern Europe collapsed. © Markus Milde/VISUM


Commuting on the subway in the morning, it’shard not to notice that almost everyone hasblack or white earplugs in their ears, with head-phone wires disappearing into the depths oftheir jacket or coat. Schoolchildren, office em-ployees and workers are all tuned in to their fa-vorite music, be it rock or classical, techno orhouse, country or jazz. Whatever the situation,they’ve got the right music with them every-where they go.

The playback devices are as small as matchbox-es and can hold a huge selection of tracks.Nowadays, it goes without saying that peoplebuy the music they want on the Internet. Butthis was still difficult to imagine back in 1995,when the developers assigned the “mp3” tag totheir new data format. At the time, they had noidea that their inventions would cause such anupheaval in the music industry. “People madefun of our ideas in the beginning, but weweren’t about to be deterred. We put in almost15 years of hard development work betweenthe initial concept and the finished standard,”says Jürgen Herre, chief scientist for Audio andMultimedia at the Fraunhofer Institute for Inte-grated Circuits (IIS) in Erlangen.

It all began in the late Seventies, with the ideaof high-quality transmission of music overphone lines. Professor Dieter Seitzer, who thenheld the chair of Technical Electronics at theUniversity of Erlangen-Nürnberg, looks back:“We submitted a patent application. The re-viewers rejected our proposal, saying it was nottechnically possible to compress pieces of musicto the extent that they could go down phonelines. And at that time, it’s true, we didn’t yethave sufficient knowledge to do it. However, Iwas convinced that we would be able to com-press musical data, pack it into small datachunks, and then send it very quickly over datalinks. My students ran with the idea and appliedthemselves to the laborious work.” Among

these students was a man by the name of Karl-heinz Brandenburg, who is currently Head ofthe Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Tech-nology (IDMT) in Ilmenau. The students provedsuccessful in their work: they were able to ex-ploit to the maximum the limited resources ofmemory capacity and transmission bandwidth.The technology was initially used mainly by ra-dio broadcasters to send audio data betweenstudios via ISDN phones. Until then, they hadbeen forced to lease expensive dedicated linesfor this purpose. It sounds like quite a simpletrick: a piece of software recognizes the signalsthat a human can’t hear anyway. For example,in an orchestral piece, no instruments are leftout; instead, only those sounds which are over-

laid by others are stored imprecisely. The partic-ular challenge was – and still is – to ensure thatthe quality does not suffer during this data re-duction process.

David and Goliath: The marketing of mp3

“We are proud to have developed this proce-dure through teamwork. There is no single “fa-ther” of mp3, but many. Apart from myself,other key members of the group include Karl-heinz Brandenburg, Jürgen Herre, BernhardGrill, Harald Popp and Ernst Eberlein,” notesProfessor Heinz Gerhäuser, Director of theFraunhofer IIS. “That said, it was by no means

A German success storymp3


easy to introduce our successful developmentsto the market. Starting in 1991, we began tosell equipment that could be used by radiobroadcasters to exchange features in high quali-ty over the ISDN network.” When the mp3standard emerged, the scientists approachedthe electronic entertainment industry and radiobroadcasters. But the company decision-makerswere not interested. Either they did not believein the technology or they had developed theirown formats which they wished to launch. Yetthe Fraunhofer audio experts refused to giveup. And despite tough competition, they suc-ceeded in turning mp3 into an internationalmarket success.

The researchers themselves began the market-ing process and offered their software on theInternet for a fee. At the time, this type of mar-keting was by no means commonplace, and itharbored a nowadays widely-experienced prob-lem: in 1997, an Australian student bought thesoftware using a stolen credit card number andmade the mp3 format converter (encoder) pub-licly available. The planned online business wasthus initially a failure. But the software itselfaroused a great deal of interest, not least be-cause the right technical conditions had mean-while become established: home computerswere sufficiently fast and the Internet sufficient-ly widespread.

German companies, too, seized upon the newtechnology. In conjunction with Micronas, for-merly Intermetall, the scientists developed thefirst decoder chip and presented the first proto-

type of an mp3 player in 1994. The Germanfirm Pontis launched the first portable playbackdevice in 1995. However, there was still a lackof ready money to raise the product’s profile onthe international scene. Harald Popp, Head ofMultimedia Realtime Systems in the IIS, says:“Initially, we worked mainly with medium-sizedenterprises which had numerous ideas but in-sufficient budgets for advertising campaigns.Microsoft became one of the first significant li-cense holders in 1997, and in 1998 the era ofportable mp3 players began. It was only oncethese had become commonplace that Apple al-so jumped on the bandwagon, rapidly develop-ing into a market leader with clever marketingand an extremely user-friendly product design.”mp3 was also popularized by the music file-sharing service Napster. From early 2000 to July2001, millions of users used this service to ac-quire free tracks, albeit without any considera-tion for copyright laws. The Fraunhofer re-searchers condemned music pirating andsought ways to protect intellectual property.Since 1995, the IIS has been working alongsidea number of music publishers within a Euro-pean research project to develop a copy-protec-tion system for mp3 music. Throughout thissame period, in the course of numerous discus-sions with the music industry, IIS representativeshave constantly stressed that, while it is un-doubtedly necessary to fight against the illegaldistribution of music on the Internet, it is equal-ly essential to seek the most customer-friendlyways of using the Web legally to distribute mu-sic electronically.

Nowadays, mp3 is well-established. The musicindustry has adapted and is happily selling its titles online. Mobile phones, car radios, DVDplayers and many other items of equipment are able to read the format. Its economic success has boosted not only the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, but also Germany as a whole. “Taxrevenue amounts to at least 300 million euros a

year, and more than 9,000 jobs have been cre-ated in Germany – for example, in the retail in-dustry and the production of mp3 players,” saysGerhäuser, pleased. Each year, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft collects a figure in the high tens ofmillions in licensing revenue. It uses this revenueto develop new patents and know-how, andhas set up a foundation to further its own re-search projects.

Licensing revenue flowing intoresearch projects

Licensing revenue is also being used to furtherdevelop audio and multimedia technology. Inthe recently-established research centre, Audio-Labs Erlangen, guest scientists from around theworld are working with Fraunhofer researchersand scientists from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg on new multimedia technologies, todigitally process music and speech signals, forexample. Gerhäuser takes pride in the fact that“Fraunhofer now has the world’s largest audioresearch workshop.”

These teams are continually developing new applications and optimizing sound quality.Among other things, they are working on sur-round sound technologies to bring the “liveperformance” into the living room. Surroundsound, and thus a vivid listening experience, iseven possible with headphones. For example,on the train on the way home from work in theevening: slip on the headphones, select a track,lean back and relax … violinist Anne-SophieMutter plays Mozart: is there a better way todigest the many impressions of the day?

Fraunhofer’s mp3 patents

There is not just one mp3 patent, but 20mp3 patent families. These property rightsfamilies are the result of one invention beingregistered in several countries.

Thomson is the Institute’s partner for themarketing of mp3 patents and software.

More than 500 companies hold Fraunhoferand Thomson licenses. For information on li-censing, please go to

mp3licensing.com

This man wouldn’t want to be without it: Listening tomusic in mp3 format is an everyday habit these days, and a significant economic factor. © sodapix/vario images

mp3 has changed the way we buy and listen to music.A small group of researchers from Erlangen workedtirelessly to develop and market the now-famous dataformat. And German industry has profited as a result.

Text: Marion Horn


The cranes have been dismantled and the muddy paths have given way to an attractivepark: inHaus2 is finished. “At least finished asfar as construction is concerned,” specifies Klaus Scherer of the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS, who heads the inHaus innovation center inDuisburg. “In terms of research and develop-ment, on the other hand, we are far fromreaching the end. All the exciting projectsplanned with our application partners have justbegun, and the labs, as we call them, are still being set up.”

One of these is the Health and Care Lab, wherenew models are being developed which help tolook after people in need of care, and the or-ganization of care facilities is being made easier.Technical solutions can provide greater safetyfor elderly, disabled or sick people in need ofcare, without restricting their independence. Inthe next-generation nursing home with its net-worked room systems, cases of emergency canbe automatically recognized and staff can reactquickly. “But the idea goes much further thanthat, with sensors in each room automaticallydelivering electronic data to support the caredocumentation process. This would help to save

Access to the futureFor about one-and-a-half years, inHaus2 has been the subject of research and develop-ment concerning intelligent construction, new materials and energy-saving systems. Butfrom now on, visitors will also be able to witness future-oriented, constantly chang-ing and flexible room concepts being tested – for hotels, offices and nursing homes.

Text: Beate Koch

The new in Haus2 in Duisburg. Here researchers and scientists are developingnew concepts for offices, hotels and retirement homes. © Guido Erbring


an enormous amount of time and money,which in turn would benefit the patients,” ex-plains Wolfgang Meyer of ambient assisted liv-ing GmbH. In order to find out how this ideawould be received by the patients themselvesand which measures would most effectivelysupport the nursing staff, studies are being car-ried out at regular intervals with the help ofeveryone involved. On the occasion of theopening celebrations, the Fraunhofer Institutefor Industrial Engineering IAO presented itsshowcase “Pflege 2020” (Care 2020), introduc-ing a living environment for elderly people thatenables them to remain active and independ-ent, and ensures their safety.

The other two research areas – NextHotel andOfficeLab – are being coordinated by the IAOand implemented in close collaboration withLindner Hotels and T-Systems. In order to en-sure that the developments actually take users’needs into account, test specialists from the in-Haus application partners regularly assess howpracticable the concepts are in everyday life andhow they can be marketed.

“Innovations concerning buildings have not de-veloped anywhere near as dynamically as thosein other sectors over the past decades, if we ex-clude all the smart glass facades. The greatbursts of innovation we have experienced in in-formation technology or biotechnology, for ex-

ample, have not yet taken place in this domain.But that is about to change in a big way. Theenergy crisis, global warming and, above all,new requirements in terms of flexible use willinduce a huge innovation competition, not onlyin Germany but also on a global scale. Everyoneinvolved faces the same challenge – to realizeecologically, economically and socially sustain-able buildings for living and working in,” saysProf. Dr. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of theFraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

The plans and ideas of the nine participatingFraunhofer Institutes and their approximately 60industrial partners cover a wide diversity of sub-jects. What unites them all is the goal of creat-ing economical and environmentally friendlycommercial properties – from construction andplanning to materials research, running of thebuildings, and various usages. “The visionaryconcepts being implemented here by the Fraun-hofer researchers and their industrial partnerswill significantly change construction productsand processes and the usage of buildings,” saysProf. Klaus Sedlbauer, director of the FraunhoferInstitute for Building Physics IBP. “This future-oriented model provides a great opportunity topositively and directly influence and improvepeople’s living environments.”

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is alreadyreaping the benefits: “The knowledge gained

from the inHaus2 project with regard to lower-ing energy consumption in office buildings hasbeen incorporated in the construction of thenew building of the State Office for Data Pro-cessing and Statistics (LDS NRW). This meansthat inHaus2 has already entered the secondchapter of its success story,” says innovationminister Professor Andreas Pinkwart.

A research program worth 27 million euros isscheduled to run until the end of 2011. Three-quarters of the approximately 9 million euros ofinvestment funds required for the inHaus2 re-search facility is being provided by the EU andthe state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The feder-al government, the city of Duisburg and theFraunhofer-Gesellschaft are also supporting theproject. The industrial partners and a range ofpublic funding projects will each cover 50 per-cent of the costs for the inHaus2 research pro-gram. The joint activities are starting to pay off,as demonstrated by the first results: These in-clude all the developed and tested componentsrevolving around the intelligent constructionsite, ranging from electronic delivery notes andRFID goods-reading gates for delivery trucks toa construction-site portal and a digital buildingrecord (Digitale Gebäudeakte). The partnersHOCHTIEF AG and T-Systems are already puttingthese results into practice at the next majorbuilding site: the Elbphilharmonie concert build-ing in Hamburg.

Partners

Participating Fraunhofer Institutes for Micro-electronic Circuits and Systems IMS, BuildingPhysics IBP, Software und Systems Engineering ISST,Digital Media Technology IDMT, Solar Energy Sys-tems ISE, Industrial Engineering IAO, Manufactur-ing Engineering and Automation IPA, Environmen-tal, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT,Material Flow and Logistics IML

Industrial partners (status: 11/2008) System partners: BASF SE, Henkel KGaA, HOCHTIEFAG, Josef Gartner GmbH, OSRAM LIGHT CONSULT-ING GmbH, SAINT-GOBAIN ISOVER G+H AG, T-Sys-tems, Xella International GmbH

Component partners: AppliedSensor GmbH, BeneDeutschland GmbH, Berker GmbH & Co. KG, cave-rion GmbH, CENO Membrane Technology GmbH,curveLED GmbH, Deutsches Kupferinstitut Berufs-verband, DORMA GmbH + Co. KG, e:cue GmbH &Co. KG, EBV Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG, Elabo

GmbH, ESYLUX GmbH, Gesellschaft für audiovi-suelle Erlebnisse mbH, HAFI Beschläge GmbH,Hager Tehalit Vertriebs GmbH, HANSA MetallwerkeAG, Intermundien GmbH, KERMI GmbH,Kieback&Peter GmbH & Co KG, Klafs GmbH & Co.KG, KRANTZ KOMPONENTEN caverion GmbH, Lan-com Systems GmbH, LightLife, Mauser Einrich-tungssysteme GmbH & KoKG, Menerga Apparate-bau GmbH, MLR System GmbH , OBOBETTERMANN GmbH & Co. KG, Odenwald OWAFaserplattenwerk GmbH, Planet Digital GmbH & CoKG, protel hotelsoftware GmbH (via FraunhoferIAO), Ratioplast-Optoelectronics GmbH, scemtecautomation GmbH, Schindler Lifts. Ltd., UNIPOR-Ziegel Marketing GmbH, Vaillant GmbH, VESTA-MATIC GmbH, Viega GmbH & Co. KG, Villeroy &Boch AG, Wilo AG, WINI Büromöbel GeorgSchmidt GmbH & Co KG, Wirtschaftsbetriebe Duis-burg - AöR, Wolf Heiztechnik GmbH, Zent-FrengerGesellschaft für Gebäudetechnik mbH

Application partnersambient assisted living GmbH, Duisburger Ver-sorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH, Düssel-dorfCongress Veranstaltungsgesellschaft mbH,Lindner Hotels AG

Sponsorsad notam GmbH, Baulmann Leuchten, bimos-Sitztechnik, BRUCK GmbH & Co.KG, Crestron Ger-many GmbH, Deckendesign Redmer, DometicGmbH, Drumm & Partner, Facet, FBF bed&more,FEIG ELECTRONIC GmbH, Freudenberg BausystemeKG, Future-Shape GmbH, Geohaus Meßbild Engi-neering & Control GmbH, GP Acoustics GmbH, in-Haus GmbH, Markus-Diedenhofen, Media AgenturKepnik, nora systems GmbH, Rosink GmbH, ShureDistribution GmbH, Starmix, Stockheim GmbH &Co. KG, Stockmanns GmbH & Co. KG, t+t netcom,TOMBUSCH & BRUMANN, Vorwerk & Co., Teppich-werke GmbH & Co. KG


Software forreliable bridgesGermany has about 120,000 bridges which have to be regularly checked for damage to ensure that cardrivers, cyclists and pedestrians can cross themsafely. A new image processing program can auto-matically detect irregularities in the material of the bridge.

Text: Linda Huhn

Spanning rivers, deep gorges and highways, bridges are anindispensable part of the traffic network. However, the stateof Germany’s bridges is alarming. In an inspection carriedout by the German automobile club ADAC in 2007, one inevery ten of the fifty bridges examined failed the test. Fourwere rated poor and one was even found to be very poor.Changing weather conditions and temperatures, an increas-ing volume of traffic, and de-icing salts are stressing the ma-terial, rapidly leading to damage such as fissures, flakingconcrete and rust perforation. If the bridge engineers do notrecognize this in time, the consequences for drivers, cyclistsand pedestrians can be disastrous.

At present, it is standard procedure for bridges to bechecked for externally visible damage by an inspector directlyon location. Cracks, for instance, are sealed with adhesivestrips which expand if the cracks widen. However, such in-spection measures will not be necessary in future thanks to anew image processing software program developed by re-searchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathe-matics ITWM in Kaiserslautern in collaboration with col-leagues at Infracom in Italy. “The software automaticallyexamines photos of a bridge, scanning for certain character-istics and irregularities such as strong color deviations,” ex-plains ITWM scientist Markus Rauhut. “Unlike humans, thetool never misses any abnormalities – even the smallest ofdefects are identified and marked.”

The challenge is that no bridge is the same as another. Dif-ferent bridges have different shapes, are made of differentmaterials, their surface structure varies, and their color de-pends on the material and the degree of moisture, dirt orfouling. The software needs to be able to handle all thesedeviations. To this end, the researchers extracted metricsfrom photos, such as the characteristic elongated form of afissure, the typical color deviations that occur in moistplaces, and the material structures, which are different inconcrete bridges than those in steel bridges. These metricswere stored in a database. When the researchers upload aphoto into the system, the software compares the character-istics of the new photo with those of the stored ones. If itdetects any irregularities, it marks the respective places in thephoto. The bridge inspector can then assess how serious thedamage is and whether action needs to be taken. The fasterthe damage is detected and clearly categorized, the cheaperand easier it is to repair. The engineers have been successful-ly using the new software to inspect bridges in Italy forabout the last six months.

Bridges have to be regularly checked for damage.© Nicole Werner/buchcover.com

- 33COMPACTFraunhofer magazine 2.09

Protection against telephone spamContact: Nicolai Kuntze, [email protected]

It is the middle of the night when the phone rings. Half asleep, you pickup the receiver. Instead of a person, you hear a computer-generatedvoice at the other end delivering an advertising message. An increasingnumber of shady businesses are using the possibility of low-cost automat-ed phone calls as a cheap means of advertising. These unbidden calls arebased on VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology, and work justlike e-mail spam. They are therefore known as “Spam over Internet Tele-phony”, or SPIT for short. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Se-cure Information Technology SIT in Darmstadt have developed a test soft-ware program to evaluate possible techniques for blocking SPIT. Thetool’s main task consists in simulating SPIT callers and making SPIT testcalls. This makes it possible to detect weak points in VoIP systems and totest suitable combinations of defense measures.

Radar sensors perform a numberof important functions in vehicles:They send out warnings to preventcollisions, support adaptive cruisecontrol (ACC) systems and act asbraking assistants, for example. Butthe manufacturing costs are stillmuch too high for a wide-scalemarket introduction. In collabora-tion with partners from industryand academia, the Fraunhofer In-

stitute for Reliability and Microinte-gration IZM in Berlin has now de-veloped a technology to signifi-cantly reduce the costs involved. Inthis project, the radar sensors areproduced under a new packagingconcept. Two innovative embed-ding techniques are combined toform a system in package, which isexpected to reduce the costs by upto 30 percent.

Wind power plants near residential areas are of-ten only permitted to operate under partialload, as they would otherwise be too noisy forthe local residents. This has the disadvantagethat they produce less electricity. One source ofthe noise is the motion of the rotor blades, an-other is the vibrations in the gearbox. These arerelayed to the tower of the wind turbine, wherethey are emitted across a wide area.

In a joint project with colleagues from SchirmerGmbH, ESM Energie- und SchwingungstechnikMitsch GmbH and the Dr. Ziegler engineeringoffice, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institutefor Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWUin Dresden have developed an active vibrationdamping system for wind turbines. The keycomponents of this system are piezo actuators.These devices convert electric current into me-chanical motion and generate “negative vibra-tions”, or a kind of anti-noise that preciselycounteracts the vibrations of the wind turbineand cancels them out. The respective noise fre-quencies are measured by integrated sensorsand passed on to the actuators. The researchershave already developed a working model of theactive vibration damper, and their next step willbe to perform field trials. The project is beingsponsored by the German environmental foun-dation Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU.

Noise-reducedwind turbinesContact: Holger Kunze,[email protected]

Cheaper radar sensorsContact: Karl-Friedrich Becker, [email protected]

Piezo actuators counteract the noise of wind powerplants. © MEV

Despite the increasingly high requirements they have to meet, sensorsystems need to be cheaper to manufacture. © Fraunhofer IZM

34 - EUROPE Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Research - an export hitResearch knows no boundaries: Fraunhofer today already earns 140 million eurosoutside of Germany - a ninth of its research budget. Most of its customers andcooperation partners are from the EU, which clearly puts Fraunhofer on courseto becoming a European research organization.

Text: Monika Weiner

- 35EUROPEFraunhofer magazine 2.09

Research knows no boundaries: Fraunhofer to-day already earns 140 million euros outside ofGermany - a ninth of its research budget. Mostof its customers and cooperation partners arefrom the EU, which clearly puts Fraunhofer oncourse to becoming a European research orga-nization.

The Germans are world export champions. Cars,medical equipment, machine tools and high-class cameras "made in Germany" are in de-mand across the globe. But not only products:research services, too, are export hits, as Dr.Georg Rosenfeld, head of the Corporate Devel-opment department at Fraunhofer, confirms:"The situation is very positive: foreign compa-nies are investing more in German researchthan German companies are spending on re-search and development abroad. Fraunhoferhas benefited from these investments, generat-ing revenues outside Germany of 140 millioneuros in 2008. This means that Fraunhofer is di-rectly financing 1700 jobs in Germany throughour institutes' activities abroad. In terms of ourcore business, this means that every fifth euro ispaid by a foreign customer."

Presence abroad creates access tooutstanding ideas and employees

Fraunhofer has gone international: in recentyears, it has established Representative Officesin Brussels, Dubai, Moscow, Seoul, Jakarta,Peking and Tokyo. Researchers at the Germaninstitutes are collaborating with Polish, Hungari-an, Russian, Austrian, Portuguese, Greek andFrench colleagues in a number of Europeanproject groups. In the U.S., seven Fraunhofer re-search centers are united under the roof ofFraunhofer USA Inc.. "This is about more thanjust earning money," explains Rosenfeld. "Thereare several, mainly strategic, reasons why the

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft benefits from activitiesabroad, particularly with regard to personnel,organization and research policy."

Globalization has changed the world. Gone arethe days when research organizations were onlyactive in their own countries. Keeping ahead inthe international competition for the best ideasand employees makes it imperative to maintainpresence in those places that attract the mostcreative minds: at the world's best universitiesand research establishments. In collaborationwith medical engineers at the famous JohnsHopkins University in America, Fraunhofer re-searchers are developing the operating theaterof the future. Fraunhofer mathematicians areworking together with Cambridge University,one of the leading establishments in Europeand the world, to develop reliable risk-control-ling methods for financial management. Fraun-hofer experts at the new Center for SustainableEnergy Systems CSE in Boston are collaboratingwith scientists at the renowned MassachusettsInstitute of Technology MIT, and the FraunhoferInstitutes are currently engaged in numerousprojects with the application-oriented Carnot in-stitutes in France. "Today, Fraunhofer is an inte-gral part of an international network of excel-lence, which enables us to achieve very highscientific standards, while at the same time pro-viding access to highly qualified employees. It'sa typical win-win situation," sums up Fraun-hofer President Hans-Jörg Bullinger.

More and more customers expectexperience abroad

Fraunhofer has a lot to offer in this respect:From the North Pole to South Africa, and fromChile to India, China and Japan, the FraunhoferInstitutes are involved in numerous projects andcollaborations. Many of the institutes are alsolinked to the world's elite universities. "Ourclose ties with economically aspiring regionsand our collaboration with centers of excellencenot only guarantee first-class research results

but also help us to identify trends at an earlystage and position ourselves accordingly," ex-plains Rosenfeld. "We are constantly monitoringthe global research market and establishingnew focal areas." In his opinion, Europe is atpresent the top priority, the United States willcontinue to grow, and Asia will become moreand more important, the key partners beingJapan, Korea and China.

The income achieved by Fraunhofer throughprojects with European partners has more thandoubled over the past ten years: from just 42million euros in 1998 to 107 million euros in2008. About half of this income can be attrib-uted to projects financed by the EuropeanCommission. "This is a very positive develop-ment from our point of view," says Rosenfeld.By conducting contract research, participating inEuropean collaborative projects and establishinglinks with excellent partners, Fraunhofer gainsaccess to new knowledge and extends its port-folio in cooperation with its European neigh-bors."

Fraunhofer as a European researchinstitution?

We are well on our way to becoming a Euro-pean research establishment," concludes Rosen-feld. In its 'European strategy for 2020', Fraun-hofer has set itself the objective of makingcontract research for European customers stan-dard practice at its institutes, and in this senseacting as a European organization. The first Eu-ropean subsidiaries are currently being foundedin Austria and Portugal, and new Fraunhoferproject groups and collaborations with Euro-pean research partners will follow over thecoming years. "Not only our researchers, but al-so Fraunhofer as an organization, will learn anddevelop in the process," explains Rosenfeld. "Ibelieve that we as a major institution for ap-plied research in Europe have a special obliga-tion to help actively shape the European Re-search Area."

Europe ahead: The income achieved by Fraunhoferthrough projects with European partners has more than doubled over the past ten years. © EC

36 - EUROPE Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has a new subsidiary: Fraunhofer Portugal. Its first research unit, the“Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions" was recently opened in Porto. Togetherwith scientists and engineers from the famous University Fraunhofer researchers intend to develop a new generation of electronic devices for all those who have difficulty using information technology - cell phones, computers, television sets or hi-fi systems.

Text: Monika Weiner

Fraunhofer in Portugal - Joint research for a better future

© MEV

- 37EUROPEFraunhofer magazine 2.09

"An excellent university close by, a building surrounded byinnovative spin-off companies, well-trained engineers and apopulation that is open-minded towards new informationtechnologies - Porto, the second largest city in Portugal, pro-vides an ideal setting for the new Fraunhofer Center for As-sistive Information and Communication Solutions," statesProf. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. This is the first center to be opened by Fraun-hofer's recently founded Portuguese subsidiary. "Just like allthe other facilities operated by Fraunhofer, which is thelargest applied research organization in Europe, the Por-tuguese center will stand at the interface between theoryand practice," the president adds.

"The center's goal will be to close the digital gap that is cur-rently getting wider and wider. Society has been split in half:On the one hand there are people for whom informationtechnology is a part of everyday life and who take Internet,cell phones, laptops and BlackBerrys for granted as a way ofcommunicating and obtaining information, while on the oth-er hand there are population groups who have no accesswhatsoever to these new technologies," says Prof. Dirk Elias,director of the new center and head of Fraunhofer Portugal.Together with his team at the Fraunhofer Center in Porto, heplans to develop IT solutions for target groups who havebeen largely ignored by the IT industry until now: peoplewho are old or infirm, live in rural areas, can't read or write,or are simply not interested in complicated technology. "Wedon't want to re-invent the wheel, but use existing solutionsto generate new products - computer networks and sensors,for example, or WLAN and mobile communication networksfor transmitting data."

This is an entirely new approach. Before now, special solu-tions have been developed for specific target groups andusually proved too expensive to be successful. "A special ITsolution for nursing homes is of no interest to industry be-cause the market is too small. If, on the other hand, you usean existing system such as the telephone network and inte-grate the provider and perhaps also a rescue or nursing serv-ice, you can create attractive new offers of commercial inter-est without having to invest too much money."

"There is a wealth of cooperation opportunities out there forthe Fraunhofer Center," says Elias. He intends to collaboratewith the Smart Environments department of the FraunhoferInstitute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS in Berlinand with the Institutes of the Fraunhofer Ambient AssistedLiving Alliance, which include the Fraunhofer Institute for In-dustrial Engineering IAO, the Fraunhofer Institute for Experi-mental Software Engineering IESE, the Fraunhofer Institutefor Computer Graphics Research IGD, the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Integrated Circuits IIS, the Fraunhofer Institute forMicroelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS and the Fraunhofer

Institute for Software and Systems Engineering ISST. The re-searchers have plenty of smart ideas for products: a localiza-tion system for children in shopping centers based on radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags; robust, easy-to-maintainkiosk systems for Internet cafés in rural areas; ticket ma-chines that can be operated intuitively even by people whocan't understand or read the local language; or intelligent TVset-top boxes that remind viewers of things that are easilyforgotten, such as taking their pills.

The goal is to close the digital gap thatlurks to split society

“If you want to implement ideas like these, you need toknow the needs and requirements of each target group," Eli-as points out. Computers that are to be used in rural areasneed to be robust and should require little maintenance.Electronic devices intended to support elderly, infirm peoplein their everyday lives and raise an alarm if they fall, forexample, should be of such a nature that they are barelyperceived by their owners. "Not to forget practical feasibility,which is at least as important for our developments," stres-ses Elias. "This is why we are collaborating closely with in-dustry." The new center has already made bids for a widerange of joint projects with the Spanish telephone companyTelefonica and several other enterprises. One of these pro-jects aims to support doctors and nurses in caring for elderlypatients. The idea is to set up a system in which patients canbe identified on the basis of electronic health insurancecards and given the right individual treatment, for exampledrugs that are dosed and packaged exactly as the doctorprescribed. A special terminal enables the patient to contactthe care service anytime.

"Portugal is an ideal country in which to develop such assis-tive information and communication solutions," says Elias."The Portuguese population is much more open to informa-tion technologies than most other Europeans." The use of ITservices is considerably more widespread in Portugal than inother places. The majority of cinemagoers now reserve seatselectronically by text message, and forty percent of theworking population submit their tax declarations online.Moreover, the innovative highway toll system Via Verde wasdeveloped and first employed in Portugal, and the same ap-plies to the new generation of multi-functional bank termi-nals. Professor Bullinger sees the Fraunhofer Center in Portoas an enrichment in several respects: "From now on, we willbe demonstrating our presence in Portugal, where we willbe carrying out research, testing the acceptance of newtechnologies and gathering experience. We will form net-works with the local researchers, establish ties with industrialpartners, and get to know and enter the Portuguese market.All this will benefit not only the Fraunhofer Institutes in Ger-many but also their industrial partners."

Fraunhofer magazine 2.0938 -

As Senior Vice President of Fraunhofer, Dr. Dirk-Meints Polter wasresponsible for internationalization from 1989 to 2001. Under his aegis, the German research organization became a global player.

Text: Monika Weiner

Our future is international

INTERVIEW


Dr. Polter, when and how did Fraun-hofer’s internationalization begin?

The organization’s internationalization was agradual development: Until the beginning ofthe 1990s, Fraunhofer was a national researchestablishment. Anything that happened beyondGerman borders at the time was mere coinci-dence. Individual institutes worked for cus-tomers abroad or cooperated with foreign re-search institutions, but there was nointernational strategy.

Why not?

Because the time wasn’t ripe. Some initial stepswere taken but failed mostly due to doubts onthe part of the funding bodies. The federal andstate ministries were concerned that know-howacquired with German tax money would flowout of the country and benefit companiesabroad.

Have these concerns now disappeared?

For the most part, yes. A lot has changed in re-cent years, both politically and in how peoplethink. Companies now see Europe as an ex-tended national frontier, and many have be-come global players. As an organization for ap-plied research we simply could not afford toignore this trend. Research collaborations withEuropean partners have become perfectly natu-ral and are supported by government agencies. The institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaftmake most of their foreign earnings in Euro-pean countries outside Germany – either direct-ly through contracted research or indirectlythrough projects funded by the European Com-mission. We are also present worldwide in theform of our Representative Offices, and our in-stitutes collaborate with partners in 50 coun-tries around the world.

What prompted Fraunhofer to go in-ternational?

We had set our sights on America. In the mid-1990s, the U.S. was considered the top busi-ness and science performer, and many of ourinstitutes wanted to establish a presence there.During that time, we founded numerous cen-ters that were intended to act as satellites for

the German parent institutes, forging close linksto top research organizations in the U.S., gener-ating expertise and giving employees a chanceto further their development.

Did the effort pay off?

To some extent, yes. The centers developedwell. They became more American and alsomore independent than we initially expected.Today, they are all run by Americans, acquiretheir own orders and are excellently positionedin the scientific community. Various collabora-tions have been established with renowned re-search institutions such as the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology and the John Hopkins,Michigan State and Boston Universities.

At around the same time, Fraunhoferopened its first Representative Of-fice in Brussels. What motivatedthis step?

The opening of the Brussels Office respondedto the increasing importance of the EuropeanCommission in Europe’s research community.More and more projects were being assigned inBrussels, so it made sense to send a representa-tive of our own there to lobby for us. The firstperson we sent was Prof. Ulrich Buller, who isnow Senior Vice President.

Meanwhile, Representative Officeshave been set up in the Middle Eastand in numerous countries in Asia.What is their task?

Unlike the Brussels Office, which only performslobby work, the Representative Offices in theMiddle East and Asia function as extensions ofthe organization. Their task is to establish andmaintain contacts, set up networks and helpthe institutes to acquire and handle orders. Wehave set up such Representative Offices incountries with markets that are important forFraunhofer, i.e. Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia,Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. We alsohave a Senior Advisor in India. All of thesecountries are many flight hours away from Ger-many, so it makes sense to have a permanentcontact on location who not only speaks thelanguage but is also familiar with the local cus-toms and traditions.

Is Fraunhofer on the way to becominga global player?

We will continue to expand our global reach,and this requires us to be open, interculturallycompetent and flexible in the way we think. Ibelieve Fraunhofer is well positioned in this re-spect: We have already gained a lot of experi-ence outside Germany that benefits our cus-tomers, we cooperate with research partners inAsia and America, and we are monitoring glob-al markets and mapping out our internationalstrategy accordingly. I think this means we areheading in the right direction towards an inter-national future.

INTERVIEW

40 - INTERNATIONAL Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

German ChancellorScholarshipRussia’s vast forests are famousaround the world. The exploitationand processing of wood in Russiais traditionally an important indus-trial sector. But there is a lot ofroom for improvement in the uti-lization and processing of this rawmaterial. Scientist Tatyana Rukavit-syna from Moscow is currentlyworking at the Fraunhofer Institutefor Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klau-ditz-Institut, WKI in Braunschweig,where she is developing innovativeconcepts for quality inspections. Asa German Chancellor Scholar, thescientist has the opportunity toconduct research in Germany forone year. And it is no accident thatshe chose WKI for her stay: the in-stitute has close contacts with Rus-sia, and also certifies Russian woodproducts that are imported intothe EU. German researchers will al-so profit from the young Russian'sstay, because Rukavitsyna is cur-rently comparing German andRussian regulations on the utiliza-tion of renewable raw materials inwood-based materials.

Airport securityAir traffic is increasing steadily. Atotal of 793 million passengerswere processed at EU airports inthe year 2007 - an increase of 7.3percent over the previous year.And this also entails an increase inthe activities behind the scenes:planes must be loaded and un-loaded, fuelled, and cleaned in theairport ramp area. Security forcesmonitor the terrain on a screen inorder to detect unauthorized per-sons or impending accidents ontime. Researchers are now devel-oping a software platform that inthe future will help security forcesto keep an eye on Europe's air-ports.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Er-langen are working with Europeanpartners in the EU project LocONto develop the new platform. Itcan localize staff and vehicles withprecision: the information neededto do this can be determined viaradio tags or the Global PositioningSystem GPS. All data converge in acentral location on the platform.The security personnel can surveythe entire airfield and all airportbuildings on a large screen, and sodetect hazards immediately.

The new system is to be installedat Faro Airport in Portugal nextyear.

Factoryknow-how No matter whether it's Game Boysor cell phones, MP3 players or hi-fisystems, suits, t-shirts, sunglasses,or leather shoes - all of these itemsare produced in gigantic lot sizes inSoutheast Asia. While the factoriesstill employ millions of people, thetrend there is moving toward au-tomation. Know-how for factoryplanning, manufacturing technolo-gy, process optimization, quality in-spection, and logistics is in de-mand.

Researchers from the FraunhoferInstitute for Factory Operation andAutomation IFF in Magdeburghave been supporting small andmedium-sized enterprises in South-east Asia for ten years. Now the in-stitute is opening a project office inthe Thai metropolis of Bangkok.Partners are well-known organiza-tions and institutions, such as theFederation of Thai Industries, theAsian Society for EnvironmentalProtection and the Ministry of Sci-ence and Technology. The officewill coordinate industrial and trans-fer projects and establish new con-tacts.

Cooperationwith Beijing Not only is the Chinese economybooming, but China’s significanceas a research location is rapidlygrowing: The country has now be-come the world's second-largestscientific nation after the USA.Many respected scientists and fa-mous research institutes are locat-ed there. The Institute of Policyand Management IPM of the Chi-nese Academy of Science in Beijingis the leading institute for innova-tion research in China. In collabo-ration with the researchers there,scientists at the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Systems and InnovationResearch ISI in Karlsruhe plan to in-vestigate the dynamics of new in-ventions and products. In 2009,the innovation researchers in Bei-jing will carry out the "EuropeanManufacturing Survey" among Chi-nese enterprises for the first time.The survey, which was devised to alarge extent by ISI researchers, setsout to discover which technicaland organizational innovations areused in industrial manufacturing.

- 41INTERNATIONALFraunhofer magazine 2.09

Cooperationwith MichiganThe heart of the American auto-mobile industry can be found inthe state of Michigan: Detroit ishome to a number of large auto-mobile manufacturers. But thegrowing energy shortage demandssolutions for the transport of thefuture. Fraunhofer researchers andthe University of Michigan are nowsearching for these solutions to-gether. They have launched theprogram “Alternative Energy Tech-nologies for Transportation”,whose goal is to spur the develop-ment of alternative and sustainableenergy technologies for transport.

A number of teams comprising sci-entists and engineers from Fraun-hofer and the University of Michi-gan will be conducting research ontransport technologies for the fu-ture, with a budget totaling US$2.2 million. The topics range fromfuel cells and batteries (for exam-ple, for hybrid cars) to more effi-cient solar cells and wind turbines,to new processes for cleaning ex-haust gases, optimizing combus-tion, or reducing carbon dioxideemissions. But it is not only newenergy technologies that are beingpromoted - the research is also tar-geted at manufacturing methodsthat lower production costs.

CompetencecenterGerman technology and know-how are in demand in Russia –particularly in the fields of automo-tive engineering and machinetools. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaftis now setting up a German-Russ-ian competence center for ma-chine tools and production engi-neering in collaboration with theGerman Engineering Association(VDMA), the Russian Federation,and the Republic of Tatarstan. Sci-entists at the Fraunhofer Institutefor Machine Tools and FormingTechnology IWU in Chemnitz willcoordinate the center and help tobuild it up. "Tatarstan is an indus-trial location that is gaining insupraregional importance throughproduction sectors such as auto-motive and aeronautical engineer-ing. Fraunhofer would like to playa part in this development andhelp it to spread right across Rus-sia. The growing economy is open-ing up new markets for Germancompanies, too," declares ChristianHarzbecker of the IWU.

Moving aheadtogether China possesses the world's fourthlargest water reserves – yet cleandrinking water is still hard to comeby. The interest in new develop-ments for environmentally friendlywater treatment and waste waterdisposal is correspondingly great.At the recent series of events enti-tled "Germany and China - MovingAhead Together", Fraunhofer pre-sented two exhibits in the Chinesecity of Canton, featuring new con-cepts for decentralized waste wa-ter purification and treatment. Theexhibits were part of a comprehen-sive presentation of German busi-ness, science, art and culture. Thegoal of the series of events, whichis being organized by the GermanForeign Office, is to showcase Ger-man developments and technolo-gies and to foster cooperative ven-tures between Germany andChina.

Sheiks reachfor the sun The oil reserves will dry up oneday, but the sheiks need not worryabout the future. If they make skill-ful use of solar energy, they cancontinue to live in air-conditionedhouses and accommodate theirtourists in luxury hotels. Researchscientists at the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Building Physics IBP inHolzkirchen are creating theknowledge for the desert metropo-lises and holiday resorts of tomor-row and beyond. They are devel-oping energy-saving, regenerativebuilding and air-conditioning tech-niques for the artificial island "TheWorld", which is currently beingconstructed off the coast of Dubai."Our goal is to create houses withmaximum comfort and a minimumenergy consumption that can becovered by renewable sources,"states Andreas Holm of the IBP.

42 - ENERGY Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Putting sunshine in the power gridSolar cells on houses, photovoltaic plants on industrial buildings,large rooftop solar arrays – more and more electricity is beingobtained from solar energy. But can urban electricity grids cope with large quantities of solar power? Researchers in an EUproject investigated this and related questions.


One price hike follows the next: Last fall, themajor electricity producers and many local pub-lic utilities have raised the electricity prices yetagain – some of them quite sharply. One reasonfor the cost explosion in recent years is thedrastic increase in the price of petroleum andnatural gas. Photovoltaics – the direct conver-sion of sunlight into electricity – is an alternativeto fossil fuels. No wonder more and more pri-vate home-builders are looking to solar energyas a solution. Companies, too, are making evergreater use of photovoltaics to cover a propor-tion of their energy requirements. Solar powerplants with an output of around 830 mega-watts were installed in Germany during 2006alone – and the trend is rising. For good reason:Germany’s renewable energy law (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, or EEG) makes it particularlylucrative to set up solar power plants, as attrac-tive prices are paid for feeding solar power intothe public grid.

But are the urban grids capable of accep-ting large amounts of solar electricity? Whichfactors do the persons responsible need to takeinto account? Scientists from the Netherlands,Austria, France, Spain, Germany and the UK addressed these questions in a European re-search project entitled PV-UPSCALE (see box).Just recently scientists from the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburgsummarized the results of the research projectin two final reports. According to HermannLaukamp, ISE project manager in charge of gridissues, they concluded that: “The existing urbanpower grids are capable of accepting rapidly ris-ing amounts of solar electricity.”

There is no need to invest large sums in ex-panding the grids. Minor adjustments, if at all,are usually sufficient to enable the solar powerto be utilized without difficulty. As an example,the capacity of the existing electricity grid canbe increased at little extra cost by readjustingthe low-voltage transformers that supply elec-tricity to households in urban districts. Theiroutput voltage is often set a little higher thannecessary, for instance at 236 volt instead of230, in order to have some power “in reserve”.However, photovoltaic power plants may alsocause local voltage peaks. This means that, on abright sunny day, the maximum permissiblevoltage may be exceeded. As a result, the plantis never fully linked up to the grid, or part ofthe possible feed input is throttled. There is asimple solution to the problem: A service tech-nician needs only to reduce the output voltageby one or two percent during routine mainte-nance of the transformer, and further powerplants can immediately be connected up.

Besides the grid connection issue, the Europeanresearchers addressed three other topics: Theybuilt up a database of photographs document-ing attractive examples of photovoltaic plantsintegrated in buildings. The database covers notonly the European countries who participated inthe project, but also other countries belongingto the International Energy Agency IEA. The sci-entists also looked at the urban planning as-pects that would have to be considered whenfurther expanding the use of photovoltaics. Athird focal point of the study was the economicimpact. The project showed that the participat-ing countries take very different attitudes to the

issue of photovoltaics. “In Germany, photovolta-ic power generation has already become part ofthe power industry’s standard repertoire,”Laukamp reports. Conversely, in other countriesthere are often strict rules and bureaucratic hur-dles to overcome. The conclusion reached bythe project is that, even if photovoltaic powerdelivers an increasingly large contribution to thepower supply as encouraged by politicians, theelectricity grids in urban residential areas canstill accept the electricity. “Where there is aheavy load, there is also room for largeamounts of solar electricity,” is how Laukampsums up the scientists’ findings. “In rural areas,there is still a need for further investigation andalso for reinforcement of the grid.”

PV-UPSCALE

The PV-UPSCALE project investigates howpower from the sun can be integrated in themunicipal power supply. This research projectwas part of the European Union’s IEE (Intelli-gent Energy Europe) program started in 2006and finished recently. In it, users can find outabout integrating solar electricity plants inhousing estate structures and buildings. Fur-ther detailed information for the power in-dustry can be found in the reports entitled“Recommendations for utilities on PV systeminterconnection” and “Impact of photovoltaicgeneration on power quality in real estate ar-eas with high PV population”.

Partners in the project:– Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland

HORISUN– Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft – Vienna University of Technology, Energy

Economics Group– HESPUL– Halcrow Group Ltd. – Universidad Politecnica de Madrid – Ecofys Energieberatung und Handelsge-

sellschaft mbH – Continuon Netbeheer NV– MVV Energie AG

pvupscale.org

- 43ENERGYFraunhofer magazine 2.09

Solar housing development in Freiburg’s QuartierVauban, a former barracks. © Caro/Andree Kaiser

44 - ENERGY Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Material testing XXL: The rotor blades of wind turbinescan be tested in an 85-meter long and 25-meter highbuilding built for just this purpose. © Fraunhofer IWES

There’s a fair wind blowing for wind energy: Europeans invested 13 billion euros in new turbines in2007. Tens of thousands of wind turbines are already in operation, and more are being planned. To keepthem working reliably, interdisciplinary teams are developing new technologies for construction, qualityassurance and maintenance.

Text: Monika Weiner



Green electricity is the trend: solar, wind, and hydro powerproduce no poisonous exhaust gases, no radioactive waste,no greenhouse gases. Environmentalists have been callingfor more green electricity for a long time, but now evenpoliticians support the gentle energy: By 2020, 20 percent ofthe energy consumed in the EU, instead of only five percentas in 2005, is to be covered by renewable energy - this wasdecided by the European Council in December 2008. Salesof 24 to 30 billion euros in 2020 are forecast for Germancompanies that develop renewable energy sources.

Wind energy in particular is booming: plans call for windmillsto provide two-thirds of the “gentle energy” in the future.Total sales in the field already amounted to 15.4 billion eurosin 2007. German manufacturers and suppliers accounted for37 percent of these sales, making them the market leaders.If European Wind Energy Association predictions are correct,the number of jobs in the wind energy sector will doublefrom 2007 to 2020, to more than 300,000 throughout Eu-rope. German companies are expecting sales of 16 to 20 bil-lion euros.

The constantly growing number of wind parks is an enor-mous challenge for engineers and technicians: more andmore turbines must be planned, produced, installed, andmaintained. “Recording and optimizing the entire life cycleof a wind turbine takes interdisciplinary teams in which sys-tem manufacturers, production engineers, developers ofnon-destructive test methods, and mathematicians who sim-ulate the electricity yield all work together,” explains Dr.Mario Ragwitz from the Fraunhofer Network Wind Energy.“The Fraunhofer institutes have outstanding experts in all ofthese disciplines. Since the Network was established in2005, groups of experts from ten institutes have been suc-cessfully working together.”

In Germany, there are meanwhile 20,000 wind turbines. Lastyear they provided 41,000 gigawatt-hours, or six percent ofthe total energy consumed. Not only is renewable energyfriendly to the climate and environment, it is also easy onthe wallets of the consumers, because wind energy lowerselectricity prices. This is the conclusion reached by a studyconducted by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute forSystems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe. The pricereduction is the result of complex interactions: compared togas or coal power plants, wind turbines have very low oper-ating costs. These costs are, in turn, crucial for calculatingelectricity prices: the lower the operating costs, the cheaperthe kilowatt-hour. And so: on windy days, the most expen-sive coal or gas power plants, which determine the prices onthe electricity market, must be shut down or switched off -they are no longer economically feasible. “This disproves thepreconception that wind energy leads to high electricityprices,” Ragwitz continues. The fact that the consumer has

not noticed this relief yet, even although in recent yearsmore and more wind turbines have gone on line, has a sim-ple explanation in his opinion. “The prices for fossil fuelshave climbed so dramatically during the same period thatthe consumers have not yet registered the price reductionproduced by wind energy.”

Conquering a new market with interdisciplinary expertise

“Both the general political conditions and the current pricetrends support a further increase in the demand,” forecastsDr. Hans-Gerd Busmann, acting director of the FraunhoferInstitute for Wind Energy and Energy System TechnologyIWES. The new institute, which was set up in Bremerhavenin January, will be home to experts from various disciplines inthe future: engineers from the former Fraunhofer Center forWind Energy and Maritime Technologies CWMT in Bremer-haven are contributing their experience in material testingand simulation, while researchers from the Institute for SolarEnergy Supply Technology ISET in Kassel specialize in elec-trotechnical issues. “The groups complement each other per-fectly,” Busmann adds. “Together we can build a compe-tence center that offers all services, from development andconstruction of the components through to operating con-trol and testing.”

And in fact, the researchers do cover a broad range: the en-gineers in Kassel specialize in network integration of powerplants and forecast electricity production with the help ofcomputer simulations. Such projections help save fossil rawmaterials: if the operators of gas or coal power plants haveadvance notice of times when wind turbines will be supply-ing electricity, they can cut down production on time. Nowit is possible to use computer programs to very accuratelyforecast the outputs of wind turbines 24 hours in advance.

The Fraunhofer Network Wind Energy

– Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy SystemTechnology IWES

– Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF

– Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS/EAS– Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing

IITB/AST– Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE– Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Re-

search ISI– Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM– Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing IZFP– Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research WKI

ENERGY Fraunhofer magazine 2.0946 -

For the turbines to actually produce the theoretically calcu-lated outputs, they must be in perfect technical condition.Even small material defects can have devastating conse-quences. The inspection of the components, above all, the70-meter long rotor blades, is a science in itself. Fraunhoferengineers in Bremerhaven specialize in the oversized materialand reliability tests. In a building that is 85 meters long and25 meters high, Dr. Arno von Wingerde und his colleaguescan test rotor blades: the blade to be examined is securelyscrewed into a concrete block firmly anchored to the groundand then tensed with wires. In order to understand exactlyhow the rotor blade distorts under a load, scientists from theFraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITBhave developed their own measurement system and installedit in Bremerhaven. Markings are placed on the rotor bladethat is to be checked and in the building; a camera registersthese markings during the trial. Software evaluates the im-ages, determines the exact position of the marked points inthe area, and calculates where the rotor blade has bent ordistorted, and by how much. “This information is important,because it allows us to draw conclusions about materialloads and possible damage causes,” Dr. Martin Ruckhäberlefrom IITB explains.

To comply with safety requirements, a blade 70 meters longmust withstand deformation of 15 meters without damage.“Our test setup is one of the largest in the world,” explainsDr. Holger Huhn from IWES. “Rotor blade manufacturershave expressed enormous interest in using the test stand.”The Bremerhaven researchers can also simulate the dynamicload: the rotor blade is fixed in place and oscillated with thehelp of hydraulic cylinders. “By using the natural frequency,we produce large bending deformations that are compara-ble to the deformations at the wind turbine. During a testcycle of a few million oscillations, the blade is inspected overand over so that we can determine if the stress has causeddamage in the material,” Huhn reports. To make it possibleto test a number of zones in a rotor blade cross-section si-multaneously during a cyclic vibration test, the researchersare currently developing a multi-axis test system. This systemshould supply reliable results in less time and with less ener-gy expenditure than the current test methods.

Simulating the requirements of the future

Industry's quality requirements will increase in the comingyears - IWES researchers are convinced of this. “There is lessand less room. It is only a question of time until Germanybuilds wind parks in the North Sea,” according to Hans-GerdBusmann. “But the laws in the offshore area differ fromthose on land: the turbines must be planned and construct-ed in such a way that they withstand wind, weather, andwaves for years and even decades. The anchoring for thetowers must even be capable of withstanding a storm surge.

New concepts for maintenance heve to be developed, be-cause examinations by inspectors who have to come by ship,climb the tower, and then lower themselves down to the ro-tor blades on a rope are only possible a few days a year, de-pending on the weather.

“The engineers at the various institutes are already at worknow developing the technologies for the offshore market oftomorrow: at the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-DestructiveTesting IZFP, Bernd Frankenstein and his team are developingsensors that detect material fatigue early.“ These sensors de-tect deformations in the rotor blade and register small frac-tures in the material.” At the Hannover Messe, the re-searchers showed how more extensive damage can bepredicted with the help of sensor measurements: a rotorblade segment is subjected to pressure. Before it breaks, acrack can be heard. Sensors mounted on the surface registerthe noise and sound the alarm once the crack has exceededa certain noise level. “The sensor measurements are well-suited for long-term monitoring at sea, because they areeconomical and, if the sensors are integrated into the fiber-glass laminate, absolutely weather-resistant,” explainsFrankenstein.

Other research groups are working on test equipment thatuses ultrasound or light (see the article on page 54 for moreinformation) to track down defects in the rotor blades. “Inaddition to the rotor blades, the scientists are also focusingon the supporting structure of the offshore power turbines,”Huhn reports. “‘Aeroelastic simulation’ of offshore wind tur-bines (OWTs), which we have enhanced in work with theAero Dynamik Consult engineering office, allows us to usefinite elements to calculate the interaction of the foundationand wind and wave loads. Our product has put us into aleading position internationally. The goal is to improve thetechnical reliability of wind turbines by means of optimizedoverall simulation and so to allow better planning conditionsfor offshore wind parks.”

Super human: Enormous forces are at work during the material and reliability inspection. And so the rotor blades must be securely anchoredin the wall. © Fraunhofer IWES


At first glance, the rotor blade appears to be flawless. But Otto Lutz knows that there's much more to rotor blades than meets the eye. He taps on the surface and listens. The expert has inspected thousands of rotor blades,and so developed an ear for the sounds that occur when he taps: a rich, deep sound results if the laminate is homo-genous, while a flatter, more hollow sound indicates dis-continuities in the material. Lutz strokes the surface: bumpsindicate delaminations and cavities close to the surface.Many material defects can be tracked down in this way –but not all.

Defects in the material are dangerous. When the rotor bladeis subjected to everyday loads, defects can lead to mechani-cal stresses, they can cause the laminate to tear, and theycan possibly cause a fracture. This is why production is sub-ject to stringent requirements: during the manufacture of arotor blade that is 60 meters (or almost 200 feet) long, hun-dreds of fiberglass mats or fabric strips must be laid flat, oneon top of another, and glued with special resins in a vacu-um. “Even small defects and irregularities can cause air inclu-sions, or creases to form,” explains Dr. Hiltrud Brocke fromthe Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klau-ditz-Institut, WKI in Braunschweig.

Together with her colleagues, this researcher has developeda method for making defects visible. “Infrared thermography

is well-suited for checking the material, because it is quick,economical, and does not damage the material,” Brockecontinues. “The surface is briefly heated with an infraredheater, and then a special camera is used to visualize howthe thermal front propagates in the material. For example, ifthe front runs into air inclusions or delaminations, it is re-tarded, because heat does not spread as well in air as it doesin a solid laminate.” Using infrared thermography, re-searchers can now look a few centimeters deep down intothe material. This makes visible all features that have a dif-ferent thermal conductivity than that of fiberglass: for exam-ple, air, metal, or water. At the Hannover trade fair 2009,the researchers have recently demonstrated how this tech-nology makes it possible to track down various defects in apiece of rotor blade.

“One of the system's great advantages is that we can take itto the customer,” Brocke adds. “The equipment, consistingof an infrared heater, a camera and a computer, fits into acar trunk. We have already used it to test rotor blades duringmanufacturing, at the end of the transport route, and afterinstallation." The Fraunhofer researchers are currently work-ing with Otto Lutz’s appraisal office on a thermographymeasurement station that inspectors can use to track downdefects hidden beneath a flawless surface. The goal: a sta-tion that is easy to operate and that is faster and more reli-able than old methods.

Cracks, air inclusions, delaminations - heat makes material defects in rotor blades visible.

Text: Monika Weiner

Telltale heat

Heat-flow thermography makes it possibleto find the most frequently occurring de-fects, such as cracks, air inclusions, or de-laminations. © Fraunhofer WKI

48 - ENVIRONMENT Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

The sea of houses extends as far as the eye can see. A never-ending stream of buses, carsand bicycles rolls through the city day andnight. 15 to 20 million people – no one knowsthe exact figure – live in Beijing and drive toschool, work, or the store. Even the six-lanecommunication roads are often overloaded. Tocross Beijing from one side to the other takestime – it's not unheard of for the drive to takehalf a day.

And around the world, megacities are growing– even Beijing is still expanding. The Chinesecapital covers an area of 16,000 square kilome-ters: on land where farmers once plantedwheat and grazed their livestock, today thereare only high-rise buildings, streets, and squarescovered in concrete. Like an octopus, Beijing isreaching out in all directions, annexing one vil-lage after another. More and more satellitecities are emerging. In spite of the constructionboom, living space is scarce, because each daymore people arrive looking for a better life. AndBeijing is not an isolated case: the world'smegacities, whether Tokyo or São Paulo, Mexi-co City, Mumbai, or Jakarta are attracting peo-ple like magnets. But what are the conse-

quences of covering acre after acre with con-crete? What happens to the rain water when itcan no longer seep away? How much does thegroundwater level drop when the natural cycleis interrupted? What are the consequences forthe surrounding ecology as the result of amegacity's water consumption?

The water supply development is predictable

“All of these questions have scarcely been askedin China, and they have not yet been systemati-cally answered,” Dr. Hartwig Steusloff knows.Working on the project “Beijing Water” with ateam from the Fraunhofer Institute for Informa-tion and Data Processing IITB in Karlsruhe, heexamined which factors influence a megacity'swater supply, how shortages can be predicted,which alternatives are available, and whichrepercussions they have. The result is a programfor model-based decision support with whichthe public water authorities of the City of Bei-jing can predict and plan the future develop-ment. Using optimization methods, it is addi-tionally possible to calculate a proposal forwater resource management with long-term

sustainability. The Beijing drinking water supplymakes particularly heavy demands on the art ofengineering: the city lies in the middle of a se-mi-desert. Rain falls only during the monsoonseason between July and September – if at all.For years, there has not been enough rain to refill the groundwater stores that are pumpedout by wells during the year. The consequence:each year, the groundwater level sinks byaround 1.5 meters. Additional water comesfrom the rivers and storage lakes in the sur-rounding areas. Furthermore, around 300 cubicmeters of water a second are pumped intonorthern China from the Yangtze River area viamore than 1,200 kilometers of canals. But sooneven this will not be enough: “The water de-mands for agriculture are high. And Beijing'srapid growth additionally intensifies the situa-tion: the demand is growing from year to year,while each year less groundwater is formed be-cause more and more surfaces are being sealedduring new construction projects,” Steusloff explains. The researcher teams from IITB andthe Fraunhofer Application Center System Tech-nology AST in Ilmenau are now using computerdisplays to show the impact of Beijing's growthon water consumption, the groundwater level,

Water for millionsBeijing is growing and growing: more and more people are moving into the me-gacity. Around 20 million people live there now and supplying water to allthe inhabitants is already difficult today. In order to be able to secure thewater supply for the future, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a model-based decision support system that is helping to detect shortages and explorealternatives before it is too late.

Text: Monika Weiner

- 49ENVIRONMENTFraunhofer magazine 2.09

and the water level in reservoirs and rivers. Theinteractions are so complex that the scientistsinitially developed three different simulationmodels, which were then combined into onelarge system. The first model describes theavailability of surface water: it is possible toread from a map how much water flows intothe Chinese metropolis from rain, rivers, canals,and storage lakes. The second model allows alook into the depths: it shows how muchgroundwater is removed and from where, howmuch water flows back down from above, andhow much the groundwater level sinks. Thethird model illustrates the drinking and processwater requirements.

“The scientific challenge in all of this was tocombine the models,” Steusloff explains. “In thepast, groundwater and surface water were pre-dominantly shown separately, although every-one knows that there are interactions: surfacewater seeps down and becomes groundwater,while groundwater is pumped up to the surfaceand leaves the overall system by flowing awayor by at least partially evaporating during irriga-tion. We can show these interactions as self-contained for the first time with our simulationprograms.” The second great challenge was thesize, the researcher remembers. Never beforewere such detailed water models drawn up foran area of 16,000 square kilometers.

Can a computer program really predict a devel-opment that is completely unmanageable forhumans? To check the simulation's reliability,the Fraunhofer team calculated the present:measured values – for example, water levels or

weather values – that the Chinese authoritieshad collected and archived in the past were fedinto the system. Working on the basis of thesehistorical data, the program determined the de-velopment up to the year 2008. “The calcula-tions are actually very close to the status quo,”Steusloff reports. “And so we can assume thatthe simulation of future developments is alsorealistic.”

The program is already in use at the Beijing wa-ter authority, allowing better predictions of fu-ture developments. “For example, the users can

see where and by how much the groundwaterwill sink if more square kilometers of land aresealed,” explains the project coordinator. Butthe program does more than just point out theproblems: it also helps to find solutions. Thewater balance in the model can be positively in-fluenced by various measures: for example, us-ing rainwater that is collected in retention poolsor setting up green areas – in brief: by changingthe land use.

Irrigation for wheat production can already beplanned for the long term with the simulationprogram: the grain is a basic food source in thenorth of China and is cultivated in large quanti-ties. Farmers need a great deal of water for theproduction – root irrigation is still unknown,and traditional irrigation methods are used.

“The dependence of wheat production on thewater supply is highly explosive: if the storagelakes or rivers dry up or the groundwater levelfalls below the level of the well, entire harvestscan be lost. And if that happens, the Chinesewill satisfy their need on the global market. Thissudden demand will drive up prices, whichcould trigger famine in the poor countries,”Steusloff explains.

Only if such developments are predicted coun-termeasures can be initiated before it is toolate. For example, the area used for agriculture

can be gradually reduced or more efficient irri-gation methods can be introduced. Our simula-tion-based decision support system makes itpossible to predict shortages, it supports thedevelopment of alternatives, and it helps to pre-vent local and global catastrophes.”

The project “Beijing Water” is meanwhile al-most finished. “We have learned how we cantransfer the methods developed in Europe forwater system modeling to a very large modelarea. And now we know that our empiricallyacquired knowledge can also be applied in other regions of this world,” Steusloff summa-rizes. Now the Fraunhofer researchers want to use the accumulated know-how to optimizewater management in other cities in the worldas well.

Dr. Hartwig Steusloff: “We can make it possible to see how the demand for drinking water develops under certain conditions andwhat impact construction projects will have.”

Beijing is growing. And so is the demand for drinkingwater. But more and more water sources are dryingup. © John Warburton-Lee / mauritius images

50 - LIFE SCIENCES Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Plastics made from wheyPetroleum is getting more expensive all the time – and like everyoneelse, the chemical industry is feeling the pinch. Biomass is an alternative source of carbon. Plastics, paints and fine chemicalscan be produced from whey, rapeseed or seafood shells.


Whey can be used as a starting material in the manufacture of bioplastics. © Caro / Riedmiller

- 51LIFE SCIENCESFraunhofer magazine 2.09

Window frames, mattresses, nylon stockings, resealable plas-tic food containers, garden hoses, detergents – petroleum isthe starting material for countless products of the chemicalindustry. At present, around 77 percent of all chemicals areobtained from “black gold”. But this fossil raw material is be-coming more and more scarce and expensive. The alterna-tive is sustainable raw materials. Industrial white biotechnol-ogy, in particular, is placing its hopes in biomass as analternative source of carbon and energy.

But do biofuels etc. have to be obtained from valuable food-stuffs such as sugar cane or cereal crops? No, they don’t.“White biotechnology also makes it possible to obtain chem-ical compounds from waste products of the food industry orresidual biomass from agriculture and forestry,” states Profes-sor Thomas Hirth, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for In-terfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart.“Waste disposal can be combined with the recovery ofreusable materials through integrated bioprocesses in whichmicroorganisms convert the respective waste matter.”

But how can waste be turned into “gold”? Acid whey is oneexample. The watery, greenish liquid is a by-product that oc-curs in the manufacture of dairy products – yet the wheycould be utilized as a starting material in the manufacture ofbioplastics. “Lactic acid bacteria can convert the lactose con-tained in the acid whey into lactic acid, the lactate,” statesDr. Wolfgang Krischke of the IGB. Lactic acid is a chemicalsubstance that has many different uses. It not only serves asa preservative and acidifier in the manufacture of foodstuffs,but can also be used as a feedstock in the chemical industry– for example in the production of polylactides. Thisbiodegradable plastic is in great demand. It is already beingused to make disposable packaging materials and surgicalscrews.

Waste disposal also recovers reusable materials

Another waste product of equal interest to the chemical in-dustry is raw glycerin, which is produced during the produc-tion of biodiesel from rapeseed oil. Scientists at the IGB havedeveloped a process for converting raw glycerin into 1,3-propanediol – a chemical base material used in the manufac-ture of polyesters and wood varnish. Up to now, 1,3-propanediol has been chemically synthesized. However,there are also microorganisms that can convert glycerin into1,3-propanediol. The bacterium Clostridium diolis, for exam-ple, produces a relatively high yield of the chemical feed-stock. But the bacterium does not convert raw glycerin. Thisis because raw glycerin, which is black and looks like usedengine oil, contains the fatty acids left over from the rape-seed oil. These first have to be separated out.

“What is more, both the glycerin substrate and the product1,3-propanediol inhibit the growth of the bacteria in higherconcentrations,” says Wolfgang Krischke, outlining a further

challenge that had to be mastered when developing thebiotechnological process. “We were largely able to solve thisproblem by operating the bioreactor in continuous mode, asthe glycerin loses its inhibitive effect when it is almost fullyconverted.”

Yet another chemical intermediate product can be obtainedfrom rapeseed oil – long-chain dicarboxylic acids. These canbe used in the manufacture of polyamides and polyesters.Up to now, however, it has been difficult to synthesize long-chain dicarboxylic acids. Biotechnological production is a vi-able alternative. Dr. Susanne Zibek explains the approachnow being pursued by the researchers in Stuttgart: “Fattyacids are bonded to the glycerin in rapeseed oil. If they aresplit off, the free fatty acids can be converted into dicar-boxylic acids by various yeasts of the Candida genus, for ex-ample.” The scientists are making use of this fact to developa fermentative process for the production of dicarboxylicacids that works with genetically modified yeasts. The re-markable thing about it is that the splitting of the rapeseedoil and the conversion of the fatty acids into dicarboxylicacids take place simultaneously.

The chemical industry switches tosustainable raw materials

After cellulose, chitin is the most frequently occurringbiopolymer on Earth. This is the “armor-plating” that formsthe exoskeletons of insects, crabs and shrimps. The renew-able raw material occurs in large quantities as a waste prod-uct during the processing of seafood such as shrimps. In the“BioSysPro” project sponsored by the German federal min-istry of research, IGB researchers are investigating howshrimp shells can be put to use as a recyclable material inthe chemical industry. “Many bacteria can break down chitinby means of chitinases,” explains IGB biotechnologist KarinMoß. The researchers’ goal is to break down the chitin intomonomers that are subsequently converted into easily modi-fiable building blocks for polymer chemistry – such as nitro-gen heterocyclic compounds – in a hydrothermal process.

Renewable resources are also gaining significance as sourcesof energy. Biogas can be obtained by fermenting organicwaste or sewage sludge. Certain types of algae also containa high proportion of storage lipids in the form of oil. In acollaborative project with Fair Energie Reutlingen and SubitecGmbH, IGB researchers plan to extract oil from algae anduse it to generate power in a co-generation plant runningon vegetable oil.

The chemical industry will inevitably have to switch to sus-tainable raw materials. All of the world’s major companiesare working on alternatives to petrochemicals. It is true that,at present, only about ten to twelve percent of the raw ma-terials used are obtained from regenerative sources – but bythe year 2030, as much as a quarter of all organic base ma-terials could come from biomass.


Putting theillusion to workVirtual reality allows researchers to see today how tomorrow’s fac-tories will operate. The technology helps to avoid planning errorsand to create efficient and ergonomic workstations.

Text: Klaus Jacob

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineer-ing IAO in Stuttgart is perfecting the illusion of immersion in virtual reality. The Institute has several VR projection screens and a 6-wall“CAVE”, a walk-in projection room in which visitors find a virtual world being played out allaround them. You can view the new institutebuilding there, although not even its founda-tions have yet been laid. Employees or guestscan flit around the annex at will, or take a lookinside individual rooms. Such excursions intothe future are state-of-the-art, and many build-ing contractors are already using Virtual Realityto inhabit architect-planned buildings in ad-vance of construction. But the IAO experts have now identified a new area of application:they have found a way to use virtual reality to significantly simplify production planning.They are looking at assembly line workstations,which are still needed, even in this computer-

ized age. Although robots can replace humanswhen it comes to many movements, they can-not when complicated maneuvers or fingertipsensitivity are required. And manual labor is alsocheaper when small quantities are being pro-duced. The workstations where workers willstand must be well-planned. Irrespective ofwhether a company wants to assemble cars,cameras or drills, it cannot be too meticulouswhen planning its production facility. Becauseevery shortcoming will cause trouble and cost alot of money down the line. Consequently, ex-perts are focusing on what they term “front-loading”, and ironing out as many details aspossible during early design phases. Above all,they need to ensure that every workstationmeets ergonomic and efficiency requirements.In other words, can a worker actually carry outthe movements at the necessary speed, withoutdeveloping health problems? How long will he

need to do it? Is everything within reach? Arethere any obstacles in his way?

Some companies rely on the experience of theirown staff when it comes to tackling such trickyissues. “Old-timers” are often surprisingly goodat interpreting drawings. A quick glance at theplan and they are able to graphically imaginehow workers will be required to move. But eventhey may miss one stumbling block or another.“No one thinks of everything,” says Dr ManfredDangelmaier, Head of the Fraunhofer IAO’sCompetence Center Virtual Environments(CCVE). Time and time again, he sees how evenexperts can be baffled when they are immersedin Virtual Reality. “Some people are amazedwhen they see how the workstation functions –

Sequences of movements are no longer programmed“manually”, a laborious and time-consuming process…

PRODUCTION

- 53PRODUCTIONFraunhofer magazine 2.09

or fails to function – in the operationalprocess.” This is why analysis using movingmodels is gaining in importance.

Previously, there was only one, elaborate, wayof doing this. And importing the future work-station into the computer was the least of theproblems associated with it, given that planningis usually done with CAD assistance and data isgenerally available in digital format. The com-puter would introduce a “human model”, atype of comic-book figure, into the virtual envi-ronment, which carried out all the desiredmovements as if in an animated film. “Teach-ing” the figure what was necessary was ex-tremely labor-intensive. This had to be donestep by step: for example, if the figure was re-quired to reach around an obstacle, that fluidmovement had to be broken down into individ-ual linear stages and a set period of time allo-cated to each stage. It was a cumbersomeprocess, with the planner spending around fiveminutes on every second of film. And industry,so focused on rationalization, is never keen toinvest in such time-consuming, intensive labor.Medium-sized companies, in particular, arelooking for quicker, cheaper solutions.

In conjunction with Robert Bosch GmbH, re-searchers in the IAO have developed new tech-nology that could well solve the problems en-countered to date. Instead of sitting at a PC

and animating the figure frame by frame usingthe mouse, the planner places himself in frontof a man-sized VR screen that shows the as-sembly line workstation as a life-size mock-up.When he dons a pair of glasses with a polariza-tion filter, the images from the two projectorstransform into a spatial experience. In this virtu-al world, the planner can then simulate theworker’s movements. The movements he makesare recorded using 3-D mouse devices which heholds in his hands. These devices are equippedwith a multi-pronged “antenna”, each branchending with small ball-shaped target. These tar-gets are tracked by two or more cameras. Alltypes of movement can be tracked by the track-ing system, including rotation around any givenaxis, and the targets can even be secured di-rectly onto the hand or arm.

The computer uses these measurements to cre-ate a virtual human who will carry out the samemovements as the real person without any timedelay. The planner sees this figure in front ofhim, how it stands at the workstation, and, to acertain extent, guides its hand. So that every-thing really matches, the size of the virtual hu-man is even adjusted to that of the real person.

This method has enormous advantages: plan-ners no longer have to spend a lot of time and effort programming model humans. In-stead, it is all about “learning by doing”. “It’slike playing an imaginary guitar,” says Dangel-maier. Even inexperienced users find it easy towork with the technology. And the objective

is achieved more quickly: planners can play outa number of different variations, a luxury thatgenerally had to be sacrificed in the past due to cost.

The procedure is called “iTeach”. A prototype of the system was developed for Bosch by theIAO. But this is not the end. Dangelmaier isconvinced “there’s a lot more to it yet”, and he has concrete ideas as to how he can furtherimprove the system in the “Digital Production”innovation cluster. In future, all the “teacher’s”movements are to be recorded, not just thoseof his hands and head. Using a special suit, the aim is to show if he kneels down, bends his back or takes a step forward. In addition,Dangelmaier wants to identify exactly how long it takes a worker to make each individualmovement. This is particularly difficult, be-cause the planner in front of the VR screen isnot a real worker and his movements are notrealistic enough for accurate time measure-ments. That said, there are tables which listhow long a worker takes to do certain tasks,and combining these guideline values with“iTeach” makes easy work of calculating thenecessary times. Such data are of inestimablevalue to factory planners.

Last but not least, the researchers at the IAOwant to make their animated figures more flexible. Workers will be represented by everyconceivable kind of avatar, from life-like humanfigures to matchstick men, even cartoon char-acters.

… but are transferred directly to the virtual human model.© Fraunhofer IAO

Information technology is rapidly gaining ground in themanufacturing industry. Digital planning, monitoring andcontrol are already standard practice among car manufac-turers and major suppliers. The aim of the Digital Produc-tion innovation cluster is to integrate these technologiesto a greater extent within small and medium-sized enter-prises as well. When it comes to digital production, get-ting the organizational aspects right and training workersto introduce and use the concepts are every bit as impor-tant as the functionality of the technology itself. In this in-novation cluster, the two Fraunhofer Institutes for Indus-trial Engineering IAO and Manufacturing Engineering andAutomation IPA are collaborating closely with the Univer-sity of Stuttgart and many industrial partners.

Innovation Cluster “Digital Production”

54 - GLOBAL NEWS Fraunhofer magazine 2.09

Dr. Susan Hockfield, President of the Massachu-setts Institute of Technology MIT, visited theFraunhofer Headquaters in Munich in January.With Fraunhofer-President Hans-Jörg BullingerHockfield discussed the prospects of new ener-gy technologies. The research scientists of theFraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISEwill in future be working in close cooperationwith the scientists at the Massachusetts In-

stitute of Technology MIT. The new FraunhoferCenter for Sustainable Energy Systems is locatedin the immediate vicinity of the MIT campus.

The historic glassworks in Benediktbeuern havenow been re-opened. The small museum inhonor of Joseph von Fraunhofer presents ex-hibits that were used for the manufacturing ofglass in the early 19th century. They have re-cently been supplemented by a variety of itemsassociated with glass processing - grinding ma-chines, lenses, prisms - from the depository ofthe Munich Stadtmuseum. Fraunhofer workedon the premises of the former abbey at theBenediktbeuern monastery from 1807 to 1819.

His task at the Optical Institute there was tomanufacture optical instruments for land sur-veys and for telescopes and microscopes. In-struments of this kind were unthinkable with-out top-quality - non-striated - optical glass. To enable him to produce such glass, Fraun-hofer analyzed both the composition of the raw materials and the production, or melt, ofthe glass products.

Fraunhofer glassworks re-opened

Susan Hockfield visits Fraunhofer

VIP visitor at Fraunhofer headquarters: AníbalCavaco Silva, President of the Portuguese Re-public, visited Munich. The background for theflying visit: Portugal and the research organiza-tion want to work closely together in the fu-ture. The core is a new Fraunhofer Center inPorto (see page 34).

Researchers want to work with scientists fromthe University of Porto to develop a new gener-ation of intuitively operable electronic devices.“Porto is a location that offers ideal surround-ings for the new Fraunhofer Center,” Dr. Alfred

Gossner, Senior Vice President Finance and Con-trolling, explained at the ceremony welcomingPresident Silva.

A further point on the program was the inspec-tion of the laboratories of the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM,where President Silva was briefed on the poly-tronics research field. Scientists are working onconstructing electronic components completelyon the basis of plastics.

Portuguese President at Fraunhofer

Alfred Gossner welcomed President Prof. Aníbal CavacoSilva and Dr. Wolfgang Heubisch, Bavarian minister of sciences, research and the arts (from right to left). © Kai-Uwe Nielsen

Guest of honor from MIT: Dr. Susan Hockfield visited theFraunhofer headquaters in Munich. © Fraunhofer

Senior Vice President Prof. Mariun Schick opened the newmuseum in Benediktbeuern. © Fraunhofer

- 55GLOBAL NEWSFraunhofer magazine 2.09

Dr. Jean-Francois Lutz from the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Applied Polymer Research IAP has beenawarded the 2008 Polymer Chemistry Prize forhis achievements in Polymer science. The prizeis a distinction jointly awarded by the Frenchchemical association (Société Française deChimie) and the French polymer association(Groupement Français des Polymères, GFP). It isawarded every two years to outstanding scien-tists working in polymer chemistry.

Lutz has been heading the "Nanotechnology forLife Science" research group since 2003. To-gether with his team, he is working on the de-sign of "smart" biocompatible polymers. For in-stance, they recently modified plastic surfaces insuch a way that they form interactions with cer-

tain biological substances, for example, withbacteria or cells. His group has developed a"smart" polymer with very special material prop-erties: it attracts water at room temperatureand repels the moisture at 37° C. The plastic isexcellently suited for coating Petri dishes for cellcultures: after the cells have grown on the coat-ed dish, they can be removed by simply coolingthe container to room temperature. The plasticthen absorbs water. The cells avoid contactwith the wet surface, and so detach easily fromthe dish. In normal Petri dishes, they stubbornlystick to the bottom. This work was done inclose collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institutefor Biomedical Engineering IBMT.

French chemical associations honorFraunhofer researchers

Editorial notes

Fraunhofer magazine Research, technology and innovation.

This bi-annual publication can be ordered free of charge by customers, partners, employees, media representatives and friends of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.ISSN 1615-7028 (Print)ISSN 1617-1438 (Internet)

A publication of:Fraunhofer-GesellschaftHansastraße 27c80868 MunichGermanyEditorial address as abovePress & Public RelationsPhone + 49 89 1205 1301Fax + 49 89 1205 [email protected]/magazine

Subscription:Phone + 49 89 1205 [email protected]

Editors:Franz Miller (Editor-in-chief)Monika Weiner (Senior Editor)Janine Drexler, Stefanie Heyduck, Marion Horn, Beate Koch, Birgit Niesing, Isolde Rötzer, Christa Schraivogel (Photography and production)

Editorial assistants:Britta Danger, Linda Huhn, Klaus Jacob, HellmuthNordwig, Brigitte Röthlein, Evdoxia Tsakiridou

Illustrations: Vierthaler & BraunCover picture: Volker StegerLithography: drm Desktop Repro MunichPrinting: J. Gotteswinter GmbH, MunichTranslation: Burton, Van Iersel & Whitney, Munich

Advertisement:Next closing date: 20.11.2009

Price included in the membership subscription.

© Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, München 2009

Jean-Francois Lutz received an avard from the French chemical association ror his outstanding research. © Fraunhofer

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