Open-Campus-Week 2023

We are delighted to announce that the Open-Campus-Week 2023 on September 19 at the Reference Construction Site RWTH Aachen University will be under the auspices of Ina Scharrenbach, Minister of Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government, Building and Digitalization of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia (https://www.mhkbd.nrw/)

Future-oriented topics, great talks, speed-dating with students, RWTH and CCR members together with an exhibition and our legendary construction site party await you on September 19 to discuss the “Construction Site of the Future”.

We are looking forward to your visit!

More information/registration here: office@construction-robotics.de

Go-ahead for 6G in industry: EU funds technology development with more than 13 million euros

The EU research project „Target-X” led by the Fraunhofer Institute of Production Technology IPT aims at the testing of new technologies for 5G and its successor 6G. With 5G technology becoming more common, the project focusses on continued research and development for industries such as automotive, construction, energy, and manufacturing. For this purpose, the Target-X consortium seeks up to 100 research partners to participate in the project, with a total available funding of six million euros. Interested companies can apply with their research topics for funding and collaboration in two cycles of open calls. The first application cycle will be open from May to July 2023 whereas the second cycle will last from November 2023 until January 2024. After the selection of finalists, the funding will correspondingly be distributed in two phases as well. The first funding phase is scheduled to run from January to July 2024. The second funding phase follows directly from August 2024 to April 2025. The interdisciplinary consortium, comprising companies and research institutions from various fields Is convinced that Cascade funding promotes participation and thus accelerates the development of new hardware, software, services, and business models. The consortium will have two open call rounds for funding research and development work, with the first round starting in January 2024 and the second round running from August 2024 to April 2025. Companies and research institutions can apply with their respective challenges during the application period, which is from May to July 2023 for the first round and from November 2023 to January 2024 for the second round.

5G and 6G user industries benefit from research funding

Not only, the applicants can benefit from a grant sum of up to 60.000€ but also, the Target-X consortium provides them with a broad framework of already established 5G environments. As a result, companies can focus on implementing their projects without having to install network infrastructure in the first place. Content-wise companies can choose from a broad spectrum of advertised topics. In the automotive industry, 5G can be used in projects ranging from vehicle tests and support systems to autonomous driving for both passenger and commercial vehicles. The construction sector can apply 5G technology for digital planning, construction, and management of buildings, including the digital twin of industrial plants, buildings, and recycling facilities for construction materials. 5G and 6G technology can also be used in sensor technology for monitoring energy consumption, controlling electrical distribution networks, and for constructing, operating, and maintaining energy plants. The manufacturing industry can use 5G technology to develop real-time capable sensor and control technology, edge cloud technologies, and digital twins for robotics and machine tools. The Fraunhofer IPT has already been working with some of the TARGET-X partners on advanced manufacturing industry developments.

European network of individual projects sets new standards

The TARGET-X project aims to demonstrate, validate, and evaluate the potential of 5G and 6G in the real environments of end-user industries. Therefore, the project will focus on real-time communication, localization, interactivity, the digital twin, and sensor networks. All developed solutions will undergo an evaluation based on metrics that consider sustainability, safety and security as well as privacy. The central goal is to create new business models and an assessment framework for evaluating the economic and social benefits of the developed solutions. The activities of the TARGET-X community, with the participation of up to 100 additional partners, will create a Europe-wide network of small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and IT and OT partners. This network will cooperate in the further development of the technologies, thereby create a medium-term impact

Accelerated time to market for the 5G/6G ecosystem

By joining efforts and resources from the outset, the Target-X project intends to accelerate the standardization of 6G technology development. During the course of the project, the Target-X consortium will develop new functions and services, including mmWave, localization, and real-time communication with TSN or DetNet, and test them in existing pilot facilities and testbeds. By involving a large number of participants in the subprojects,Target-X strives to strengthen the 5G/6G ecosystem more rapidly than would be possible without a comparable undertaking.

Five testbeds for applications from the automotive, construction, energy and manufacturing sectors

As unique feature, the Target-X consortium partners have access to five testbeds located at two of Europe’s largest test facilities for their research and development. The Idiada Automotive Testbed, situated near Barcelona, Spain, covers an expansive area of 370 hectares and boasts 14 multi-purpose testbeds that can map various network configurations and conditions for the development of connected driving solutions. Meanwhile, the 5G Industry Campus Europe in Aachen, Germany, is the largest industrial 5G testbed in Europe. Spanning nearly one square kilometer of outdoor and indoor network, the facility has been testing 5G network requirements for applications in cross-location manufacturing technology, assembly, robotics, logistics, energy, and construction since the end of 2019. The Reference Construction Site of the Center Construction Robotics alone contributes over 4000m² of living lab area. In this environment RWTH University institutes as well as industry partners have the chance to test and evaluate innovative processes, products and concepts under real-life conditions.

Partners in the TARGET-X project

• Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Deutschland (project coordination)
• Ericsson GmbH, Germany
• RWTH Aachen University RWTH, Germany
• IDIADA AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY SA, Spain
• Center Construction Robotics, Germany
• FUNDACIO PRIVADA I2CAT, INTERNET I INNOVACIO DIGITAL A CATALUNYA, Spain
• Marposs SpA, Italy
• FundingBox Accelerator, Poland
• Ericsson Arastirma Gelistirme ve Bilisim Hizmetleri Anonim Sirketi, Turkey
• 5G Communications for Future Industry Verticals SL, Spain
• Marposs Monitoring Solutions GmbH, Germany
• Neutroon, Spain
• Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V. German Branch, Germany
• FundingBox Communities, Spain
• Qualcomm CDMA Technologies GmbH, Germany

 

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

 

More information: www.target-x.eu