Passion for Technology

One of the greatest challenges in human-machine interfaces is natural interaction. Technology has already made great progress with solutions such as gesture and voice control. Recently, the focus has also turned to controlling machines by thought: brain-machine interfaces measure the brain’s EEG signals and derive control commands for computers, machines or robots from them. One of the pioneers in the use of EEG data for interaction with robotic systems is the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence.

Here, the EXPECT research project is currently underway, whose main goal is to develop an adaptive, self-learning platform for human-robot collaboration. It should not only enable various types of active interaction, but also be able to deduce the human’s intention from gestures, language, eye movements and brain activity – the machine should therefore be able to guess what the human is going to do next.
An exciting project – which is why we are very pleased that we can welcome Prof. Dr. Elsa Kirchner today. She is EXPECT’s project manager for the Robotics Innovation Center research area and will be able to give us interesting insights into the project and the state of research on brain-machine interfaces.

This podcast interview is part of our magazine issue The Quintessence of Human Machine Interfaces that is available free of charge on you mobile devices. Download our App and enjoy insights into various technology fields.

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For a long time – and in many places still today – line production with assembly lines and fixed cycles was considered the pinnacle of rational production. It promised high, repeatable quality and cost-effective production. But in the meantime, the focus is shifting away from the mass production of a specific item to products configured individually for customers with ever shorter delivery times. In the smart factory, flexibility is the trump card. At the same time, companies need to increase their productivity and resilience in order to survive in global competition. We’ll be discussing how companies can master these challenges with our two guests in this episode, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roman Dumitrescu, Director at Fraunhofer IEM, and Karl Lehnhoff, Director of the Segment Industrial, Scientific & Medical at EBV Elektronik.

For more information around the factory of the future visit: http://ebv.com/factory-automation

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A factory that works independently, that produces even the smallest batch sizes without human assistance, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and all this at significantly lower unit costs and much more efficiently than before – that is the vision of autonomous production. But how close is industry really to this vision today? And what does it actually take to make it work? In this episode we’ve been talking to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Jasperneite, Director of Fraunhofer IOSB-INA and Professor at Technische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe (TH-OWL) in Lemgo, and Arnd Geissler, Regional Application Manager at EBV Elektronik, about those questions and got exciting insights in the factory of the future.

Learn more about factory automation: ebv.com/Factory-automation

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In the smart factory, machines communicate with each other, control themselves and processes are becoming increasingly agile. At the same time, man and machine are working ever more closely together – the keyword being cobots. This also changes the requirements for functional safety – i.e. the protection of people and the environment from threats that can emanate from machines. Functional safety and security go hand in hand, addressing the comprehensive protection of physical and cyber aspects in this advanced manufacturing setting. Up to now, safety concepts have been very hardware-related and thus static. The modern smart factory, however, needs flexible solutions that ensure both the protection of people and machines and the necessary flexibility and availability. In this episode, we are discussing how this can be solved with Stephan Strohmeier, Head of Safety & Security Solutions at NewTec GmbH and Sven Blankenberg, Regional Application Manager Central Europe West at EBV Elektronik.

Get more insights into the factory automation of the future and visit our Factory Automation website.

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As part of the Paris Climate Agreement, Europe has committed to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, if possible. To achieve this goal, industry must also make a substantial contribution to reducing emissions. In recent years, the focus has been on improving energy efficiency: according to Eurostat, industry was able to reduce energy consumption by 12.4% between 2007 and 2021. In the meantime, however, such a high level has been reached that in many areas a further increase in energy efficiency is only possible at disproportionately high costs. Moreover, the development is also reaching physical limits. In addition, there is currently the question of the secure availability of energy.

In this episode we are talking to Dr. Christian Thiel, CEO at EnergyNest, a global thermal energy storage company, and Andrej Orel, Director Segment City and Infrastructure at EBV Elektronik, about the current challenges within the energy market for the industry and possible solutions.

This episode is part of our factory automation series. For more information around the factory automation of the future visit: http://ebv.com/factory-automation

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When thinking of digital motor control, many will conjure up images of the television adverts where the “digital motor” of a vacuum cleaner is composed of a motor and lots of electronic components… So what exactly do you need in terms of electronics to implement digital motor control? And what do you need to watch out for in the design process? This is what we want to hear about from our guest in this episode, Canberk Sezer is Software Field Application Engineer for Digital Motor Control at EBV Elektronik.

If you want to know more about Digital Motor Control, make sure to visit our website: ebv.com/motor-control

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The industry no longer looks at silicon carbide (SiC) as it did just a few short years ago. In this episode, EBV’s Milan Ivkovic and Infineon’s Peter Friedrichs discuss how the two companies have been working together to accelerate the adoption of SiC in a variety of applications. 

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Over the past three years, EBV and Infineon have been working closely together to make the transition to silicon carbide (SiC) smoother for our customers. In this episode, EBV's Slobodan Puljarevic and Infineon’s Pierre-Yves Ferrard discuss how their partnership has evolved to achieve success – even in turbulent times.

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Electricity plays a key role in sustainable development, because on the one hand a large proportion of the primary energy used remains unused due to conversion losses, and on the other hand new application technologies – for example e-mobility or heat pumps – lead to increased electricity consumption. In this context, a semiconductor material is increasingly coming into focus – silicon carbide or SiC. In this episode, we talk to Milan Ivkovic, Director of the Segment Analog and Power of EBV Elektronik and Hunter Freberg, PSG Technical Marketing Engineer at semiconductor manufacturer onsemi, about why this material is so exciting and where it offers opportunities in terms of sustainable power generation and use.

Discover more benefits or get in touch: onsemi Reliable EliteSiC Solutions | EBV Elektronik (avnet.com)

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Data is at the core of digitalisation. The same also applies for digital drive train technology. So, what else can you do with it besides just controlling the motor? We’ll talk about this hot topic with our guest, Armin Wallnöfer, who is leading the Smart Lab for ABB’s Motion business.

Find out more about the advantages of digital drive train technology:

EBV Elektronik – Digital Motor Control

ABB Motion Services - Digital and Innovation

ABB Motion Services - Condition Monitoring for powertrains

ABB Motion Services - Energy efficiency and Circularity

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