EXC 2023:  Internet of Production (IoP)

• Subject Area: Production Technology
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390621612

The Internet – in its meaning of a worldwide socio-technical network – has revolutionized accessibility of data and knowledge. This idea has been transferred to the physical world with the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT). A direct application of the IoT approach to production is currently not sufficiently feasible, as there are many more parameters, but much less available data compared to other big data application domains. Modern production is characterized by vast amounts of data. However, this data is neither easily accessible, interpretable, nor connected to gain knowledge. With the Internet of Production (IoP) we have the vision to enable a new level of cross-domain collaboration by providing semantically adequate and context-aware data from production, development and usage in real-time on an appropriate level of granularity. The central scientific approach is the introduction of Digital Shadows as purpose-driven, aggregated, multi-perspective and persistent datasets. The Cluster of Excellence will design and implement a conceptual reference infrastructure for the Internet of Production that enables the generation and application of Digital Shadows.For the realization of the IoP, Aachen’s highly renown researchers in production engineering, computer science, materials engineering and further necessary disciplines team-up to solve interdisciplinary challenges, like the integration of reduced production engineering models into data-driven machine learning for cross-domain knowledge generation and context-adaptive action. The Internet of Production will be leveraged by the production engineers in order to support a new way of more holistic working on – and with – systems by developing and advancing engineering tools, methods and processes. Therefore, an integrated development for the entire production technology is required. Aachen – as the starting point for the Internet of Production – is characterized by an extraordinary range and outstanding reputation in production research as the results of the current CoE “Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries” clearly illustrate. The RWTH Aachen Campus offers a unique infrastructural environment including a broad range of research institutes and industrial companies allowing for an integrative development and validation of the Internet of Production. The interdisciplinary collaboration is fostered by an environment that inter alia includes the support of early career researchers by a Research School.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
• Applicant Institution: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Participating Institution: Access e.V.; Forschungsinstitut für Rationalisierung e.V. (FIR); an der RWTH Aachen; Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Informationstechnik (FIT); Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik (ILT); Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnologie (IPT); Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung (IKV); an der RWTH Aachen
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Brecher
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Wil van der Aalst; Professor Dr.-Ing. Dirk Abel; Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Bleck; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Kirsten Bobzin; Professor Dr.-Ing. Christoph Broeckmann; Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Bührig-Polaczek; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Stefanie Elgeti; Professor Dr.-Ing. Frank O. Flemisch; Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Gries; Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Hirt; Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Hopmann; Professor Dr. Matthias Jarke; Professor Dr.-Ing. Fritz Klocke; Professor Dr.-Ing. Stefan Kowalewski; Professor Gerhard Lakemeyer, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Frank Thomas Piller; Professor Dr. Reinhart Poprawe; Professor Dr.-Ing. Uwe Reisgen; Professor Dr. Bernhard Rumpe; Professor Dr.-Ing. Robert Heinrich Schmitt; Professor Dr.-Ing. Günther Schuh; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Schulz; Professor Dr.-Ing. Klaus Wehrle; Professorin Dr. Martina Ziefle