Decentralized renewable energy generation and consumption through microgrids, coupled with short- and long-term storage systems and enhanced demand flexibility, represent a promising strategy for mitigating grid stress and reducing emissions in the industrial sector. However, transitioning into a sustainable industry often poses challenges in terms of economic feasibility. This review surveys current optimization approaches and simulation functionalities to enhance feasibility. It follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, covering 1066 studies from 2016 to 2023 across three research areas: optimal system sizing of microgrids (OSS), optimization of electrical energy distribution to storage systems and consumers (EED), and energy flexibilization of factories (EF). As a result, 24 filtered sources from these areas were analyzed. Quantitative analysis indicated that evolutionary and swarm-inspired metaheuristics are predominantly applied in OSS, whereas exact linear problem solvers are favored for EED and EF optimization. A range of functionalities is available, and approaches often prioritize individual functionalities, such as load forecasting, dynamic electricity pricing, and statistical representation of energy generation, rather than comprehensively integrating them. Furthermore, no current approach simultaneously integrates optimization and simulation models across all three research areas.

Even for modern robot attached gripping solutions, surface-sensitive object handling remains a challenge. A minimal gripping force is required to grip and handle a surface-sensitive object safely. At the same time, this gripping force should not exceed a certain level to avoid damaging the sensitive surface of the object. Because of this, it is necessary to determine the mostly small range of optimal gripping forces to ensure a safe handling. Therefore, this paper describes an approach to evaluate this range of gripping forces for surface-sensitive objects using by means of chocolate covered marshmallows. For this purpose, a test bench with the same characteristics as a planned gripper is developed. Throughout the project, this planned gripper will be controlled with the help of the detected range of gripping forces. In addition to these static measurements, it is planned, that the gripper will calculate the handling speeds, accomplished by a six-axis industrial robot, with its acceleration forces. The achieved results of this paper will be the starting point for the upcoming measurements with the robot. Furthermore, the influence of the temperature on the range of gripping forces was evaluated, to show the relevance of consistent environmental conditions for the handling of surface-sensitive objects.

In human-robot collaboration (HRC), robots operate alongside humans within a shared workspace. During collaborative handling tasks, human movements are often highly individual and variable. To ensure smooth collaboration, the robot must adapt its trajectory to align with the motion of the human co-worker. Therefore, this work proposes a dynamic motion planner that enables the robot to track a dynamically changing reference trajectory. The motion planner is evaluated based on its ability to track the trajectory while respecting joint velocity and acceleration limits and avoiding kinematic singularities. When these constraints are at risk of being violated, the robot temporarily assumes a dominant role and attempts to approximate the reference trajectory as closely as possible. An evaluation using a KUKA iiwa in a laboratory setup demonstrates that the proposed motion planner can effectively track dynamically changing, physically feasible reference trajectories. Assuming that the reference trajectory can be human motion, the motion planner can harmonize human and robot movements during collaborative handling tasks.

Die Behandlung von neurologisch induzierten Funktionsverlusten der oberen Extremitäten findet nach wie vor überwiegend manualtherapeutisch statt. Mit dem Fortschritt in der Automatisierungstechnik hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren international auch die gerätegestützte Therapie als zusätzliche Behandlungsmöglichkeit etabliert. Hierbei werden bewährte Therapiemethoden automatisiert angewendet, was Therapeuten entlasten, zu einem besseren Outcome führen und die Behandlungsdichte erhöhen kann. Viele dieser Lösungen sind allerdings noch sehr kostspielig, schwer, voluminös oder nicht von Laien zu verwenden. Das vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) geförderte Forschungsprojekt TheraGrip setzt hier an und zielt auf die Entwicklung eines einfach zu nutzenden automatisierten Greifrehabilitationsgeräts für die sowohl stationäre als auch ambulante Rehabilitation und den Heimgebrauch ab.

The multi-variant small part assembly of terminal strips requires in-novative approaches for automated picking and meeting increased product vari-ability demands with increasing process flexibility. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are likely to be used in material supply for small parts and, therefore, replace manual picking of parts that are rarely needed in assembly. An autono-mous material supply in the 3rd dimension could break up fixed assembly pro-cesses, reduce picking time and raise the production flexibility. In this article, the share of manual picking time in a real terminal strip assembly line is deter-mined, and UAVs as a potential transport solution for terminals and jumpers are presented.