UNIKAT 4.0

The "Twenty20 - Partnership for Innovation“ program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is a competition that supports systematic, forward-looking development of the outstanding economic and scientific expertise in the former eastern Germany through cross-regional, interdisciplinary cooperation. The 3D Maritime network was a source of inspiration for "UNIKAT 4.0," a preliminary concept which was submitted to the Twenty20 program in April. The design uses various innovative ideas which the network formulated in a position paper entitled "Augmented Shipbuilding". A Jury will decide on an award of funds in the summer of 2013.

While the manufacturers of mass-produced products are already working intensively with 3D models for production planning, optimization and monitoring, this is much more difficult for one-off manufacturers. The goal of the UNIKAT 4.0 innovation partnership is to find automation potentials in one-off manufacturing while maintaining maximum flexibility and robustness against malfunctions. Technologies from previous research and development in Industry 4.0 are being combined for this purpose and focus on perfecting them and adapting them to the requirements for one-off production. Efficiency increases result through autonomous robotic systems which can cooperate safely with workers, but also through specific support of the people in the work process − for example, through augmented reality. In every case the basis for implementation is continual observation of the product under construction. Comparison with the planned product allows discrepancies to be ascertained and corrective updated work steps to be derived for robots and workers.

For more information about "UNIKAT 4.0," please contact

Prof. Dr.-Ing. (Ph.D. Eng.) Uwe Freiherr von Lukas
Phone: +49 381 4024-150
info@3dmaritim.de