CHAIR OF

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

The university center cedemo, an initiative of Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF, officially presented itself to a broad specialist audience from industry, trade and science for the first time at the Cyber Data Sovereignty Innovation Forum on April 15 and 16.

At the presentation, further training was emphasized as a key challenge for the future of digital engineering. This can only be successfully marketed if current research and the networking of international, interdisciplinary knowledge pools are combined with tailored further training courses for the Industry 4.0 sector. To this end, the University of Magdeburg and the IFF have created cedemo, an instrument that is unique in Germany in its ability to network and utilize the expertise available in Magdeburg. The comprehensive knowledge of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, the Institute for Automation and Communication ifak e.V. and the SAP University Competence Center in this area complements the bundled expertise at the competence center.

All information about cedemo is available at www.cedemo.de, contact or 0391-67 57 007.

The workflow of industrial robots consists of a series of tasks that have to be repeated several times. The efficiency with which the robot performs its tasks is important for most production areas. The more tasks a robot can complete in a time interval, the more benefits it offers the company. Most tasks have a certain degree of freedom in their execution. For example, closed contour tasks can be started and finished at any point on the curve, or there are a number of possible start orientations of the end effector. We propose a method to improve the given sequence of robot tasks by providing some freedom to (i) the starting point along the curve, (ii) the orientation of the end effector, and (iii) a robot configuration. The proposed approach does not depend on the production domain or the algorithm used to construct the initial task sequence.

We propose to apply hierarchical optimization. Its goal is to perform a fast local search on each nested stage instead of applying slow global optimization techniques to the whole problem. We define three nested stages. Each outer level depends on the results of the optimization at the inner level.

The algorithm showed a significant improvement in production time for the cutting-deburring test instances, i.e. it improved the time by 38% for the instances with 15 holes in 68 seconds. The evaluation results are available online in MS Excel 2007 format here. Further details can be found in the publication.

The CSE working group is in charge of creating and improving the Master's degree program in Digital Engineering.

The Master's degree course is aimed at students with a Bachelor's or Diplom degree in engineering or computer science. The course provides comprehensive knowledge for the development, design and operation of complex and technical products and systems, such as those found in mechanical engineering or the automotive industry. It also qualifies graduates for demanding employment and management functions to support and implement projects for the use of modern IT solutions, e.g. virtual and augmented reality, in engineering applications and in areas of industrial, industry-related and scientific research.

The degree program teaches important skills for conducting scientific research and industrial pre-development. This is achieved through a combination of computer science methods and engineering concepts and fields. Special project work, which goes beyond comparable courses, prepares students for the particular challenges of interdisciplinary research. A major focus is placed on specialist content on the latest technologies in the development and operation of engineering solutions as well as on the teaching of methodological skills, which are a necessary prerequisite for these successful applications. Selected contents of the course are offered in coordination with partners from industry-related research and applied sciences. The key competencies lie in interdisciplinary communication and project work, which enable students to take on management and interface positions thanks to their interdisciplinary knowledge.

Further information on the Master's degree program can be found on the official homepage www.digi-eng.de.

A list of courses currently available in English can be found here: LV-Digi-Eng 

You may have noticed that the homepage looks a little different from the version you saw last time. We are pleased to present our new and modern website layout together with a completely revised sitemap. Now it's even easier to find the information you're looking for.

As with any large project, errors can occur. Therefore, we expect strange behavior with links, inconsistencies due to data migration, etc. If you notice anything like this or are simply looking for content that you can't find, please contact us. We will do our best to fix the issues.

Problem: Social networks have so far been largely virtual. In this project, a prototype is being developed to investigate how virtual networks and real physical activities can be linked. The object of investigation is the domain of popular sports. Together with the sports center and the city of Magdeburg, a mobile assistant is to be created that increases individual sporting motivation.

Content: The core element of the work is the conception and implementation of a mobile application and the associated server structure. The technology used is Android, the programming is done in JAVA. Hardware is provided.

Benefit: You are actively working on an implementation that will be used for current research topics. The resulting application is to be used as a prototype in several stages, initially for university sports and later also for popular sports in the Magdeburg area.

Contact: Frank Ortmeier  

Problem: Research and teaching at universities are supported by highly complex processes. These include preparing courses, evaluating performance, submitting research proposals, informing students, indexing relevant literature and, last but not least, the academic work itself. Unfortunately, there are only a few individual IT solutions for these processes.

Content: In this IT project, an IT concept is to be developed to support the activities of an academic research and teaching unit. This includes a precise analysis of the individual processes and possible IT solutions. Based on this, a concept for the sensible composition of these partial solutions (e.g. web server/CMS, version management, literature management, LSF, etc.) must be developed. Subsequently, this concept is to be implemented as a prototype and a migration concept is to be designed.

Benefit: You will become more familiar with the internal structures of the scientific community in Germany and gain an insight into the work and structure behind the scenes of a teaching unit. The problem and the resulting IT solution are closely related to many industrial challenges that arise when designing and implementing new IT infrastructures.

Contact: Frank Ortmeier