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New Research Project: Ready for the Working World of Tomorrow

A new project at the University of Bremen is investigating how humans can be prepared for working together with robots. The focus is especially on vocational school students: in a virtual environment, they will experience working together with industrial robots.

“With the use of collaborative robots, man and machine in production are no longer only active in separate areas, but can interact directly with each other. Therefore, this technology is considered to play a key role in the digitized working world,” explains Professor Kirsten Tracht from the Bremen Institute for Mechanical Engineering (bime). “Tomorrow’s working world will be shaped by the cooperation between man and robot.” At the same time, the use of collaborative robots in vocational and continuing education is not yet planned, as Professor Maren Petersen from the Institute of Technology and Education (ITB) emphasizes. This gap will be closed with the KORA project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The acronym KORA stands for: Competence development (KO = Konzept in German) for the design of human-robot (R = Roboter in German) collaboration using (A = Anwendung in German) a mixed-reality-based teaching-learning concept.

Transfer into Daily School and Training Practice

“The use of a virtual learning environment makes it possible to quickly pick up on development trends in the field of robotics and makes it possible to provide cost-effective options at the training and adult education facilities,” explains Petersen. In this way, the developed learning environment can be used on a broad scale in schools and companies.

The Institute of Technology and Education (ITB) and the Bremen Institute for Mechanical Engineering (bime) of the University of Bremen are cooperating on the research project. The bime combines the research areas of manufacturing facilities, structural mechanics, and process-oriented technology design. One research focus here is the area of collaborative robotics, in which approaches to virtual commissioning are being researched. The ITB has been working intensively on vocational training research for 25 years and investigates the interrelationship between technology, work, and education. The project focuses on the didactic aspects of virtual learning. The project is supported by vocational schools and training companies throughout Germany, which incorporate their requirements and experience into the project.

Further Information:

www.uni-bremen.de

Contact:

Bianca Schmitt
Institute of Technology and Education (ITB)       
University of Bremen                           
Tel.: +49 421 218-66272                       
E-mail: bschmittprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de

Torsten Sievers
Bremen Institute for Mechanical Engineering (bime)
University of Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218-64833
E-mail: sieversprotect me ?!bimeprotect me ?!.de

Eine männliche Person interagiert mit einem virtuellen Industrieroboter
With the help of VR glasses, you can learn how to work with collaborative robots in a specially designed virtual environment.