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New research millions will accelerate Denmark’s digitisation

Aarhus University has received a research grant of DKK 11 million to develop new digital solutions that will benefit Danish production companies.

In a new Danish research and innovation project – MADE Digital – universities and the business sector will work together to research new digital solutions that are customised to the needs of Danish production companies, and can strengthen their ability to compete globally.

This will take place via nine work packages covering a wide range of industrial digitisation. The project will run from 2017 until 2020, with a total budget of DKK 196 million, DKK 79 million of which is an investment from Innovation Fund Denmark. The ambitions for the new campaign include making products smarter and linking them to the Internet of Things (IoT). In this way, some of the functionality will be provided as services in the cloud, and paper-based procedures and documentation will be replaced by augmented reality (AR). Employees will be instructed and helped via AR glasses or projections on the production line in connection with difficult assembly operations, conversion of production machines, and subsequent servicing of products.

Aarhus University researchers are spearheading two of the programme’s nine work packages.

 

  • Professor Peter Gorm Larsen, Department of Engineering, is heading WP1, which is concerned with developing smart products that have physical functionality at the same time as offering digital services via an Internet connection, data collection, and cloud-based functionalities.
  • Professor Kaj Grønbæk, Department of Computer Science, is heading WP2, which deals with digital assistance tools. Here he and the Ubiquitous Computing research group contribute with areas such as developing AR technology.

In addition, they are both collaborating on research into product ecosystems and IoT.

The MADE association – Manufacturing Academy of Denmark – was founded in 2013 and works to promote production in Denmark through research, innovation and education. The members consist of five universities, five educational institutions, and more than 100 Danish companies cutting across different branches. Professor Grønbæk already heads a work package in the ‘old’ MADE, with research into effective integration of ICT in the production process.