Further News

Microelectronics is known as a key technology for many future developments, from autonomous cars to intelligent fridges. Small and medium-sized companies play an important role in the production process – and are now supported by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). The DFKI cooperates with COSEDA Technologies in the project AUTOASSERT, in which methods for the early verification of heterogeneous systems are developed in order to save time and costs and thus make German companies more competitive. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with roughly 830,000 Euros.

Artificial intelligence and healthcare are two major areas of future growth that are strongly represented in Northern Germany. The project KI-SIGS ("AI space for intelligent healthcare systems), companies, universities and research institutes from Northern Germany are combining their competences in these areas in order to make new potentials for growth available. The project funded by the federal government of Germany with ten million Euros has officially started with a kick-off meeting of the involved partners on 27 May.

Six years and six days after the opening of the first building, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Bremen has started the second construction phase on Monday. The extension in the Robert-Hooke-Strasse 1 in the Bremen Technology Park adds new test sites, workshops and integration rooms to the research institute and thus creates a unique offer for science and industry. The second construction phase also includes new offices and conference rooms. Around two thirds of the construction costs are financed with own resources, while another third comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Physical strains are one of the main reasons for sick leaves and early retirement amongst nursing staff. In order to support workers and give patients more independency, the two Bremen-based research departments of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe and the universities of Oldenburg and Osnabrueck work on robotic systems and sensor solutions for hospital beds. The project AdaMeKoR is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) with roughly 1.8 Million Euro.

With commercial smart home gadgets, a connected living is already possible today – but aims less at people that would especially profit from intelligent assistance. In order to create a close exchange with the society in their research of smart everyday objects, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Technical University of Berlin develop a new living lab infrastructure as a realistic test environment that present the advantages of the future living to the public. The team presents the project KosmoS, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with roughly 1.1 million Euros, at a networking meeting today.

When people face a problem, they can look at it calmly and logically, or they can decide spontaneously and emotionally. Modern computers are in a similar position: Thanks to their training with large amounts of data, Deep Learning methods can deliver fast, yet incomprehensible results. Scientists of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) now investigate how these methods can be proven by formal procedures and thus become more reliable – without losing their speed. The new method will be tested by a juggling industrial robot. The project “Fast&Slow” is funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) with roughly 1.2 Million Euros.

Since Google announced its alleged “quantum supremacy”, they have become a hot topic once again: The expected efficacy of future quantum computers presents a great risk towards data security. This means that for the protection of long-term sensible information such as medical data, an effective post-quantum cryptography already needs to be developed and prepared for deployment. In a new project titled “PQC4MED”, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and its partners work on procedures in order to protect medical data from attacks by quantum computers via updateable systems.

In western countries, computer science courses are still dominated by men: Women in Europe rarely make up more than a quarter of all students – in most countries, they represent less than 20 percent. As part of the joint project SMILE, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the University of Bremen and further project partners work on raising interest in computer science amongst young female students. A new study shows that block-based programming and the usage of smart everyday objects can help giving the students more confidence in their programming skills and support the development of a positive attitude towards computer science among them.