MERLIN

In times of just-in-time networked production, the terms production and logistics are almost mentioned in the same breath. In fact, logistics costs account for around 25 % of a product across various industries. This is why attempts are being made to realise potential savings in this area in particular. To achieve this, goods and robots must be reliably localised. In order to remain competitive, resource-saving, reliable and resilient localisation of objects is therefore currently a highly relevant topic for European small and medium-sized enterprises and industry. However, due to disturbances that can currently only be controlled with unacceptably high effort, localisation was still too complex, inaccurate and often not available locally for many indoor applications.

The MERLIN project sought to address these limitations. To this end, a multimodal localisation system consisting of various integrating localisation technologies such as ultrasound and Bluetooth (BLE), ultra-wideband (UWB) and optical identification was developed. Furthermore, the development of a localisation system configuration and optimisation tool for better placement of the anchor nodes was successfully implemented as part of the project. Another successfully implemented project content was the demonstration and validation in the hangar of the University of Freiburg and in the realistic operational learning factory of Reutlingen University.

The overarching sustainability goal of the LZN and INATECH was addressed through cost reduction in acquisition, lower maintenance costs and lower energy requirements in use (and a correspondingly reduced CO2 footprint in each case). In addition, logistics and production chains and suitable localisation systems are part of critical infrastructures, e.g. food supply and medical products, in particular supply network nodes.