This year saw the German company Schunk honored with the HERMES AWARD at the ceremonial opening of HANNOVER MESSE on April 21, 2024, in recognition of an innovative AI-based project. Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Germany's Minister of Education and Research, presented the award in the presence of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
A high-caliber jury chaired by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, selected Schunk's 2D Grasping Kit project for this year's award. This application kit comprises a camera with lens, an industrial PC, AI software and an application-specific gripper. The innovative nature of the project lies in the generic, AI-based modeling of component variants and the transfer to a smaller training data set, which cuts learning times for recognition. Even under changing light, color, or background conditions, the intuitive user interface enables reliable picking and handling of randomly arranged and non-positioned parts from an infeed conveyor belt, tray or preparation table. This allows repetitive sorting or logistics tasks to be automated with little outlay.
"Automation is the key to the future for supplying people and industry in our country. Only with sustainable innovations, especially in the spheres of production and logistics, can we successfully master the economic and social challenges of tomorrow," says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Hanselka. "Besides ease of use, the robustness of the development for many of the upcoming automation solutions was a particularly decisive factor behind our decision to select the 2D Grasping Kit for this award. On behalf of the entire jury, I am delighted to congratulate Schunk on winning the HERMES AWARD 2024!"
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