The research groups of the IRS

Networked Multi-Energy Systems

The research activities of our international team pursue one goal: energy supply based on renewable energies. We develop physics-, data- and learning-based methods to operate electricity, gas, heating, water, and hydrogen networks efficiently and safely with a high share of decentralized energy resources. Our methods are modular and scalable, making the very high complexity of these systems manageable.

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Cooperative Systems

The research group Cooperative Systems develops a framework for modeling and control of interactions between humans and machines. The individual strengths of human and machine are combined to achieve high performance systems, ready to meet future challenges of automatization. The fields of applications are e.g. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Robotics, Medical Technologies and Aerospace Engineering.

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Functional Safety Control

When designing automation for safety-critical technical systems, a large number of tests must be carried out according to ISO 262622 or IEC 61508 in order to show the safe behavior of the controls and algorithms developed against uncertainties occurring in the real world. With the increase in highly automated functions, typical product and system engineering are increasingly reaching their limits. The aim of the Functional Safety Control research group is therefore to establish methods very early in the automation design process that take into account the physical behavior of the technical system and its uncertainties in order to make safe or even guaranteed statements about the overall system behavior. This makes it possible to reduce the validation effort in the design process.

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Laser Technology & Optronics

The focus of the research area laser technology and optronics is in basic and applied research in the areas of lasers and photonic components in the near and mid-infrared and associated laser metrology.

The research challenges are complex and address, for example, the increase of power and performance, the efficient generation of new wavelengths or the implementation of new laser concepts and architectures to achieve specific operating data under special boundary conditions (size, weight, reduced cooling options, intermittent operation, etc.).

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Secure Interconnected Automation Technology

The Chair of Secure Interconnected Automation Technology researches methods for increasing the efficiency, reliability, sustainability and flexibility of production plants, energy systems, buildings and high-tech products. The focus is on the secure networking of systems and their information modeling in the context of the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT). The result is a modern model-based systems engineering that makes virtual tools, new description tools, and software- and cloud-based approaches usable for automation technology. We apply these methods in production plants of process engineering, in assembly and manufacturing, in human-robot collaboration or in the intelligent resource-saving operation of energy grids and buildings. Our strengths lie in a broad network with researchers from all over the world, the symbiosis of substantial and application-oriented research, combined with the will to take on the volatile challenges of our partners and to develop outstanding solutions.