Research Projects

MetaLearn
AI for decision support in the parameterisation of production processes
Start: 01/2022
End: 03/2025

The challenges of producing high‑quality, customer‑specific products are considerable. The batch sizes for specialty products are usually small, while the required customization of the production process is labor‑intensive. Minimising set‑up times and avoiding quality defects are critical levers for both production costs and manufacturing lead times. The difficulty for companies lies in the complexity of the production process, which is influenced by many factors and whose interrelationships are still only partially understood.
The goal of MetaLearn is to increase product quality and shorten both start‑up and set‑up times by recommending machine parameters and component combinations for low‑volume production processes. This will be achieved through the identification, extension, combination, development, and application of suitable AI algorithms. To that end, analogies between two use cases in different sectors (special‑tool and gear manufacturing) at the participating companies will be examined, despite the limited amount of data available.
Role of the FZI
Within the project, FZI aims to deepen existing application‑oriented research in the areas of Interactive Machine Learning and Explainable AI, and to expand it with more fundamental research. The participating research group is particularly interested in involving the human user and making the AI system accessible through appropriate feedback mechanisms. Although there are already initial approaches for explaining AI algorithms, their explanations are currently geared toward AI experts, enabling AI engineers to optimise the AI applications. As part of the project, this explanatory capability will be extended to domain experts.

Contact person
Department Manager
Division: Information Process Engineering
Headquarters Karlsruhe

Research focus
Applied Artificial Intelligence

In this research focus, the FZI concentrates on practical research into the key technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Innovative AI solutions are developed and transferred to application areas such as mobility, robotics, healthcare technology, logistics, production, and supply and disposal on behalf of our partners and customers.

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