Learning in the global classroom

Training drones in teamwork

Minimising air traffic risks is as important as ever – and drones can help. The SAFEMUV project (Safe Airframe Inspection Using Multiple UAVs), funded by the Assuring Autonomy International Programme, is working on this. Participants include Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, the Universities of Luxembourg and York, the company Cargolux and the Direction de l’aviation civile (Luxembourg). They are examining how drones can cooperate safely while inspecting aircraft. During an inspection, multiple drones work together on the same aircraft, checking its technical condition from the outside. Problems can arise due to the failure of individual drones, lack of space and communication difficulties between the drones. The international team led by Professor Nico Hochgeschwender from H-BRS is investigating how drone teams can be coordinated so that they do not cause any damage to themselves or the aircraft. Why do medicines sometimes work very differently from one person to another? These and other questions can now be investigated more effectively at the Institute for Functional Gene Analytics thanks to the acquisition of a high-throughput DNA sequencing device. The Illumina device enables Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). It analyses thousands to millions of DNA segments simultaneously, delivering fast and cost-effective results. The device is used for research in the natural sciences on topics such as genetic metabolic diseases, Parkinson’s disease and microbiomes. NGS enables researchers to discover why drugs work differently in various individuals by allowing them to investigate at the molecular level.

Efficient DNA Analysis

Robots combat Covid-19

Robots actively combatting diseases? Sounds like the future, but it is already possible. At H-BRS, the Augsburg-based company KELO Robotics tested three prototypes of an autonomous disinfection robot. Equipped with 256 nm UV-C lamps, it disinfects surfaces and the air in less than four minutes per 20 square metre room. Thanks to its person recognition system, the robot can also be used in the presence of people. People in the vicinity are detected via four cameras. The robot then switches the UV-C lamps pointed in that direction off to prevent harmful radiation exposure. This allows the robot to disinfect in highly frequented locations, such as entrance halls, corridors and patients’ rooms in clinics or care facilities. The universities of applied sciences (UAS) in NRW have cleared a hurdle on the way to gaining the right to award doctorates thanks to the establishment of the Promotionkolleg NRW. Up to this point, doctorates could only be conferred in cooperation with a university. A prerequisite for the independent awarding of doctoral degrees is a successful examination by the Council of Science and Humanities and the subsequent approval of this right to award by the NRW Ministry of Science. The cross-university cooperation, currently in eight departments, bundles the research competence of UAS and provides qualified support for young academics.