- By Melissa Landon
- March 27, 2023
- Feature
Summary
Hannover Messe 2023 promotes the catchphrase “making the difference” to encourage industrial automation professionals to recognize and play their key roles in the global efforts toward industrial sustainability and manufacturing innovation.
Hannover Messe 2023 promotes the catchphrase “making the difference” to encourage industrial automation professionals to recognize and play their key roles in the global efforts toward industrial sustainability and manufacturing innovation.
“It’s not going to be one single innovation that makes a difference. It’s going to be everything together,” said Dr. Jochen Kockler, chairperson of the managing board, Deutsche Messe AG.
More than 4,000 exhibitors will gather in Hannover, Germany, from April 17-21 to showcase technologies and solutions for a connected and climate-neutral industry. Tens of thousands of engineering managers, machine builders, automation and control engineers, and systems integrators from around the world will walk the dozens of exhibition halls of the Hannover Fairgrounds, one of the largest exhibition centers in the world.
“I’m grateful the larger tech companies will be present: Schneider, Siemens Energy, Google, etc. We are also grateful the small and medium enterprises will be here,” Kockler commented. “Everybody is welcome to the Olympic games of innovation.”
This year’s Hannover Messe will cover five main topics: AI & Machine Learning, Carbon-neutral production, energy management, hydrogen and fuel cells, and Industry 4.0. The term “Industry 4.0” made its debut at Hannover Messe ten years ago as way to refer to the fourth industrial revolution of manufacturing innovation. This umbrella term combining sensor manufacturers, automation, robotics and software producers generated excitement and has inspired many young people to join the field.
Today, the term “Industry 5.0” is floating around as well, so attendees will learn how that concept is evolving. The SmartFactory from Kaiserslautern, Germany, seems to be ahead of the game with its ManufacturingX initiative, which will be discussed at Hannover Messe this year as well. The following represents some of the other highlights attendees can see.
Partner country: Indonesia
Indonesia will serve as the partner country at Hannover Messe this year, making it the first country in ASEAN to become an Official Partner Country. The country’s participation lines up with its strategic initiative “Making Indonesia 4.0.” At the trade show, Indonesia will highlight several themes accelerating its Industry 4.0 advancements, including sustainability and energy transition, human capital and startups. Indonesia will present 150 exhibiting organizations ranging from large industrial companies to medium-sized companies to startups at Hannover Messe.
Festo presents the PhotoBionicCell research project
Festo will champion biology as inspiration for technological innovations to generate a circular economy, which involves producing in a carbon-neutral way using as few resources as possible.
“We cannot just reduce our CO2 footprint,” said Dr. Nina Gaibert, corporate Portfolio projects manager for , Festo SE & Co. KG. “It’s not enough to reduce our energy consumption. “We have to integrate nature. We have to fuse tech and biology and bring it back into a balance.” Dr. Gaibert compared machine-to-machine communication with swarm behavior found in nature, and compared smart materials with nanostructures.
Dr. Gaibert quoted Steve Jobs, who said, “I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning.”
That’s where the bioreactor, which automates the cultivation of biomass, comes in, Gaibert explained. The bioreactor carefully controls the growth of algae. During production, the algae changes sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and chemical energy. In fact, algae bind ten times more carbon dioxide than land plants.
Adding nutrients to the algal biomass helps form fatty acids, color pigments and surfactants, which are necessary to produce products such as medicines, food, plastics and fuels.
“I’m convinced this is the real basis for circular economy, Dr. Gaibert said. “You can take CO2 from the atmosphere into the bioreactor and turn it into products like bioplastics and food.”
HARTING combines connectivity methods with sustainability
HARTING is also in the business of reducing CO2 emissions through connectivity. New technologies require new methods of connectivity, a concept HARTING likes to call Connectivity+. At Hannover, the company is focusing on connecting new energy, connecting the digital twin, and showing “excellence in connectivity.”
For example, HARTING is presenting Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) solutions designed to save resources. As IIoT advances, plants need to transmit more and more data, which could turn into a massive number of cables taking up space and resources. Fortunately, SPE offers an alternative. Just one pair of twisted copper wires can send up to 10 Gbits/s or 10 Mbit/s over up to 1000 meters. HARTING’s SPE offering includes smaller bending radii in robots, smaller housing sizes for devices an d a reduced fire load in the event of damage. HARTING will present T1 Industrial – Single Pair Ethernet at Hannover Messe. It enables IIoT applications and boasts 360 degree shielding.
Hannover Messe 2023 will run from April 17-21 in Hannover, Germany. Find out more or sign up here.
About The Author
Melissa Landon is the content editor at Automation.com.
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