There is therefore a need to develop production systems that meet both increasing demand for fuel cells and changing requirements. In this way, manual assembly processes can achieve a high product variance with a high degree of flexibility. Partially automated assembly processes serve the increasing and also volatile demand. Automated assembly processes enable mass production under the highest quality standards. These developments must already take place today, knowledge must be built up and processes and technologies must be developed in order to be able to offer the fuel cell competitively compared to other alternative drives in the future.
A partial goal of the research project is the development of a manual assembly system in which the employee is cognitively relieved by various systems and the use of less highly qualified employees in the varied assembly is made possible. This is particularly important due to the increasing shortage of skilled workers and the expected retraining of employees from the production of conventional powertrains.
A further sub-objective of the research project is based on the development of a semi-automated assembly line by integrating technologies for human-machine interaction for additional physical relief of employees and a system for proactive quality assurance in order to sustainably reduce the waste.
Another major sub-objective of the research project is to develop a high-stroke fully automated line for the assembly of the fuel cell stacks together with equipment suppliers, users and institutes and to operate it as a prototypical functional demonstrator.