HOLM Innovation Funding Launches with New Projects

The innovation funding of HOLM GmbH supports six promising projects in the fields of logistics and mobility during the funding period 2021-2023. The projects include RadEffekt, AI Lab TRUST, EmotDes, BioDroneSwarm, ClusterMobil, and InStaLog. The funding is aimed at universities and collaborations between universities and companies.

(PressBox/Frankfurt am Main) Since 2014, the innovation funding of the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) GmbH has been supporting project initiatives in the fields of logistics and mobility on behalf of the state of Hesse. The funding is directed at universities and collaborations between universities and companies. To date, 180 project outlines have been submitted, around 70 of which have been approved with a funding volume of 5.4 million euros so far. Now, the projects for the period 2021–2023 have been established: a total of six innovation projects from six participating universities have received funding for the new funding period.

The HOLM Advisory Board recently decided on the funding recommendations. This body consists of representatives from the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Housing, the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, as well as representatives from the two involved project sponsors, HA Hessen Agentur GmbH and HOLM GmbH.

Grants of up to 250,000 euros per project

The HOLM innovation funding supports research and development projects as well as innovations in the field of logistics and mobility that make a substantive contribution to the HOLM research agenda and the seven HOLM fields of action for the future, dealing with basic research, industrial research, or experimental development. The grant amounts to a maximum of 250,000 euros per project.

The results of the funded projects are presented annually in September as part of the HOLM Innovation Marketplace; for example, on September 1, 2021, the eleven projects from the funding period 2020/21. The results of the six new projects are expected to be available from the HOLM Innovation Marketplace 2022.

An overview of the six new projects for the funding period 2021–2023:

• “RadEffekt – Route selection and emission reduction potentials of bike rental systems” from RheinMain University of Applied Sciences. RadEffekt aims to collect data on the usage and potentials of public bike rental systems (ÖFVS), derive parameters for consideration in traffic demand models, and create a calculation basis for assessing the environmental balance and sustainability impact of ÖFVS. Funding period: May 2021 to April 2022. More information

• “AI Lab TRUST. Human-AI systems: Interaction design for interiors of autonomous driving systems in public transport” from Offenbach University of Design in cooperation with Goethe University Frankfurt and the Center For Cognition and Computation. The project primarily focuses on the theme of trust in the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence (AI), which plays a central role in the acceptance of autonomous transport systems in public transport. Funding period: May 2021 to April 2022. More information

• “EmotDes – User-centered design strategies and emotive influencing factors” from Offenbach University of Design in cooperation with Goethe University Frankfurt and the Institute of Psychology. Using virtual reality simulations of S-Bahn stations, psycho-physiological parameters of participants are recorded in a waiting situation. This allows for the investigation of how design decisions such as lighting, object positioning, and surface design emotionally affect users.

• “BioDroneSwarm – Autonomous inspection of critical infrastructure using bio-inspired swarm techniques” from Technical University of Darmstadt. The goal of the project is to conduct basic research in the field of bio-inspired swarm techniques with a future application context of the digital networking of autonomous systems for the efficient, autonomous capture of three-dimensional target objects and environmental scenes by a swarm of micro quadcopters. Funding period: May 2021 to May 2023. More information

• “ClusterMobil – Clustering of vehicle mobility flows using machine learning” from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. The project aims to evaluate mobility patterns using an adaptive algorithm model based on the intersection of GPS traffic flow data and geospatial information from OpenStreetMap. The model is intended to help make traffic planning measures more targeted in the future. Funding period: May 2021 to December 2022. More information

• “InStaLog – Intelligent master data management for logistics” from University of Siegen. For planning and controlling logistics processes in manufacturing companies, the master data from the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is crucial. These are still created and maintained today with significant manual effort, with high complexity often leading to incomplete and error-prone maintenance. The overarching project goal is to evaluate whether and in what form the creation and maintenance of master data can be automated through machine learning. Funding period: July 2021 to August 2022

Photo: © HOLM