June 2, 2025. Focus on the picking process: Together with Audi Sport, researchers from the Fraunhofer HNFIZ are testing how modern technologies can optimize the picking process in automotive production in the real laboratory at the Böllinger Höfe plant. The aim is to increase picking efficiency and ergonomics through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile robotics.
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The manual picking process in automotive production describes the targeted removal and assembly of vehicle parts from various logistics containers – the so-called “supermarket” – to supply the production line. In a real laboratory in the Böllinger Höfe, the Fraunhofer Heilbronn Research and Innovation Centers HNFIZ, with the participation of the Fraunhofer Institutes IAO and IPA, are working with Audi to research which technological approaches for the picking process can best be integrated into everyday working life – for example, to minimize the selection of incorrect parts, improve production supply and relieve the physical strain on employees.
First, a needs analysis identified scopes and activities with the greatest potential for process optimization and relieving employees. In the next step, selected technologies will be tested in a specially set up real laboratory at the “Böllinger Höfe” plant. In a demarcated area in the logistics area, the researchers are testing various technological aids and approaches in a realistic copy of the “supermarket” in which the picking process takes place.
On the one hand, Audi and the two Fraunhofer Institutes want to find out what potential applications AI-based technologies such as computer vision offer in manual picking and how these technological solutions can best support people. On the other hand, the research teams are examining the potential applications of mobile robotics, for example autonomous mobile articulated robots equipped with various grippers and 3D sensors. “The small series production at Böllinger Höfe is ideally suited for such research purposes. Among other things, we produce the Audi e-tron GT family. These vehicles have a high degree of individualization, which makes the picking process particularly complex and challenging due to the large number of different parts,” says Alexander Müller, Head of Logistics at Audi Sport GmbH.
Real vehicle orders serve as test examples to realistically simulate the use of AI and robotics solutions. “With the real-world laboratory at the Böllinger Höfe plant at Audi Sport, we are opening a new chapter in the collaboration between research and the company. Here, for the first time, we have the opportunity to scientifically test the use of new technologies in real work processes. The key impetus comes from the workers, who evaluate the benefits of artificial intelligence, sensor technology or robotics in their familiar production environment,” says Bernd Bienzeisler, Head of the Research and Innovation Center Cognitive Service Systems KODIS at Fraunhofer IAO.
The project builds on ongoing activities and the successful collaboration within the Automotive Initiative 2025 (AI25). The collaboration within this initiative between Audi AG, Fraunhofer IAO, the Technical University of Munich and implementation partners forms an interdisciplinary competence network to advance the digital transformation of automotive production.
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Photo: Audi AG/Michaela Klose
