Four days all about automation

Professional exchange around the topic of automation and interdisciplinary networking in the areas of industrial and factory automation: The 27th "International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA)", organized by the Institute of Industrial Automation and Software Engineering (IAS) at the University of Stuttgart, was an absolute success. Around 400 international experts from industry and academia took part in the conference from September 6 to 9, 2022, featuring top-class presentations and workshops as well as a varied and stylish supporting program. The conference was moderated by the head of the IAS, Prof. Michael Weyrich, and the Vice Rector for Research and Early Career Researchers, Prof. Dr. Manfred Bischoff, welcomed the guests on behalf of the University of Stuttgart.

The program featured a range of highlights including keynote speeches by Prof. Detlef Zuehlke (RWTH Aachen) on Industry 4.0 from technology to everyday use, Dr. Kirsten Matheus (BMW) on Ethernet connections, Dr. Jens Ottnad (TRUMPF) on the paradigm shift in mechanical engineering through artificial intelligence (AI), and Dr. Andrea Dunbar (Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, CSEM) on data analysis and AI in industrial control.

The supporting program included a welcome reception with an official welcome from the Mayor of Stuttgart, Isabel Fezer, and musical accompaniment by the Barraqué-Kastler Jazzduo in the White Hall of the New Palace. The next day, a tour of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen awaited the participants, who came from across four continents. The highlight of this year's ETFA conference was a gala dinner on the penultimate day of the conference, which also featured the official presentation of the Best Paper Awards.

The award winners were

• Kai-Björn Gemlau, Nora Sperling, Rolf Ernst: Efficient Timing Isolation for Mixed-Criticality Communication Stacks in Performance Architectures
• Mateu Jover, Manuel Barranco, Inés Álvarez, Julián Proenza: Migrating Legacy Ethernet-Based Traffic with Spatial Redundancy to TSN networks
• Carlos Resende, Waldir Moreira, Luís Almeida: NextGenGW: a software-based architecture targeting IoT interoperability
• Oriol Ruiz, Jan Rosell, Mohammed Diab: Reasoning and state monitoring for the robust execution of robotic manipulation tasks

The conference was accompanied by an industrial exhibition lasting several days with well-known companies such as Siemens and SEW Eurodrive. This year's ETFA conference received very positive feedback from both visitors and IAS staff. The participating students were also very enthusiastic, as they were able to learn a lot about IT and software with applications in automation and autonomous systems.