Field day showcases innovations from emergenCITY research on resilience
How can renewable energy be stored in metals? How can energy-self-sufficient smart homes increase resilience during a crises situation? How do rescue robots support emergency services in disasters? Researchers from the LOEWE Center emergenCITY and the DiReX (Digital Resilience Exchange) Application and Transfer Center answered these and other questions on January 29 at a Field Day entitled “Future Technologies for Energy and Security – Research Meets Practice.”
The event was initiated by the Erasmus+ ENGAGEgreen project and the Mercator Science-Policy Fellowship Program of the Rhine-Main Universities, which have set themselves the task of promoting dialogue between science and politics, administration, NGOs, and the media. More than 30 participants from business, administration, politics, and authorities as well as organizations with security responsibilities, including speakers from state and federal ministries and offices, state parliament representatives, representatives of local authorities, police and fire departments, and companies accepted the invitation.
The day began with an insight into the Metal Energy Hub, which researches metals such as iron and aluminum as climate-neutral energy sources and aims to put them into application. Joachim Schulze, research assistant at emergenCITY and head of real-world laboratories at DiReX, then presented the eHUB, an energy-self-sufficient smart home. As an island-capable building, the eHUB can supply itself in the event of a power failure and share the electricity generated by photovoltaics with parts of the neighborhood and critical infrastructures. In addition, eHUBs could serve as contact points for the population in crises, thus supporting emergency communications.
“In this way, a fallback system could be created in cities in the event of a blackout that requires neither additional infrastructure nor additional space,” said Joachim Schulze.
After a joint lunch, Michèle Knodt, deputy coordinator of emergenCITY and director of DiReX, gave a presentation on further scientific projects related to digital resilience.
She emphasized: “Power outages such as those in Berlin show how vulnerable our critical infrastructures are and how urgent it is to further strengthen digital resilience now.”
Afterwards, emergenCITY lab engineer Julian Euler and Joachim Schulze showed participants the digital city model in the emergenCITY lab, which uses animated projection to illustrate data on a 3D model of Darmstadt. With the Litfaßsäule 4.0 model, Joachim Schulze explained how an attachment for existing advertising columns can display warnings and information during a prolonged power outage thanks to photovoltaics and fuel cells. Stefan Fabian, research assistant at emergenCITY, also demonstrated the Athena rescue robot, which can autonomously explore rough terrain.
“I was particularly impressed by the great potential of digital resilience as an important element for overcoming current and future challenges,” summarized participant Christian Bachmann from the Coordination Office for Network and Communication Resilience at the Broadband Office of Hesse after the event.
