Robots are extremely versatile machines with almost endless application possibilities. In the course of an exhibition, a prototype demonstrator of these diverse applications was developed, in which our 7-axis collaborative robot arm ‘Rica’ is used to draw faces. Images are converted into line drawings and paths to be traversed are calculated from them. This demonstrator is now to be further developed and upgraded.

Robots are extremely versatile machines with almost endless application possibilities. In the course of an exhibition, a prototype demonstrator of these diverse applications was developed, in which our 7-axis collaborative robot arm ‘Rica’ is used to draw faces. Images are converted into line drawings and paths to be traversed are calculated from them. This demonstrator is now to be further developed and upgraded.

Scientific investigation of Engineering Chatbots in Product Development

Investigate and expand the Geometry Understanding of multimodal Large Language Models with us!

Airline catering, which includes food and beverage (F&B) services, plays a crucial role in shaping the passenger experience. Many travelers discuss the quality of the onboard F&B services. Excessive catering can result in significant waste, while insufficient catering can lead to unhappy passengers. According to IATA estimates, between $2 billion and $3 billion worth of F&B items are wasted each year. Moreover, the weight of unused F&B items contributes to unnecessary fuel consumption.

To address this issue, solutions can be found in determining optimal catering levels for every flight. The primary challenge is to gather objective data or develop a reliable model. Various concepts exist for collecting data on individual pre-, in-, or post-flight orders, utilizing behavioral analytics, or employing generic route modeling.

In this thesis:

The aim of this thesis is to build an image recognition collection algorithm to collect inflight food ordering data in a cabin mockup. Images are collected in a galley, on a food trolley, and withing a cabin, the data is then analyzed, and consumption will be identified. The data will be compared to the real consumption. The analysis should be on a cabin and an individual level and not include flight-attendant or passenger intervention. In a second step, an airline dashboard to show consumption levels shall be designed. The dashboard will be integrated into the TU-Darmstadt cabin simulator software environment.

Robots are extremely versatile machines with almost endless application possibilities. In the course of an exhibition, a prototype demonstrator of these diverse applications was developed, in which our 7-axis collaborative robot arm ‘Rica’ is used to draw faces. Images are converted into line drawings and paths to be traversed are calculated from them. This demonstrator is now to be further developed and upgraded.

Robots are extremely versatile machines with almost endless application possibilities. In the course of an exhibition, a prototype demonstrator of these diverse applications was developed, in which our 7-axis collaborative robot arm ‘Rica’ is used to draw faces. Images are converted into line drawings and paths to be traversed are calculated from them. This demonstrator is now to be further developed and upgraded.

Robots are extremely versatile machines with almost endless application possibilities. In the course of an exhibition, a prototype demonstrator of these diverse applications was developed, in which our 7-axis collaborative robot arm ‘Rica’ is used to draw faces. Images are converted into line drawings and paths to be traversed are calculated from them. This demonstrator is now to be further developed and upgraded.

Spray impact on thin wall films is an important process in many industrial applications e.g. spray cooling or internal combustion. In this process the single drop impact is an integral part. The drop impact is shaped by hydro- and thermodynamic mechanisms. One of the outcomes is a corona splash where numerous secondary drops are developing which can have a significant influence on the overall process. Its understanding and prediction therefore is of great importance.

This thesis involves the investigation of the corona splash experimentally. With an already existing experimental setup with high-speed imaging, drop impact experiments should be performed. The operational parameters should be varied systematically to investigate different influences. This is achieved by using different liquids (water, silicone oils, etc.) and by changing other parameters like film temperature, film thickness etc. Afterwards the measurements are evaluated with image processing algorithms. A focus of the evaluation lies in extending existing models for the splashing threshold and additionally in analyzing the secondary spray (drop size and velocity distribution).

Iron is considered as a promising energy carrier in metal-based energy storage cycles, where energy is released via thermochemical oxidation. As part of this thesis, a laser system for the controlled ignition of single levitated iron particles will be developed, constructed, and commissioned to enable their elemental analysis during combustion using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS).

Electric machines generate heat due to electrical losses and mechanical friction, with cooling in the rotor-stator gap typically limited to air circulation. This study explores the effect of introducing small liquid droplets into the airflow to enhance heat transfer. By investigating aerosol-based cooling, this research aims to enhance thermal management and improve the efficiency of electric machines. The project involves designing a small gap (outer cylinder), and connecting it to an existing setup, then conducting experiments to generate and analyze aerosol flow in the gap. The impacts of droplets will be recorded and analyzed, then the aerosol generator with 3 different nozzles will be characterized.

The Institute for Simulation of Reactive Thermo-Fluid Systems (STFS) conducts cutting-edge research on reactive flows and alternative energy carriers. One of our focus areas is the combustion of metallic fuels, which have the potential to play a key role in future energy systems.

Aluminum, in particular, undergoes a unique combustion process where evaporated metal reacts with steam, forming hydrogen and aluminum oxide. The global reaction and transport rates are controlled by a multitude of tightly coupled processes, including phase changes, gas phase reactions, thermophoresis, and droplet shape evolution—key aspects that are not yet fully understood.

In this thesis, you will contribute to refining numerical models for these processes using OpenFOAM-based simulations. Your work will help improve the predictive capabilities of existing models, enabling more accurate simulations of aluminum combustion.

Do you have experience in CFD, physical modeling, or programming (Python/C++) in a Unix-based environment? If not, are you eager to develop these skills? If so, we encourage you to contact us for more information!

Revoltech is a young start-up at TU Darmstadt that develops sustainable leather alternatives. In order to substantiate the sustainability of one of their products, MATTR, with facts and figures, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is now to be carried out. The scientific challenge here is dealing with missing data on a product in the development stage and formulating sustainability requirements.

The evaporation of liquid droplets, a phenomenon ubiquitous in daily life, has garnered significant attention in scientific research. Of particular interest is the evaporation of droplets laden with nonvolatile solutes, which results in intricate deposition patterns on the substrate. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the formation of these patterns is crucial for various technical applications, spanning from coating and inkjet printing to disease detection. This work delves into the development of a comprehensive model of the specific ring-like deposition patterns observed during the drying of droplets.

As part of the FlowForLife research project, a microfluidic supply network for 3D cell clusters is being developed. One aspect of the network design is the oxygen transport in the surrounding matrix. To characterize this, oxygen quenching luminescent particles are added to the surrounding matrix. The oxygen concentration can be determined at each particle.

From these sparse pointwise concentration data, the flow field in the porous surrounding matrix is to be determined. A solution of the convection-diffusion equation representing the measured concentration field must be found so that conservation of mass and momentum is satisfied in the underlying flow field. Physically-informed neural networks (PINNs) are a promising approach to find such a solution. In this thesis a PINN code should be developed and the achievable accuracy is to be evaluated. The following tasks could be part of the thesis:

As emission regulations tighten and policies evolve to address global climate change, reducing pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions has become a top priority in combustion research. The advanced combustion concept of matrix-stabilized combustion is essential for achieving low emissions and improved flame stabilization in fuel-lean conditions. Combustion within an inert porous matrix differs significantly from conventional burners that use a free flame. Porous media burners (PMBs) rely on the principle that the solid porous matrix internally recirculates heat from combustion products back to the reactants. This internal heat recirculation in PMBs lowers the lean flammability limit of fuel-air mixtures, enabling lower emissions, reduced thermal stresses due to lower flame temperatures, and complete fuel conversion through lean combustion. However, stabilizing these flames within the porous matrix poses challenges due to the complex thermophysical, transport, and heat-transfer processes involved.

The objective of this project is to install a well-designed PMB in the RSM laboratories and perform the first experimental investigation using different pore structures and fuel mixtures.

The aim of this thesis is to develop a novel approach for topology optimization of linear elasticity problems in solid mechanics using immersed boundary conformal isogeometric analysis (IBC-IGA). In particular, the explicit description of the boundaries of the optimal topology as spline curves shall be combined with the boundary-conformal quadrature method. In this way, it will be possible to represent complex geometries with relatively few design variables and facilitate efficient gradient-based design optimization.