Press Releases

In winter, avalanches pose the biggest danger in mountains. Avalanche monitoring is therefore of critical importance to ensure the safety of people and infrastructure. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR are breaking new ground in avalanche detection. Passive radar — which uses signals from the new Starlink and One-Web satellite mega-constellations — enables them to detect whether avalanches have actually been triggered after controlled detonations, even in remote regions without terrestrial infrastructure. In a feasibility study, the researchers proved that satellite mega-constellations are suitable for avalanche detection.

The pilot line for “Advanced Packaging and Heterogeneous Integration for Electronic Components and Systems” (APECS) marks a major leap forward in strengthening Europe’s semiconductor manufacturing ca-pabilities and chiplet innovation as part of the EU Chips Act. By provid-ing large industry players, SMEs, and start-ups with a facilitated access to cutting-edge technology, the APECS pilot line will establish a strong foundation for resilient and robust European semiconductor supply chains. Within APECS, the institutes collaborating in the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD) will work closely with European partners, to make a significant contribution to the European Union´s goals of increasing technological resilience, strengthening cross-border collaboration and enhancing its global competitiveness in semiconduc-tor technologies. APECS is co-funded by the Chips Joint Undertaking and national funding authorities of Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain, through the “Chips for Europe” ini-tiative. The overall funding for APECS amounts to € 730 million over 4.5 years.

Against the backdrop of an unstable geopolitical environment, defence and security have become a major focus of activities in politics, the public sphere and research. It was with these areas foremost in mind that Fraunhofer President Professor Holger Hanselka paid a visit to the two Wachtberg institutes FKIE and FHR, which together represent the largest defence location within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institutes IMS and FHR have successfully qualified for the second round of competitions for Fraunhofer Society's high performance centers with their work on "Terahertz Sensor Technology." This participation comes with funding of 3 million euros, spanning from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2027.

From September 22 to 27, 2024, the European Microwave Week (EUMW) will take place in Paris. Fraunhofer FHR will present the latest developments and projects in radar and high-frequency technology at a joint booth with the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO and Fraunhofer IAF (Booth No. 202k).

Researchers at Fraunhofer FHR have successfully conducted initial experiments with the new target tracking radar of the TIRA facility: They produced a high-resolution radar image of the entire Moon’s surface visible from Earth - from a distance of 385,000 kilometers! By utilizing the motion of Earth and the Moon, a significantly larger, virtual aperture was created using the 34-meter antenna of the TIRA facility, thereby achieving high resolution imaging. This method of generating a synthetic antenna aperture (SAR) enables coherent imaging of the entire visible Moon’s surface.

Specific physical human-robot interactions are increasingly required in the manufacturing industry, the professional service sector, and healthcare. This necessitates improvements in comfort and convenience as well as in communication between humans and machines. Robots need to be able to predict human actions and recognize intentions. And that calls for flexible metamaterials, and more specifically, flat metasurface antennas with highly integrated electronics that allow for sensing of the near environment. The Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR has teamed up with six partners in the EU’s FITNESS project to develop these kinds of surfaces, which cover a robot like an adaptive, intelligent skin. The idea is that robots equipped with metasurface antennas will be able to scan their near-field environment with greater accuracy and communicate more effectively with their base station in the far field.

At the World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (WCNDT), held from May 27-31, 2024, in Incheon, South Korea, the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR will present tailored solutions for the industry as an expert in contactless quality control with radar.

On February 27, 2024, INDRA hosted the concluding meeting and demonstration of the CROWN project. Launched in July 2021, with funding from the European Commission (EC) under the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR) and the management of the European Defence Agency (EDA), the project European active electronically scanned array with Combined Radar, Electronic Warfare and Communications functions for military applications (CROWN) focuses on the innovative concept of a multifunctional radio frequency (RF) system, which aims at substantially enhancing future Defence capabilities, with specific focus on manned and unmanned aerial platforms.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the joint Space Situational Awareness Centre commissioned Fraunhofer FHR to accompany the re-entry of the retired ERS-2 satellite. With its unique space observation radar TIRA (Tracking and Im-aging Radar), the final orbits were measured with high precision and the last images of ERS-2 were generated. For the first time, changes in the structure during re-entry were captured in images.