FAW: AI Laboratory Ulm

Introduction/Abstract

The FAW was founded in 1987 as a cooperative venture between the state of Baden-Württemberg and six major industrial partners and maintains close ties to the university of Ulm. At the institute, about 120 people, including about 40 full-time scientists as well as staff, scientific guests, students and others, are currently engaged in 14 projects for the development of new ideas and solutions for applied knowledge-based systems in fields such as computer-integrated manufacturing, office automation, environmental information systems, assistance systems and management of distributed resources. The institute recently acquired a new building with a variety of sophisticated technical equipment to support its projects, including demonstration facilities, advanced communication networks, and a CIM mini-factory. The institute relies conceptionally on the synergistic effects among industrial sponsors, state administration, and scientific support from industrial and university scientists, involving a great number of academic disciplines. An additional goal is to integrate AI tools and classical modelling methods, for example decision theory, statistics, and optimization.