To make its mission a reality, the new infrastructure of Flanders Make will include three living labs:

• ‘Hardware in the loop’ – this platform for energy-efficient drive systems will focus on virtual design and experimental techniques to conduct tests on ‘virtual twins’ and simulations. There will also be a vehicle preparation room, where vehicles can be equipped with sensors, computers and to-be-tested parts.
• the ‘Multimaterials lab’ – this laboratory will investigate novel connection techniques for different types of materials, from gluing and mechanical connections to ungluing and plasma treatment.
• the ‘Human-centered lab’ – this is a mobile co-creation and demonstration lab for advanced production technologies and human-centered production systems. The living lab will focus, among other things, on collaborative robots (cobots), cognitive support, virtual and augmented reality, smart glasses and other devices like exosuits.

“By building these living labs, we will enable companies to test, validate and demonstrate their innovations under real-life conditions,” explained Dirk Torfs, CEO at Flanders Make. “That way, they can develop and commercialize new products in better and faster ways while strengthening their production processes as well.”