FUTURED. ZAL Magazin 2025

DLR INSTITUTE OF MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND OVERHAUL
EVERY LAB
COUNTS
CONTACT
Andreas Wilken
andreas.wilken@dlr.de
In July 2024 the Institute of Maintenance, Repair and
Overhaul moved to new premises inside ZAL. These expand
the possibilities for practical research into aircraft
maintenance. The Application Center MRO now
covers four laboratory areas and a hall area totalling
approx. 660 m². It will be extensively expanded in the
coming months.
MRO LIVING LAB
30
The MRO Living Lab embodies
the “Hangar of the Future.” It
will utilize a functional aircraft
scheduled to arrive later this year to explore cutting-edge
technologies for maintenance and modifications
under real-world conditions. Key innovations will
include robotics, IoT, AR/VR and other digitalization and
automation technologies, driving efficiency and precision.
By focusing on an operational aircraft, our team ensures
testing in a realistic environment, paving the way
for practical solutions in the aviation industry.
Simon Beckmann and Hendrik Meyer.
PROJECT LAB
The Project Lab with its flexible
space and infrastructure is
mainly used for research activities
that are closely related
to hardware. Here, the new MRO demonstrators are
qualified for the next TRL before the technologies are
tested in the MRO Living Lab. This includes, e.g., the operation
of small NDT test benches, essential mechatronic
development work and an Industry 4.0 simulation environment.
Another key element of the Project Lab is our
brand-new fleet of four industrial robots.
Florian Heilemann.