Teamwork, innovative spirit, and fun tinkering were in high demand last week. At the international trade fair SPS (Smart Production Solutions) in the field of industrial automation in Nuremberg, numerous young talents came together to participate in the “SPS Makeathon.” Pepperl+Fuchs sponsored one of the industry challenges and inspired 20 students with an exciting sensor technology project.
The SPS Makeathon: Young Talents in Action
As part of the SPS in Nuremberg, a program specifically tailored to young talents took place, focusing on practical experience and networking. For the first time, pupils, apprentices, and students had the opportunity to participate in the SPS Makeatho – a combination of the words “make” and “marathon.” In collaboration with ITQ and New Automation e.V., exciting workshops were held throughout the three days of the trade fair. Sponsored by member companies of the association, including Pepperl+Fuchs, these so-called “Industry Challenges” were offered twice a day, each lasting two and a half hours.
The goal? To combine theory with practice and inspire young talents in the world of automation. Participants worked on real projects with companies from the automation industry, developing innovative solutions and showcasing their creativity within a short timeframe. In addition to tackling technical challenges, participants had to quickly form interdisciplinary teams—randomly assembled—to successfully complete the tasks.
The Pepperl+Fuchs Challenge
On Thursday, Young Talents Day, Pepperl+Fuchs presented its challenge: **”OT Meets IT: Sensor Technology Goes Cloud.”** Supported by Benedikt Rauscher, Manager Global IoT/I4.0 Projects, and Julian Krato, Product Specialist Complex Systems, participants were tasked with bridging the worlds of OT (Operational Technology) and IT (Information Technology).
The aim of the workshop was to build a functioning system that demonstrated the seamless integration of OT sensor technology into IT systems, such as cloud platforms. Participants began by connecting Pepperl+Fuchs sensors to our IO-Link master, installing the appropriate IODDs, and linking the IO-Link master to an MQTT broker running on an embedded PC. They then connected their laptops to this setup using Node-RED. Finally, the young talents created a real-time data visualization dashboard in Node-RED.
In addition to the colorful signal lights on our exhibit, the faces of the participants also lit up by the end of the two-and-a-half-hour workshop. Beyond the technical accomplishments, it was inspiring to see how quickly the teams formed, how engaged the participants were, and how they supported one another while developing their ideas collaboratively.
For us, the event was a resounding success, providing a valuable opportunity to connect with tomorrow’s talents and offer them a glimpse behind the scenes of our work. Many thanks to all the participants in our challenge—we had a lot of fun!
For more information about New Automation e.V., visit https://www.new-automation.de/
Find out more about ITQ: Competence in Mechatronics – ITQ GmbH
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