Reent Schlegel received the SICK award (SICK-Förderpreis) for his bachelor thesis Cooperative Localization in Wireless Networks which he had done at the Institute of Communications (INT) under the supervision of Rico Mendrzik. The award ceremony with participation of the donator Renate Sick-Glaser as well as the SICK AG management board member Wolfgang Bay took place on January 20, 2017 at TUHH.

Cooperative localization is a hot and challenging topic in research as highly accurate positioning plays an important role in a number of modern applications. Examples from the TUHH competence fields include applications in industrial production (industry 4.0) or sensors which detect hazardous substances in smart port environments.

In cooperative localization, sensors which are part of a wireless communications network determine their position. In contrast to conventional methods of localization, the sensors not only rely on signals which are received from infrastructure anchors such as satellites in GPS or WLAN access points. Instead, they also exchange information among each other in order to mutually support their positioning. This can allow to achieve a higher localization accuracy or to make localization possible at all in case of an insufficient number of anchors within the communication range. Major challenges are the design of the exchanged messages as well as weighting and processing of messages which are received from other sensors as those messages may be erroneous due to measurement and transmission errors.

Reent Schlegel investigated and evaluated three currently intensively discussed cooperative localization methods. A major task of the bachelor thesis was also to develop a software demonstration tool for illustration of those cooperative localization methods. This included the design of a graphical user interface, which makes the tool suitable for being used in presentations and teaching. Reent Schlegel did an excellent job in terms of theoretical understanding, didactical presentation and efficient programming including compatibility with a large number of devices.

The SICK awards (SICK Förderpreise) are donated by the Gisela und Erwin Sick Foundation which was established in 2008 by Gisela Sick. She was the wife of Erwin Sick who founded the SICK AG in 1946. As a sensor manufacturer, the company is a technology and market leader providing sensors and application solutions for factory automation, logistics automation and process automation.

In total three awards have been donated throughout all faculties of TUHH: One for the best Ph.D. thesis, one for the best master thesis and one for the best bachelor thesis.