© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS
INTERVIEW Xabier Hernández, Technology Manager at iLine Microsystems
© GRAPHENEA
GRAPHENEA Automating the graphene production
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND KNOWLEDGE
© CODESYNTAX
GERTATU Eibar SMEs incorporate innovation
JANUARY 2015 | No. 101
Innovation in SMEs
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INTRODUCTION
Innovation knows nothing about dimensions, sectors or terms. SMEs have the potential and necessary flexibility to provide the market with revolutionary technological innovations and innovative services. Throughout this issue, it will become clear that SMEs have courageous people who have not hesitated to commit themselves to a different future. 2 | NEWTEK JANUARY 2015
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INDEX
THE EXPERTS’ VIEW
C04 From the innovative idea to the high added·value product
© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS
© ETALON
© GRAPHENEA
INTERVIEW
NEWS
PROJECTS
C06 Xabier Hernández, Technolgy Manager at iLine Microsystems
C08 Distribution agreement between ETALON AG and IK4·TEKNIKER C09 Eibar SMEs incorporate innovation
C10 New ENAC accreditation to reinforce our labs C11 The “Predictive maintenance in wind turbines” seminar at SKF a success
C12 Graphenea collaborates with IK4·TEKNIKER to automate its graphene production C14 A “multipurpose” machining head JANUARY 2015 NEWTEK | 3
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THE EXPERTS’ VIEW
From the innovative idea to the high added-value product The expert’s view: by Jon Mabe, Head of Smart Integrated Systems at IK4-TEKNIKER Behind the unique term Product Engineering or Smart Integrated Systems (SIS) lies a set of solutions and products that are present in and are contributing to a number of our everyday activities. Starting with electromedicine systems for clinical selfdiagnosis, pressure sensors for tyres or for lubricating oil quality in the automotive sector, and going on to smart balloons or cycling helmets with impact detection, we can find examples of SIS in virtually all the industrial and consumer fields of application. Despite the fact that SIS attend to an increasing diversity of new products and services in key sectors like health, avionics or manufacturing, these systems have a series of common features that define them. SIS interact with their surroundings (sensing or actuation) by means of physico-chemical interfaces that function autonomously, they offer dependable, robust operation, they are miniaturised, compact and built-in systems and normally low cost and they are equipped with some communication system enabling them to exchange standardised information with users or with other SIS. So we can conclude that SIS solutions are the result of the miniaturisation and systemic integration of a whole range of technologies, functions and materials. So we find that these SIS incorporate, in a unique way, technologies like micromechanics, magnetics, microfluidics, photonics, electrochemistry, biochemical principles, acoustics, algorithmics and electronics and communications to build solutions for specific problems raised by the market. The role of electronics in products of this type is crucial since, irrespective of their technological base or final function, the electronic design (hardware, firmware and software) is the enabler of most of their principle blocks like communications, power supply, processing and data storage capacity, and user interface. In order to provide SIS with even greater degrees of autonomy, mention should be made of the current and future im-
portance of concepts like ease of use and installation, wireless communications and the power supply systems of Energy Harvesting, which will be underpinning solutions capable of operating semi-perpetually without the user having to intervene. Pacemakers powered by the heartbeats themselves that communicate their performance to the user’s smartphone are an example of this approach that we will very soon see turned into reality. These concepts are part of IK4-TEKNIKER’s Plug&Play&Forget® initiative.
Benchmarks in inspection and sensing microsystems Nevertheless, the incorporation of heterogeneous technologies meeting not just technological but also market aims poses a considerable technical and organisational challenge for any company. The synchronising of multidisciplinary working teams, the pressure to cut development times in order to launch new products onto the market as soon as possible, the complexity inherent in the technological bases of the blocks that make up the SIS need to be managed efficiently throughout the design, development, validation and certification phases of the SIS. After a decade involved in ongoing developments in the SIS line, like dairy product quality sensors, and wine and cider monitoring sensors for sectors like agri-food, or position sensors for magnetic levitation for the manufacturing sector, and dirt sensors for the glass panels in solar thermal plants (energy), among others, in 2011 IK4-TEKNIKER decided to consolidate a strategic commitment towards technology specialisation to boost the capacities for the development of SIS. The main goals of this initiative centre on increasing efficiency when it comes to transferring validated proofs of concept on a laboratory scale as well as final solutions or products closer to their mass production stage. Efforts have been geared towards the multidisciplinary management of the heterogeneous integration of technologies and towards the methodological application of various techniques to modify the proof of concept towards so-
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SUCESS STORIES | The reality of innovative products
iLine Microsystems
Sensors for measuring oil degradation
The microINR® device of the company iLine Microsystems is a unique example of the concepts covered by the term SIS and in which IK4-TEKNIKER has collaborated from the start. It is an electromedical device of the point-of-care type to monitor the coagulation index of patients receiving oral anticoagulation therapy treatment (Sinthrome type).
The sensors in the OilHealth® and OilWear® suite represent the industrial side of the SIS applications developed by IK4-TEKNIKER. Their aim is to offer a solution for monitoring, on-line, the state of the lubricants used in large industrial equipment (wind turbines, gas turbines, etc.) in an autonomous, reliable and remote way, thus obviating the need to extract lubricant samples and then analyse them in the lab.
The satisfactory integration of heterogeneous technologies (the basis of their measuring principle), together with their autonomous, dependable, user-friendly functioning have allowed iLine Microsystems to offer the market certain competitive advantages which have put it at the cutting edge worldwide in this type of equipment in terms of features and business volume.
lutions that are dependable, and can be manufactured, verified and certified, thus cutting development time as far as possible. Having the technical capacity to tackle these multiple developments means that IK4-TEKNIKER is currently a benchmark in low-cost microsystems for inspection and sensing, by incorporating a photonic base (ultraviolet, visible and near infrared) or artificial vision embedded with high-precision micromechanical and optical solutions. Examples of success are the microINR® system by iLine Microsystems or the OilHealth® and OilWear® line of products by Atten2.
Transfer to the industrial base and the role of IK4-TEKNIKER SIS represent the full paradigm of technology transfer from a scientific principle to a business reality in the form of a highperformance product that is innovative, differentiating and whose technology constitutes intellectual property that can be transferred to a patent.
The integration of heterogeneous technology (photonics, fluidics, micromechanics, chemometrics, electronics, etc.) has been a key aspect in building these products and meeting market expectations in terms of precision, dependability, size and cost.
Even though an SIS may be close to the final application, its success will only be possible if it has the collaboration of a key partner in the target sector, who, as the major promoter of the idea, is capable of presenting the market restrictions and requirements in terms of price, size, applicable regulation and certification, conditions of use, etc., which will constitute the key when it comes to driving forward and steering the evolution of the proof of concept towards the final product. IK4-TEKNIKER’s commitment is translated into a capacity to support the industrial base so that it can conceive, design and manufacture innovative SIS solutions and products that will enable companies to compete internationally. IK4-TEKNIKER is approaching this assistance in a global, ongoing way by collaborating with companies in both directions, from the first phases of the design to the phases involving the certification and after-sales services of the products.
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INTERVIEW
“I foresee a significant increase in Point of Care (POC) devices” Xabier Hernández
Xabier Hernández, Technology Manager at iLine Microsystems
Xabier Hernández is in charge of managing the whole technological side of the enterprise iLine Microsystems, a Basque SME in the microfluidics sector with medical objectives and which harbours great ambitions. In this interview, Hernández explains his collaboration with IK4-TEKNIKER’s Electronics Unit and CIC microGUNE to develop cutting-edge technology in his products.
Your enterprise has received the Euskaltel award for the most innovative SME in the Basque Country. Is it possible to commit oneself to innovation in a small enterprise? Innovation together with quality and teamwork are the values of iLine Microsystems. We firmly believe that small enterprises can and need to innovate. Our activity focuses on developing and manufacturing innovative, dependable, easy-to-use devices for self-diagnosis and professional use. Using innovative technologies means that the devices developed are in line with market needs, which therefore boils down to high added-value solutions capable of competing internationally. The differential factor of the products developed by iLine Microsystems is built on innovation, technical knowledge and market needs.
© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS
iLine has collaborated with IK4-TEKNIKER in the development of a number of its systems. What does each of the parties contribute in the joint development of a product or a technology? iLine Microsystems is an enterprise with a high degree of expertise in microfluidic and biochemical design, bolstered by market knowledge that orientates development towards those with higher demand. The developments carried out by iLine Microsystems incorporate biochemical processes on a disposable plastic base, while maintaining levels of efficiency and quality on a par with those of traditional laboratory tests and contributing advantages like rapid analysis and low cost.
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Specifically, iLine Microsystems designs the biochemical reaction and the base on which it is going to take place. Once the physico-biochemical base for inspecting the relevant biochemical parameter has been established, IK4-TEKNIKER gets down to working on the conceptual design of the inspection system to be used to carry out this measurement; it starts with some prototyping phases in which the solutions are adjusted bilaterally according to the feedback of the iLine Microsystems researchers. Basically, the most significant contributions of IK4-TEKNIKER to iLine Microsystems products have to do with specific knowledge in a whole range of disciplines like photonics, artificial vision, signal processing, algorithmics and HW, SW communications. The multidisciplinary team of IK4-TEKNIKER’s Electronics Unit, led by Jon Mabe, and CIC microGUNE provide support for the developments thought up by iLine Microsystems. This relationship with the R&D centre is maintained over time, which means we get ongoing support in the verification, validation, certification and after-sales service phases of iLine Microsystems products. Electronics is destined to play a very important role in the biomedical sector in the future. How can local companies take advantage of the human and technological resources and knowledge of the R&D centres? The decentralising of healthcare systems, the increase in the population and its average age, and lastly, the greater degree of familiarisation of patients with the new technologies point to a significant increase in homecare and Point of Care (POC) devices, like those developed by iLine Microsystems and IK4-TEKNIKER. Electronics is an essential component in devices of this type, because it is the electronic system that undertakes to control the conditions of the biochemical reaction, to generate the stimulus for that reaction and, at the same time, has to pick up the signal generated by the reaction, process it and interpret it to generate, display and communicate information in a standard format that can be understood by patients and healthcare workers. The role of electronics (with its associated algorithmics) is also essential when it comes to applying quality controls or traceability systems required in POC-type solutions that have to work autonomously.
© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS
However, we mustn’t forget that the healthcare sector demands very high levels of quality, due to regulatory as well as commercial requirements; this means that the levels of dependability and robustness demanded of electronic solutions applied to electromedical equipment and healthcare products tend to be very high, and this has an impact on development times. Finally, the local enterprises that want to develop in the biomedical sector will be able to rely on the multidisciplinary knowledge of the R&D centres for the development of their devices; the centres have experience in having worked previously in accordance with various regulatory frameworks. What are iLine’s next challenges in the medium term, and what role is the incorporation of new technology in the company’s future going to play? The first challenge we have is that we have to go on internationalising the product. We are already present in several countries but there’s still a long way to go. We are also working on a possible diversification of applications, but always in the world of in vitro diagnostics, which we know and master. Our aim is to turn ourselves into a leading reference in the POC in vitro diagnostics market share through the constant quest for innovative, dependable, affordable, user-friendly devices. We are also keen to develop a modern, professional organisation that is open to the global market, customer-centred and with the firm commitment to work to the highest standards of quality. Ours is a people-based project with transparent corporate policies driven by positive professional ethics. We are comitted to society and healthcare matters.
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News Distribution agreement between ETALON AG and IK4-TEKNIKER Within the framework of this agreement the company METRONIC is also joining in order to distribute the laser tracer.
quate for measuring larger machines when the characterisation of the whole work volume is being sought. The most innovative technology for measuring the geometric errors of a machine is interferometric multilateration. The latter is a well-known mathematical technique because it is used in GPS navigation. It involves taking measurements of the linear distance to the body to be measured from different measuring stations. After that, the equation systems are solved using mathematical methods, and the result obtained is the position in the reflector space, and with it an error value in each position in the work space.
In its strategy to offer companies new high addedvalue solutions and services, IK4-TEKNIKER IK TEKNIKER has h reached h d agreement with the German company ETALON AG, the developer of the laser tracer and all the measuring/volumetric compensation software associated with this equipment, to be its equipment distributor through the company METRONIC. It will also be offering a new volumetric verification/compensation service based on this solution. This new service will complete the broad range of services offered by IK4-TEKNIKER’s Metrology Unit. It will thus enable both manufacturers and users of machine tools (MT) and coordinate measuring machines (CMM) to get to know and improve (through compensation) the volumetric precision of their machines. Right now, machine tool builders and users are seeking to assess the positioning precision of the machines as accurately and rapidly as possible to minimize, firstly, downtimes, and secondly, environmental effects, which are mainly thermal ones. The suite of classical tools used to commission the machines, like levels, set squares and linear interferometers are not ade-
The equipment that can be used to apply this technique are laser trackers (using the interferometer alone) or laser tracers. The main difference between the laser tracer and the laser tracker is that the former lacks encoders for measuring angles because this equipment has been designed only to measure by means of the multilateration technique. The geometric verification of a large machine tool throughout its volume of work is for IK4-TEKNIKER one of its priority fields in its line of expertise in metrology. IK4-TEKNIKER has developed an in-house solution for volumetric verification by means of multilateration techniques by using a laser tracker combined with the use of electronic levels. The knowledge acquired has enabled customised solutions to be developed for machine tool manufacturers and users and continues to be a priority line of work to tackle aspects like the self-calibration of machines, alignment of parts and structures, and even in-situ measuring as a future aim. All this work has been made possible by the Emaitek and Etorgai programmes of the Government of the Basque Country (Hiperion project), and by the CDTI-Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (Impeler project), and also by close collaboration among machine tool manufacturers, the main ones being Zayer, Juaristi, Goratu and Ona.
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NEWS
Eibar SMEs incorporate innovation The Gertatu programme being promoted by Eibar Town Council is helping enterprises identify their technological challenges and improve their competitiveness.
To generate a new innovative, entrepreneurial ecosystem in the business base of Eibar. This is the main aim of the Gertatu programme, being promoted by Eibar Town Council and in which IK4-TEKNIKER is actively participating as a technology partner. In this move, the centre is working to carry out technological studies enabling enterprises with fewer than 50 members of staff and based in Eibar to spot their challenges, and to accompany them in this technological drive to try and achieve competitive improvement. The projects set up by IK4-TEKNIKER in the framework of this programme are as follows: · Design standardisation carried out together with AIBE · An increase in production plant availability for Industrias PAMPO · The upgrading of the business model for selective collection in collaboration with URKOTRONIK · The introduction of a system of technology watch and competitive intelligence with NEURTEK · The diagnosis and proposals for the technology watch function for CODESYNTAX
So the Gertatu programme has enabled these enterprises to incorporate technological innovations with the support of experts which they would otherwise not have been able to do owing to their limited size.
© CODESYNTAX
© URKOTRONIK
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NEWS
News New ENAC accreditation to reinforce our labs The Oil Analysis lab has obtained the accreditation granted by ENAC for conducting tests in the areas of lubricating oils and insulating liquids. The National Accreditation Body ENAC has recently granted this accreditation to IK4-TEKNIKER’s Oil Analysis Laboratory for conducting tests in the areas of lubricating oils and insulating liquids (dielectric oils). This accreditation –No. 16/LE134– consolidates IK4-TEKNIKER’s laboratories as testing laboratories and as a recognised organisation in the field of lubricating oil analyses. It also constitutes a guarantee for the companies that entrust their analyses to the R&D centre. According to the head of IK4-TEKNIKER’s Technological Services Jesús Terradillos, “this accreditation is another step in the recognition of the work we have been doing for over the last twenty years since we obtained the first accreditation”.
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The “Predictive maintenance in wind turbines” seminar at SKF a success José Luis Santos of SKF officially opened the seminar that gathered together professionals in the wind energy sector to analyse the most recent market solutions on subjects relating to predictive maintenance in wind turbines. The seminar ended with a tour of the SKF facilities.
On November 4 over 50 people filled the “Solution Factory” located in the facilities of SKF, a leading company worldwide devoted to the design and supply of roller bearings, seals, lubrication systems, maintenance products and systems, etc. All the participants, in charge of companies in the wind energy sector like Gamesa or Enel, among others, attended the informative seminar on “Predictive maintenance in wind turbines” which had been organised for that day by Lubrication Management - IK4-TEKNIKER in collaboration with SKF. At this seminar everyone was welcomed by José Luis Santos of SKF who provided an overview of the subjects to be covered during the seminar; they included lubrication management in wind turbines and data processing for decision-making, the taking of grease samples from rotor roller bearings, etc. During the time devoted to papers, Jesús Terradillos, head of Lubrication Management’s Technological Services, gave the paper “Representative sample taking of grease from roller bearings in wind turbines in accordance with the ASTM-7718/11 standard”. After that, Mariano Antón of SKF gave a presentation entitled “Optimizing maintenance through automatic lubrication”, and Jesús Terradillos gave his second paper on “Monitoring the status of roller bearings through grease analysis”.
Francisco Voyer of SKF delivered the lecture “Lubrication status by means of acoustic emission technology” and to end the seminar Jorge Alarcón, a researcher and consultant of Lubrication Management, gave a paper entitled “Data analysis and processing in the early detecting of faults in multipliers”. The two organisations joined forces in this seminar in which SKF’s contribution focussed mainly on the improvements over time in roller bearing behaviour brought by centralised lubrication systems. The contribution of Lubrication Management, on the other hand, focussed on the monitoring of the status of the roller bearings based on grease analysis so that corrective action can be taken or otherwise in wind turbine roller bearings. “For us it has been a pleasure to have collaborated with a company like SKF Solutions in organising this seminar,” said Jesús Terradillos, head of the Technological Services of Lubrication Management. “We hope that this seminar has provided information of interest on preventive maintenance in the wind energy sector, apart from having become an interesting forum for discussion among professionals in the sector”. The seminar, which lasted from 09.30 in the morning until 15.00 hours, with a break for an aperitif, closed with a guided tour of the facilities of the SKF Solution Factory.
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PROJECTS
© GRAPHENEA
Graphenea collaborates with IK4-TEKNIKER to automate its graphene production THE R&D CENTRE IS DESIGNING TOGETHER WITH THE COMPANY A PROCESS THAT WILL ENABLE THE COMPANY’S GRAPHENE MANUFACTURING PROCESS TO BE AUTOMATED AND HAVE ITS RELIABILITY ENHANCED.
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© GRAPHENEA
Graphene sheets are routinely produced using a technology known as CVD, in other words, chemical vapour deposition. The graphene is deposited onto a copper plate when the vapour in which it is being transported dissipates.
© GRAPHENEA
____________ Graphene could be the material on which international industry has pinned its greatest hopes owing to its tremendous application possibilities and its numerous physical properties. It is pure carbon arranged in a sheet that is only one atom thick, a characteristic that gives it the following extraordinary properties: it is flexible, 200 times stronger than steel and 5 times lighter. However, producing sheets of graphene does pose some difficulties, in view of the material’s nanometric characteristics. That is why Graphenea, an enterprise whose base is in CIC nanoGUNE (The Nanoscience Cooperative Research Centre) and one of the few firms worldwide devoted to producing this material, approached IK4-TEKNIKER to work on the design of a production process that would be more automated, standardizable, scalable and reliable. Graphene sheets are routinely produced using a technology known as CVD, in other words, chemical vapour deposition. The graphene is deposited onto a copper plate when the vapour in which it is being transported dissipates. One of the problems that the company was having was that the production processes needed extensive manual intervention. To overcome these difficulties, IK4-TEKNIKER’s Design, Manufacturing and Assembly Unit and Graphenea together designed a system for transferring the graphene from a copper wafer to a silicon wafer, a key material in the electronics industry, by means of various chemical baths that dissolve the copper and allow the product to be deposited onto the silicon. IK4-TEKNIKER has designed one of the basic tools of the new process of Graphenea: an ergonomic system made of Teflon that allows the graphene to be handled in a more straightforward way while it receives the various chemical baths enabling it to be transferred to the silicon.
According to Rafa Enparantza, head of IK4-TEKNIKER’s Design, Manufacturing and Assembly Unit, “it is a project that is having great repercussions on the company’s internal processes. At our centre we often work on major European projects, but in cases like this, when we are working directly with a client that is funding the R&D of a product or process directly, the results can be applied right away and this is very gratifying indeed,” he said. The project is at a very advanced stage and the members of Enparantza’s team are already working on the third prototype of the system. The first versions were produced using 3D printers in the materials being worked. But now the third prototype is being manufactured in Teflon in order to provide real conditions for the application tests.
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PROJECTS
A “multipurpose” machining head IK4-TEKNIKER IS DESIGNING A MULTI-OPERATION MACHINING TOOL OF A HORIZONTAL, SLANT BED LATHE FOR GMTK. © GMTK
It is capable of carrying out complex, milling, turning, drilling and honing operations, among others. ____________
IK4-TEKNIKER has been collaborating in the design of a multi-operation machining head of a horizontal slant bed lathe model ACCURACER HR800 for the Basque machinetool company GMTK. The unique feature of this head lies in the fact that it offers a range of movements for different types of tools so it is capable of carrying out complex, milling, turning, drilling and honing operations, among others. This capability turns this new head, which has been in operation since September at GMTK’s facilities, into a totally innovative piece of equipment on the market, which gives the company a significant competitive edge over other manufacturers. In fact, its “multipurpose” nature makes it an ideal head for carrying out complex machining work, which together with the type of machine configuration turn the whole unit into a machine particularly suited for machining parts with complex, large-scale machining work, so it has applications in a whole range of sectors like the aircraft, shipbuilding or wind energy sectors.
The range of operations that can be carried out with this head is due to the fact that it not only has a rotation movement of the tool (cutting movement) but also a turning movement of the head itself. What is more, it has a zone for receiving external tools capable of accommodating and controlling not only fixed external tools but also controlled external tools, which enables a whole host of complex operations to be carried out. The design project, carried out by IK4-TEKNIKER’s Design, Manufacturing and Assembly unit, with broad experience in heads for vertical and horizontal lathes, has also included collaboration in the design of other components and lathe systems. To achieve all this, the R&D centre has used the CAD/CAM Solidworks design tool in addition to various calculation programs.
About IK4-TEKNIKER With experience spanning 30 years in research into applied technology and its transfer to companies, IK4-TEKNIKER has achieved a high degree of expertise in four major areas (Precision Engineering and Mechatronics, Surface Engineering, Production and Automation Engineering, and Manufacturing Technologies), which enables it to put its state-of-the-art technology at the service of any kind of task.
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The range of operations that can be carried out with this head is due to the fact that it not only has a rotation movement of the tool but also a turning movement of the head itself. ____________
Š GMTK
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PARKE TEKNOLOGIKOA APDO. DE CORREOS 44 CALLE IÑAKI GOENAGA, 5 20600 EIBAR · GIPUZKOA · SPAIN TEL: +34 943 206 744
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