New-Tech Europe Magazine | April 2019

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of a new generation of intelligent factory technologies, with Ericsson deploying an intelligent automation system at its manufacturing facilities in Tallinn, Estonia. ABB is providing a fully automated flexible robot cell solution for the final assembly of 5G radios. At Hannover Messe 2019, Ericsson and ABB are

work in connectivity will open up new opportunities for customers to enhance productivity and competitiveness by digitalizing their businesses.” Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson and ABB already have a strong collaboration in research for 5G and Industrial IoT technologies.

With this MoU, we strengthen our partnership to accelerate the industrial ecosystem and realize the full potential of flexible automation, unlocking new business opportunities enabled by combining 5G and Industry 4.0.” The two partners are already fast-tracking the introduction

showcasing how they are enabling the “Factory of the Future” by exhibiting their latest and most innovative technologies in flexible robotics, wireless technologies, 5G, Industrial IoT and motion control.

CPI Welcomes Clients to New Printable Electronics Centre

CPI has welcomed Silent Sensors, Datatecnics Corporation and HP1 as new tenants to its cutting-edge Printable Electronics Centre. The printable electronics centre, based at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has welcomed Silent Sensors, Datatecnics Corporation and HP1 as tenants, along with Wootzano and PST Sensors at its original site on NETPark, in Sedgefield, also County Durham. Moving into incubator space, the companies will benefit from CPI’s technical expertise and cutting-edge equipment as they seek to take innovative products to commercialisation. CPI’s facility supports the advancement of smart label and tag technology, which allows everyday physical objects to wirelessly communicate and exchange data across the Internet of Things. It has the capacity to create rolls of thin, flexible inlays containing multiple electronic components that can be converted into labels or embedded into smart products or wearable goods. This technology is already prevalent in devices enabling remote monitoring of heating and domestic appliances from smartphones, while it also holds great potential in the healthcare sector, where patients can be prompted to take medication via a smartphone reminder. CPI’s facility holds the key to companies being able to both develop prototypes and then rapidly scale up to levels to test manufacturing quantities.

Silent Sensors has moved into the facility to build upon existing work with CPI at the latter’s NETPark-based printable electronics hub. The initial collaboration, funded by Innovate UK, was focused upon improving existing antennae designs and incorporating printed sensors into the tyre-making process and supply chain. A second Government-backed Innovate UK funded project looked at incorporating energy harvesting technology into the sensor tags as well. The current collaboration with CPI, at Newton Aycliffe, is funded through the EU’s current innovation framework Horizon 2020, with the ‘OnTrack’ project for Intelligent Tyre Life-Cycle Management. By developing such an intelligent tyre life-cycle management system, users will benefit from accurate, real-time data on tyre condition and performance – enabled by the Internet of Things – to increase safety and efficiency. Datatecnics Corporation are pioneers of intelligent infrastructure systems. The award-winning company designs, develops, and commercialises technologies that embed electronics into physical civil structures enabling its clients to conduct real- time condition monitoring and predictive analytics. Its flagship technology, the Critical Infrastructure Pipeline Protection System ® (CIPPS ® ), harnesses flexible electronics to deliver the world’s first truly ‘intelligent pipe’ system capable of predicting bursts and preventing water loss at a vast scale.

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