Beginning of the SUSIE Project focused on the disruptive integration of intelligent sensors in machines by the use of additive manufacturing technologies

AZTERLAN Metallurgy Research Center, member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), leads the SUSIE Project consortium in close collaboration with Tekniker, Tecnalia and with Mondragon University, UPV/EHU and INVEMA (technology unit of the AFM Cluster).

In industrial operative processes the most critical situations often occur in unreachable locations for sensors. As a consequence, on countless occasions data collection and the control of key parameters are performed indirectly, being these variables the ones that feed the data processing, simulation and decision-making systems of the factory.

The main objective of the SUSIE Project is to solve the technological challenges faced by the data collection from the most inaccessible areas on the surface of tools for transforming metal, plastic and ceramic materials.

To achieve this purpose, the project is structured in four different strategic working lines:

• Solve the problems associated with driving power to commercial transducers and reading their signals, using a subcutaneous integration strategy.

• Solve the thermal problems associated with the integration of commercial cables and sensors and the high temperature working conditions

• Solve the problems associated with the integration of commercial transducers (low tolerance of electronics to integration processes) and direct measurement of the production process (minimum distance to the critical point and maximum response time).

• Maintain intact the behavior in service of the tools in the sensorized areas, especially their durability (resistance to wear, plastic deformation and cracking) and their influence on the process time (heat extraction).

The ambitious objectives set for the project consider:

• Advances in POWER AND SIGNAL: Resolution of the problems associated with the fusion and short circuit of the electrical circuits and the failure of the optical sistems necessary for the operation of the sensors. To be able to adjust the combination of cable protection, added material and laser cladding/thermal projection parameters to encapsulate wiring under any steel surface.

• Improvements in REFRIGERATION: Resolution of problems associated with heat dissipation during the integration process and during service in cases where tools work at high temperature.

• Advances in PROTECTION: The main result in terms of the integration of the sensors is to maintain their integrity during the complete process.

• INTEGRATION Strategies: Solve the integration of the main scientific and technological challenges of the implementation of advanced sensors, which allow the development of its future applications in different industrial environments.

The SUSIE project is one of the projects supported by the ELKARTEK 2020 Program of the Basque Government and has a total budget of 612,000€.

AZTERLAN as project leader, along with TEKNIKER and TECNALIA technology centers belonging to BRTA, in close collaboration with MU and UPV/EHU universities will work on the technical developments of the project while INVEMA, as Offer/Demand Intermediation Agent within the Basque Science and Technology Network , will carry out dissemination and contrast work with the industrial environment.