Innovation in SMEs

GRAPHENEA Automating the graphene production

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND KNOWLEDGE JANUARY 2015 | No. 101

INTERVIEW Xabier Hernández, Technology Manager at iLine Microsystems

GERTATU Eibar SMEs incorporate innovation

Innovation in SMEs

© GRAPHENEA

© CODESYNTAX© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS © GRAPHENEA

NEWTEK#101_english.indd 1NEWTEK#101_english.indd 1 07/01/15 10:4807/01/15 10:48

2 | NEWTEK JANUARY 2015

INTRODUCTION

Innovation knows nothing about dimensions, sectors

or terms. SMEs have the potential and necessary

fl exibility 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 diff erent future.


JANUARY 2015 NEWTEK | 3

INDEX

INTERVIEW

C06 Xabier Hernández, Technolgy Manager at iLine Microsystems

THE EXPERTS’ VIEW

C04 From the innovative idea to the high added·value product

PROJECTS

C12 Graphenea collaborates with IK4·TEKNIKER to automate its graphene production

C14 A “multipurpose” machining head

NEWS

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

© ETALON © GRAPHENEA© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS



THE EXPERTS’ VIEW

Behind the unique term Product Engineering or Smart Inte-grated Systems (SIS) lies a set of solutions and products that are present in and are contributing to a number of our everyday ac-tivities. Starting with electromedicine systems for clinical self-diagnosis, pressure sensors for tyres or for lubricating oil quality in the automotive sector, and going on to smart balloons or cy-cling helmets with impact detection, we can fi nd examples of SIS in virtually all the industrial and consumer fi elds of application.

Despite the fact that SIS att end to an increasing diversity of new products and services in key sectors like health, avionics or manufacturing, these systems have a series of common fea-tures that defi ne them. SIS interact with their surroundings (sensing or actuation) by means of physico-chemical interfa-ces that function autonomously, they off er dependable, robust operation, they are miniaturised, compact and built-in sys-tems and normally low cost and they are equipped with some communication system enabling them to exchange standar-dised 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 fi nd that these SIS incorporate, in a unique way, technologies like microme-chanics, magnetics, microfl uidics, photonics, electrochemis-try, biochemical principles, acoustics, algorithmics and elec-tronics and communications to build solutions for specifi c problems raised by the market.

The role of electronics in products of this type is crucial since, irrespective of their technological base or fi nal function, the elec-tronic design (hardware, fi rmware and soft ware) 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 auto-nomy, mention should be made of the current and future im-

From the innovative idea to the high added-value productThe expert’s view: by Jon Mabe, Head of Smart

Integrated Systems at IK4-TEKNIKER

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 inter-vene. 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 tur-ned 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 con-siderable technical and organisational challenge for any com-pany. 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 in-herent in the technological bases of the blocks that make up the SIS need to be managed effi ciently throughout the design, deve-

lopment, validation and certifi cation phases of the SIS.

Aft er a decade involved in ongoing developments in the SIS line, like dairy product quality sensors, and wine and cider mo-nitoring sensors for sectors like agri-food, or position sensors for magnetic levitation for the manufacturing sector, and dirt sen-sors for the glass panels in solar thermal plants (energy), among others, in 2011 IK4-TEKNIKER decided to consolidate a strate-gic commitment towards technology specialisation to boost the capacities for the development of SIS.

The main goals of this initiative centre on increasing effi ciency when it comes to transferring validated proofs of concept on a la-boratory scale as well as fi nal solutions or products closer to their mass production stage. Eff orts have been geared towards the multidisciplinary management of the heterogeneous integra-tion of technologies and towards the methodological application of various techniques to modify the proof of concept towards so-



lutions that are dependable, and can be manufactured, verifi ed and certifi ed, thus cutt ing development time as far as possible.

Having the technical capacity to tackle these multiple deve-lopments means that IK4-TEKNIKER is currently a bench-

mark in low-cost microsystems for inspection and sensing, by incorporating a photonic base (ultraviolet, visible and near infrared) or artifi cial vision embedded with high-precision micromechanical and optical solutions. Examples of success are the microINR® system by iLine Microsystems or the Oil-Health® and OilWear® line of products by Att en2.

Transfer to the industrial base and the role of IK4-TEKNIKERSIS represent the full paradigm of technology transfer from a scientifi c principle to a business reality in the form of a high-performance product that is innovative, diff erentiating and whose technology constitutes intellectual property that can be transferred to a patent.

Even though an SIS may be close to the fi nal 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 re-quirements in terms of price, size, applicable regulation and certifi cation, conditions of use, etc., which will constitute the key when it comes to driving forward and steering the evolu-tion of the proof of concept towards the fi nal product.

IK4-TEKNIKER’s commitment is translated into a capa-city to support the industrial base so that it can conceive, design and manufacture innovative SIS solutions and pro-ducts that will enable companies to compete internatio-nally. 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.

SUCESS STORIES | The reality of innovative products

iLine MicrosystemsThe 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 satisfactory integration of heterogeneous technolo-gies (the basis of their measuring principle), together with their autonomous, dependable, user-friendly functioning have allowed iLine Microsystems to off er 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.

Sensors for measuring oil degradationThe sensors in the OilHealth® and OilWear® suite represent the industrial side of the SIS applications developed by IK4-TEKNIKER. Their aim is to off er a solution for monito-ring, on-line, the state of the lubricants used in large in-dustrial 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 integration of heterogeneous technology (photonics, fl uidics, micromechanics, chemometrics, electronics, etc.) has been a key aspect in building these products and meeting market expectations in terms of precision, depen-dability, size and cost.



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 microfl uidic and biochemical design, bolstered by market knowledge that orientates development towards those with higher demand.

The developments carried out by iLine Microsystems incor-porate biochemical processes on a disposable plastic base, while maintaining levels of effi ciency and quality on a par with those of traditional laboratory tests and contributing ad-vantages like rapid analysis and low cost.

Xabier Hernández

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 fi rmly believe that small enterprises can and need to innovate.

Our activity focuses on developing and manufacturing inno-vative, 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 diff erential factor of the products developed by iLine Microsystems is built on innova-tion, technical knowledge and market needs.


“I foresee a signifi cant

increase in Point of Care

(POC) devices”

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 microfl uidics

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 cutt ing-edge technology in his products.

INTERVIEW

© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS


JANUARY 2015 NEWTEK | 7 JANUARY 2015 NEWTEK | 7

Specifi cally, iLine Microsystems designs the biochemical reac-tion and the base on which it is going to take place. Once the physico-biochemical base for inspecting the relevant biochemi-cal 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 pro-totyping phases in which the solutions are adjusted bilaterally according to the feedback of the iLine Microsystems researchers.

Basically, the most signifi cant contributions of IK4-TEKNIKER to iLine Microsystems products have to do with specifi c know-ledge in a whole range of disciplines like photonics, artifi cial vision, signal processing, algorithmics and HW, SW commu-nications. 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 verifi cation, validation, certifi cation and aft er-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 de-gree of familiarisation of patients with the new technologies point to a signifi cant 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, be-cause it is the electronic system that undertakes to control the conditions of the biochemical reaction, to generate the stimu-lus 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.

However, we mustn’t forget that the healthcare sector demands very high levels of quality, due to regulatory as well as commer- cial requirements; this means that the levels of dependabilityand 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 bio-medical sector will be able to rely on the multidisciplinary knowledge of the R&D centres for the development of their de-vices; 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 fi rst challenge we have is that we have to go on internatio-nalising the product. We are already present in several coun-tries but there’s still a long way to go. We are also working on a possible diversifi cation 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, aff ordable, 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 fi rm commitment to work to the highest standards of quality.

Ours is a people-based project with transparent corporate poli-cies driven by positive professional ethics. We are comitt ed to society and healthcare matt ers.

© iLINE MICROSYSTEMS



NewsDistribution 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.

In its strategy to off er com-panies new high added-value solutions and services,

IK4-TEKNIKER has reached agreement with the German company ETALON AG, the developer of the laser tracer and all the measuring/volumetric compensation soft ware associated with this equipment, to be its equipment distributor through the company METRONIC. It will also be off ering a new volu-metric verifi cation/compensation service based on this solution.

This new service will complete the broad range of services off e-red 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, fi rstly, downtimes, and se-condly, environmental eff ects, 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-

IK TEKNIKER h h d

quate for measuring larger machines when the characterisa-tion of the whole work volume is being sought.

The most innovative technology for measuring the geometric errors of a machine is interferometric multilateration. The la-tt er is a well-known mathematical technique because it is used in GPS navigation. It involves taking measurements of the li-near distance to the body to be measured from diff erent measu-ring stations. Aft er that, the equation systems are solved using mathematical methods, and the result obtained is the position in the refl ector space, and with it an error value in each position in the work space.

The equipment that can be used to apply this technique are laser trackers (using the interferometer alone) or laser tracers. The main diff erence 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 verifi cation of a large machine tool throughout its volume of work is for IK4-TEKNIKER one of its priority fi elds in its line of expertise in metrology.

IK4-TEKNIKER has developed an in-house solution for volu-metric verifi cation 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 Etor-gai programmes of the Government of the Basque Country (Hi-perion project), and by the CDTI-Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (Impeler project), and also by close co-llaboration among machine tool manufacturers, the main ones being Zayer, Juaristi, Goratu and Ona.



NEWS

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 participa-ting 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.

Eibar SMEs incorporate innovation

The Gertatu programme being promoted by Eibar Town Council is helping enterprises

identify their technological challenges and improve their competitiveness.

© URKOTRONIK© CODESYNTAX


News


The National Accreditation Body ENAC has recently granted this accreditation to IK4-TEKNIKER’s Oil Analysis Laboratory for con-ducting 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 fi eld 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 fi rst accreditation”.

NEWS

New ENAC accreditation

to reinforce our labsThe Oil Analysis lab has obtained the accreditation

granted by ENAC for conducting tests in the areas of

lubricating oils and insulating liquids.



The “Predictive maintenance in wind turbines”

seminar at SKF a success

José Luis Santos of SKF offi cially 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 fi lled the “Solution Factory” located in the facilities of SKF, a leading company worldwide devoted to the design and supply of roller bearings, seals, lubri-cation systems, maintenance products and systems, etc.

All the participants, in charge of companies in the wind ener-gy sector like Gamesa or Enel, among others, att ended the informative seminar on “Predictive maintenance in wind tur-bines” 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 Lu-brication 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”. Aft er that, Mariano Antón of SKF gave a presentation entitled “Optimizing maintenance through automatic lubrication”, and Jesús Terradillos gave his second paper on “Monitoring the sta-tus of roller bearings through grease analysis”.

Francisco Voyer of SKF delivered the lecture “Lubrication sta-tus by means of acoustic emission technology” and to end the seminar Jorge Alarcón, a researcher and consultant of Lubri-cation 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 lubrica-tion 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 ac-tion can be taken or otherwise in wind turbine roller bearings.

“For us it has been a pleasure to have collaborated with a com-pany like SKF Solutions in organising this seminar,” said Jesús Terradillos, head of the Technological Services of Lubri-cation 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.



PROJECTS

Graphenea collaborates with IK4-TEKNIKER to automate its graphene productionTHE 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.

© 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.____________

Graphene could be the material on which international industry has pinned its greatest hopes owing to its tremen-dous 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 fl exible, 200 times stronger than steel and 5 times lighter.

However, producing sheets of graphene does pose some diffi culties, in view of the material’s nanometric characte-ristics. That is why Graphenea, an enterprise whose base is in CIC nanoGUNE (The Nanoscience Cooperative Research Centre) and one of the few fi rms worldwide devoted to pro-ducing 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 va-pour in which it is being transported dissipates. One of the problems that the company was having was that the pro-duction processes needed extensive manual intervention.

To overcome these diffi culties, 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 elec-tronics 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 Tefl on 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 inter-nal processes. At our centre we oft en work on major Euro-pean 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 prototy-pe of the system. The fi rst versions were produced using 3D printers in the materials being worked. But now the third prototype is being manufactured in Tefl on in order to provi-de real conditions for the application tests.

© GRAPHENEA

© GRAPHENEA



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 la-the model ACCURACER HR800 for the Basque machine- tool company GMTK. The unique feature of this head lies in the fact that it offers a range of movements for diffe-rent types of tools so it is capable of carrying out com-plex, 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 to-tally innovative piece of equipment on the market, which gives the company a signifi cant 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 confi guration 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 mo-vement of the tool (cutt ing 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 fi xed external tools but also controlled external tools, which enables a whole host of complex ope-rations to be carried out.

The design project, carried out by IK4-TEKNIKER’s De-sign, Manufacturing and Assembly unit, with broad expe-rience 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.

PROJECTS

A “multipurpose”

machining headIK4-TEKNIKER IS DESIGNING A

MULTI-OPERATION MACHINING TOOL OF A

HORIZONTAL, SLANT BED LATHE FOR GMTK.

© GMTK



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.____________

© GMTK


PARKE TEKNOLOGIKOAAPDO. DE CORREOS 44 CALLE IÑAKI GOENAGA, 520600 EIBAR · GIPUZKOA · SPAIN TEL: +34 943 206 744

www.tekniker.es


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Innovation in SMEs

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