Success stories of Carnot partnership

A micro-lab that facilitates digester monitoring and makes local methanation more profitable

Carnot 3BCAR - BioEnTech

To react quickly to the changes in pH that inhibit biogas plants, BioEnTech – with help from Carnot 3BCAR – has developed a simple titration application that delivers autonomous and accurate analyses of key inhibitors. SNAC optimises oversight and performance of all manner of digesters, especially in smaller-sized facilities.

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Carnot 3BCAR - BioEnTech

A micro-lab that facilitates digester monitoring and makes local methanation more profitable

To react quickly to the changes in pH that inhibit biogas plants, BioEnTech – with help from Carnot 3BCAR – has developed a simple titration application that delivers autonomous and accurate analyses of key inhibitors. SNAC optimises oversight and performance of all manner of digesters, especially in smaller-sized facilities.

Supporting Innovation

Methanation plants that generate biogas from organic matter (local waste) play a key role in responding to environmental imperatives. The big challenge here is maintaining a constant optimal output of biogas despite variability in inputs. Naturally occurring anaerobic bacteria digest the material, however their activity depends on the acidity of the environment. Excess ammonia or volatile fatty acids will alter reactions and reduce the output of biogas, hence the need to quantify them. Until now, the plant operator had to send samples to a laboratory and – at best – results came back 24 hours later. Now, after a mere 10 minutes of straightforward manipulation, the SNAC micro-lab can deliver an accurate analysis of the main digestion inhibitors in less than two hours. Moreover, because SNAC is a connected lab, the Memo supervision system monitors process efficiency and makes suggestions for improvements in system oversight.

The client needs

BioEnTech, a mid-sized company created in 2013, was born out of the key conviction that digitised waste water and waste management will reduce the environmental impact and provide enhanced resource management.
To boost the profitability of biogas plants, measuring inhibitors during the process is absolutely essential and BioEnTech makes this possible with SNAC. By monitoring digesters, this micro-laboratory provides a unique solution that is flexible, easy to use, responsive and accurate. It is the fruit of a partnership initiated in 2013 with LBE Carnot 3BCAR based around a three-year CIFRE PhD agreement to develop a quick and simple method of analysis, combined with advanced modelling of the chemical processes involved in the titration of ammonia and volatile fatty acid concentrations. These research findings have been published internationally and are protected by a European patent.
The affordability of this disruptive innovation makes it accessible to medium-sized facilities, thus opening up a new market for BioEnTech which has sold some forty SNAC units and built a monitoring assistance service offering around the interpretation of the analyser's data.

Partnership

Carnot 3BCAR Institute harnesses multi-disciplinary skills in biotechnologies and green chemistry to develop innovative business solutions in bioenergies, biomolecules and biosourced materials. In particular, Laboratoire de Biotechnologies de l’Environnement (LBE) researches ways of recycling residues, waste and organic effluents from human activities and biomass. It uses its expertise in the reactions involved in the decomposition of organic matter to develop methods and tools for modelling these processes. It also has experimental facilities and a prototyping workshop.
LBE was therefore especially well placed to supervise the CIFRE doctoral student and to partner BioEnTech prior to the launch of SNAC, which required three development phases: research, prototyping and production roll out. Two initial prototypes were used to successfully test the product on site.
The partnership is continuing with the aim of making it even easier and faster to measure the recycling potential of a batch of organic matter in a quick, reliable and reproducible manner using the results of IR-SCAN.

October 2022

Boilers are using less carbon for combustion thanks to hydrogen produced locally from water and electricity

Partnership Carnot ISIFoR - Bulane

Bulane’s Plug’In Hybrid dyomix® is a compact electrolyser that produces hydrogen using relatively little water and electricity. Thanks to Carnot ISIFoR’s Fluid Mechanics Institute (IMFT), this hydrogen can be used to make gas boilers greener.

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Partnership Carnot ISIFoR - Bulane

Boilers are using less carbon for combustion thanks to hydrogen produced locally from water and electricity

Bulane’s Plug’In Hybrid dyomix® is a compact electrolyser that produces hydrogen using relatively little water and electricity. Thanks to Carnot ISIFoR’s Fluid Mechanics Institute (IMFT), this hydrogen can be used to make gas boilers greener.

Supporting Innovation

Bulane is recognised as a pioneer in clean energy. Its Dyomix® system, which provides a cost-effective, safe and efficient heat source for welding or soldering without using acetylene, has already sold approximately 1 to harness000 units. The key ingredient in this success story is a miniaturised mobile electrolyser that supplies hydrogen and oxygen using just electricity and a few litres of water. The company has harnessed its technology to fossil gas boilers (using natural gas or propane): the hydrogen produced is blended with the gas to make the fossil gases greener.
IMFT (Toulouse Fluid Mechanics Institute) – part of Carnot ISIFoR – and Bulane have shown that at least 20% of natural gas can be replaced in standard burners. Using clean electricity can therefore make gas heating greener and hooking up to a smart grid will allow electricity to be consumed on a timely basis and take another step towards providing low-carbon heating for buildings.
 

The client needs

Bulane is a dynamic start-up created in 2009 which has become an expert in the continuous production of hydrogen and oxygen. It has adopted a sustained innovation policy to boost the attractiveness of its ethical products and pursue its international growth.
Bulane is beginning to diversify by looking into how its "plug and play" system could be adapted to standard gas boilers. Heating housing complexes could become a low-carbon activity by converting millions of existing gas boilers into instruments that serve the energy transition, without actually having to change the equipment. The heat produced on site by the electrolyser that supplies the hydrogen will also be harnessed for even greater efficiency.
To successfully deploy this project, it is necessary to carefully control the introduction of hydrogen into the standard boiler burner and know to what level the “hybridization rate” (i.e., the rate of substitution of hydrogen for natural gas) may be stretched, while continuing to harness the benefits of the existing boilers, which combine optimal performance driven by R&D and mass production at acceptable cost.
 

Partnership

IMFT, which is part of Carnot ISIFoR, is specialised in combustion physics and equipped with special dedicated equipment (UV cameras, thermal resistance testers, etc.) to perform combustion diagnostic testing. Research focused on the feasibility of introducing hydrogen into existing natural gas boiler burners. First, it was necessary to carefully control the mix of the two gases (one very light and the other heavy) with very different diffusion properties. A homogeneous mixture is essential for avoiding unstable combustion (phenomena of self-extinguished flame, flame flashback, etc.) and pollutant emissions linked to the presence of very high temperature zones generating nitrogen oxides.
Once the feasibility had been ascertained, the partnership attacked the development phase. Combining the solution with Dyomix® technology needs to be carefully managed in order to supply hydrogen correctly and obtain a high hybridization rate, while maintaining optimal output from the standard boiler.
IMFT has enabled Bulane to unlock a new market and consolidate its status as an energy transition pioneer by hybridising fossil gas. Several million European gas boilers (which may or may not be connected to "town gas") represent a huge potential target.

January 2022

Dielen has used natural products to develop a completely safe nutritional supplement for pregnant women.

Partnership Carnot I2C - Dielen

To compensate for nutrient deficiencies identified during pregnancy, Dielen and Carnot I2C Institute (CERMN) have focused on real needs and supplement quality.

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Partnership Carnot I2C - Dielen

Dielen has used natural products to develop a completely safe nutritional supplement for pregnant women.

To compensate for nutrient deficiencies identified during pregnancy, Dielen and Carnot I2C Institute (CERMN) have focused on real needs and supplement quality.

Supporting Innovation

Food supplements have now become commonplace, however, the origin of ingredients cannot always be guaranteed and this poses certain risks for consumers. Women are becoming mothers at a later age when compared to the last century and are frequently highly deficient in DHA Omega 3, vitamins B6, B9 and D3, calcium, iodine, zinc, magnesium and iron. Food supplements must take account of the changes inherent to pregnancy and protect the unborn child. Dielen teamed up with Carnot I2C to determine which nutrients are actually necessary – in what proportion and in what form – to market a pharmaceutical-quality food supplement. Based on an innovative combination of fish oils, marine magnesium and other essentially marine-based ingredients, women may take this supplement from conception right through to the end of breastfeeding.

The client needs

The Dielen laboratory was set up in Cherbourg in 1978 and began developing marine active ingredients in 1980. Since 2007, this SME has been marketing HACCP, GMP and ISO 22000-compliant clinically tested food supplements. When it began focusing on the specific needs of pregnant women in 2018, Dielen sought to use scientifically proven data to verify which nutrients are essential and in what quantities. A meeting with a female professor in therapeutic chemistry at CERMN (Normandy centre for research into medicines) was decisive in kick-starting the partnership with Carnot I2C. The extensive existing bibliography was reviewed and the findings were published jointly in "Nutrients" scientific journal in February 2021. Cooperation then continued into the pharmaceutical technology phase and the partnership culminated in the marketing of “Dielen Grossesse”, a product for woman who are either pregnant or nursing, available in pharmacies since April 2021. In just two years, Dielen has been able to market a supplement that stands apart from the pack thanks to the quality and originality of its ingredients, by guaranteeing the absence of any pesticides or heavy metals, for example in Omega 3 extracted from purified fish oil.

Partnership

Carnot I2C Institute (Innovation Chimie Carnot), which includes CERMN, brings together eight Normandy-based research labs that look after the R&D requirements of businesses by developing sustainable chemicals solutions focused on health and wellness.
The analysis of 85 US, Canadian and European scientific publications, carried out with the help of a post-doctoral researcher recruited via the Carnot Institute, made it possible to validate the list of essential nutrients and their quantity, both during pregnancy and lactation. 
Thanks to CERMN’s expertise in nutrients and their bio-availability, it was able to provide advice on formulation and deal with issues around limiting interactions between vitamins and trace elements, or administering iron and magnesium in a form designed to avoid digestive problems.
The food supplement comprises both morning and evening capsules, each with its own ingredients and a neutral taste that is perfectly adapted to any nausea being experienced in the normal course of pregnancy. Dielen is continuing to develop the product inside and outside France in order to deliver a perfectly adapted and safe solution, which explains the inroads it is making into a highly competitive market.

November 2021

Verallia has adopted a digital twin to train people in key machine maintenance on its continuous production line

Partnership Carnot ARTS - Verallia

As demand for glass packaging increases, production units are working day and night. Thanks to Carnot ARTS, Verallia now has a virtual training application for preparing maintenance work on a crucial component: the gas mixer that powers its furnaces.

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Partnership Carnot ARTS - Verallia

Verallia has adopted a digital twin to train people in key machine maintenance on its continuous production line

As demand for glass packaging increases, production units are working day and night. Thanks to Carnot ARTS, Verallia now has a virtual training application for preparing maintenance work on a crucial component: the gas mixer that powers its furnaces.

Supporting Innovation

Verallia’s plant in Chalon-sur-Saône supplies glass containers to agri-food businesses and is home to the Verallia France Glass School, created to meet the specific needs of this industry. The plant has a single air/gas mixer that powers all of the glass melting burners. The slightest incident affects both production and delivery schedules. While the technicians who work on the mixer maintenance have obviously received theoretical training, it is not possible to make the mixer available to train them in how to handle specific incidents. To show technicians what to do in the event of breakdowns or damage, Institut Carnot ARTS has created a special simulator with a digital twin of the technical equipment that reproduces not only the machine, but all of the possible interactions as well.

The client needs

Verallia is an independent group with around 10 000 employees and 32 glass manufacturing plants spread throughout 11 countries. It is European leader – and the world's third largest producer – of glass packaging for beverages and food products. Verallia provides innovative, customized and eco-friendly solutions for more than 10 000 businesses worldwide. To meet growing demand, the Group is focused on adapting its existing production lines and is harnessing AI to bring it into the Industry 4.0 era. In the absence of a national glass manufacturing sector, Verallia founded its own Glass School over 50 years ago and approached the Carnot ARTS Image Institute to create an interactive simulation of work on the mixer with a view to training operators. During training sessions, the simulator is brought to life by a virtual reality mask that displays a simplified but functional replica of the machine, allowing operators to gain a better understanding of how the actual system works and the machine’s reactions.

Partnership

Institut Image is the part of Carnot ARTS that specialises in virtual immersion techniques. To design the simulator, it first had to analyse this complex process in order to define the appropriate level of simplification that would make the application functionally representative and faithful to the real system. The operator is thus immersed in a representation of the machine together with realistic possible interactions.
To develop this special digital twin, scientific obstacles needed to be removed, in particular to identify the correct cognitive load. This allows the operator to focus on the task in hand – a must for ensuring the relevance of the learning application. This is the case when operators have to move around so that neither task specialization nor unnecessary movements distract them, and during interactions with the virtual system to ensure that they have a clear idea of how to manipulate the different components.
The partnership has provided Verallia with an effective learning tool that limits the scope for incidents affecting a key component of its production process.

September 2021

Thanks to AI, Davi endows virtual assistants with emotions for a more fluid, more "human" relationship.

Partnership Carnot Cognition - Davi

Davi has leveraged a long-term partnership with LISN (Carnot Cognition) to set up the RETORIK platform, which may be used to create digital assistants that blend expertise and social skills to produce high-quality dialogue.

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Partnership Carnot Cognition - Davi

Thanks to AI, Davi endows virtual assistants with emotions for a more fluid, more "human" relationship.

Davi has leveraged a long-term partnership with LISN (Carnot Cognition) to set up the RETORIK platform, which may be used to create digital assistants that blend expertise and social skills to produce high-quality dialogue.

Supporting Innovation

Businesses have been deploying online user assistance since the early 2000s. These virtual assistants quickly became unpopular due to frequently awkward dialogue, inappropriate responses once queries went beyond the predicted context and the cold impersonal mode of communication, devoid of any empathy. As early as 2010, Davi began working on enhancing the human-machine relationship. It is currently marketing RETORIK which allows users to harness emotional AI to create digital assistants and experts (SMARTBOTs) that reproduce human form, language and emotions. The machine communicates naturally via a 3D image of a character capable of providing customised responses while expressing context-appropriate emotions. It becomes possible to forge relationships that are sufficiently interactive to help prospects or complete online sales, provide virtual training or create smart digital information points.

The client needs

Davi is a SAAS-based (software as a service) software publisher. It markets RETORIK which features tech solutions that enable machines to communicate naturally with humans by reproducing their social behaviour. 
These high added value human-machine interfaces run on two “engines”.  The conversational engine focuses on a clear understanding of queries and provides users with quality dialogue. It is rounded out by a socio-emotional engine that controls the non-verbal language of the animated virtual assistants who deliver responses coupled with accompanying facial expressions, hand movements, etc.
To develop these solutions and produce numerous applications in the field of conversational AI, Davi has been investing heavily in R&D and forging partnerships for many years. In particular, since 2016 it has been working with the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) and LISN (Interdisciplinary digital sciences research lab), which is part of the Carnot Cognition Institute and brings together AI experts and psychologists. This partnership has helped produce new expertise at the juncture of basic and industrial applied research that has given Davi a competitive edge in a rapidly-changing market.

Partnership

LISN is part of the Carnot Cognition Institute, which specialises in cognitive technologies that embrace users, their environment and different ways of interacting. The partnership has helped develop affective computing models within a rule engine based on mathematical logic that can calculate verbal responses complete with contextualised socio-emotional content. Experiments have also been conducted to develop a catalogue of non-verbal expressions that enhance customer relations and user experience and new dimensions have been defined for evaluating the perception of a conversational assistant in a commercial environment. The supervision of PhD students within the framework of CIFRE conventions (French State programme for research training in industry) have helped integrate the models within RETORIK and conduct experiments in natural usage situations with real users for the social sciences and humanities aspects. They have for example been testing and analysing the way in which visitors interact with a virtual assistant in a tourist office.
Davi has been able to use this partnership to become a big player in emotional AI, leading to strong growth in its revenue and workforce.

June 2021

Rock Eval® 7S : a geochemical analysis for oil exploration or soil study in just a couple of hours, with few milligrams of rock or soil.

Partnership Carnot IPFEN Ressources Energétiques Institute - Vinci Technologies

Analysing carbon and sulphur compounds in rocks and soil is absolutely essential in geochemistry. Thanks to the partnership between Carnot IFPEN Ressources Energétiques Institute and Vinci Technologies, the Rock Eval 7S analyser® combines instrument, reference materials, calibration methodology and analytical software to deliver unprecedented results.

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Partnership Carnot IPFEN Ressources Energétiques Institute - Vinci Technologies

Rock Eval® 7S : a geochemical analysis for oil exploration or soil study in just a couple of hours, with few milligrams of rock or soil.

Analysing carbon and sulphur compounds in rocks and soil is absolutely essential in geochemistry. Thanks to the partnership between Carnot IFPEN Ressources Energétiques Institute and Vinci Technologies, the Rock Eval 7S analyser® combines instrument, reference materials, calibration methodology and analytical software to deliver unprecedented results.

Supporting Innovation

Rock Eval® is based on thermal analysis technology invented by IFPEN. It is capable of analysing carbon compounds in rocks, soil or any organic compound in less than two hours. It is used by industrial firms, analytical and research labs for fossil fuel prospection (assessing the petroleum potential of sedimentary rocks), analysing soil that has been polluted by hydrocarbons or soil organic matter (key indicator of fertility and carbon storage capacity based around the notion of carbon sinks). The most recent version – the Rock Eval 7S analyser® – which has been marketed commercially since 2019, has an additional feature that analyses the sulphur content of samples and yields more reliable and more accurate results. The first results are available after about an hour of processing, whereas traditional analytical methods are more costly, take longer and require the use of solvents. Specific reference materials and technical calibration guidelines make it possible to calibrate very precisely for each type of application, supported by specific features in GEOWORKS® software.

The client needs

By providing high-tech firms with sensors and lab instruments, especially for analysing rocks and geofluids, Vinci Technologies has become a global leader in tech solutions in the oil and gas sector over the past 50 years with around 100 engineers working in France, India and the US. The Company invests 10% of its revenues in R&D. Its partnership with the Carnot IFPEN Ressources Energétiques Institute has enabled it to develop and market several hundred Rock Eval® models spanning different generations of the product, each one yielding better results and incorporating new features. With a view to consolidating its position as pioneer and staying ahead of the pack, Vinci Technologies and Carnot IFPEN Ressources Energétiques have been looking at new features for a new generation of this equipment. The challenge for this new Rock Eval 7S analyser® has been to quantify the sulphur content of petroleum, kerogen and rock, to distinguish between organic and inorganic sulphur compounds in rock, and to deliver enhanced results through more effective calibration (multi-point and specific to each application), underpinned by new hardware and software components.

Partnership

Carnot IFPEN Ressources Energétiques Institute is a big R&I stakeholder in the energy transition. It helps companies to develop competitive solutions in new energies and minimise climate-environment impacts and to make fossil fuels use more sustainable. Vinci Technologies has been working with Carnot IFPEN Ressources Energétiques since 1993. The Rock Eval 7S analyser® has been able to draw on 15 years of Carnot basic and applied research to develop new technological features and analytical methods – protected by four patents – and enhance the quality of its analyses. The SME has included five new reference materials which, coupled with a new calibration protocol, have enhanced the reliability of Rock Eval®. The company's technological developments have endowed the product with new electronics and system software, a brand new interface and specific features from GEOWORKS® geochemical analytical software. Thence, a product with a real competitive edge was unveiled at the 2019 annual conference of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Texas.

A number of instruments have already been sold. The Rock Eval® range contributes nearly 10% of Vinci Technologies’ revenue and the company was recently able to hire two engineers. These results are a testimony to the value of a long-term “research” partnership for tackling the challenges of an SME working in the oil industry where regulations on sulphur are becoming increasingly stringent. Fresh studies should make it possible to add even more features to the Rock Eval 7S analyser® and consolidate the dominant position of these partners in geochemical analysis.

May 2021

A new process that uses hydrated lime for preventing “bleeding” in overheating roads with a controlled impact on the environment.

Partnership Clim'adapt Carnot Institute - Lhoist

Heatwaves can inflict serious damage on roads. Lhoist has developed a new process that is both curative and preventative and easy to deploy. Clim’adapt – Carnot Cerema Institute – has helped to limit the technique’s environmental impact.

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Partnership Clim'adapt Carnot Institute - Lhoist

A new process that uses hydrated lime for preventing “bleeding” in overheating roads with a controlled impact on the environment.

Heatwaves can inflict serious damage on roads. Lhoist has developed a new process that is both curative and preventative and easy to deploy. Clim’adapt – Carnot Cerema Institute – has helped to limit the technique’s environmental impact.

Supporting Innovation

Successive heatwaves damage roads by causing “bleeding” in bituminous pavement where the asphalt and the aggregate become separated. The asphalt binder forces its way to the pavement surface, creating dangerous areas with very poor grip, especially for two-wheeled vehicles. To remedy this and avoid damaging roads during extreme weather, road maintenance departments if they are unable to use hydroblasting to eliminate the outermost layer, often spread sand or gravel. This creates loose chippings and cannot really prevent damage to the road surface. Lhoist has come up with a solution that is both curative and preventative and involves spreading a special slaked lime-based formulation using machinery equipped with a tank and a spray boom. The operation may be performed at any time of the day and does not require the deployment of special fixed signalling equipment. However, if this innovative technique is to be used on a widespread basis, its environmental impact must be limited. For example, if the thin layer of lime spread on the surface is washed away during a rainstorm, it should not pose a threat to nearby natural areas. It was Carnot Clim’adapt Institute that came up with a solution to this aspect of the innovation.

The client needs

Lhoist is an international group that operates around a hundred sites in 25 countries and has, over the course of a century, become a global leader in lime, dolime and minerals. Lime in various different forms is omnipresent in construction and civil engineering. It improves the driveability and mechanical performance of road and motorway subsurfaces, is used to blend hydraulic road binders and facilitates recycling of excavation waste. Hydrated or slaked lime enhances the durability of asphalt surfaces on roads. Lhoist has developed a specific slaked lime formulation designed to prevent “bleeding”. The Asphacal® BL range may be applied in a preventive manner and immediately restores a safe driving surface. However, part of the thin film of lime left on the surface may be washed away during the heavy rains common during hot weather and safety guidelines for using hydrated lime recommend that it should not be released into the environment.

Consequently, Lhoist really needed to be able to provide the local councils in charge of a large part of the road network with solutions in relation to the environmental impact of the process. Carnot Clim’adapt Institute designed and deployed a research protocol for assessing the impact of this technique on the surrounding environment, particularly on nearby wetlands. The initial findings helped to identify the areas where the product could be used without any risk and to adapt the quantity of the product to be applied to the most sensitive areas. A full-scale test conducted on a secondary road near Puy-de-Dôme in central France in 2020 made it possible to refine the conditions for using the technique.

Partnership

Cerema, Carnot Clim’adapt Institute, helps stakeholders to design and develop urban planning infrastructure. It helps them transition to a more frugal, carbon-light and environmentally friendly economy.

Lhoist was able to leverage Clim'adapt's expertise in hydraulics, infrastructure, the environment and environmental chemistry. It could also benefit of its equipment, which included a “rain generator” that can produce rainfall of controlled intensity and duration over several square metres. A three-phased experiment was conducted to assess the impact of lime leaching during a rain shower, by quantifying and evaluating the repercussions of lime flow into a watercourse near a treated surface. After some theoretical studies, the amount of lime that leached into water following different types of rainfall events was measured during the experimental phase. Physical and chemical analyses of the water collected were combined with hydrobiological tests performed on the aquatic environments of a life-size experimental site to develop findings concerning the long-term environmental impact. 

The initial results were used to develop guidelines for natural areas based on how sensitive they are and they convinced a number of local councils to experiment with Asphacal® BL during the summer of 2020. 
Clim’adapt provides Lhoist’s innovation with the guarantees expected by local councils who get a more sustainable solution for tackling the problem of “bleeding”. The partnership has demonstrated that this highly-affordable technical innovation is a real boon for local authorities both in terms of their budgets and their social responsibility.

March 2021

Thanks to the support of Arvalis (Carnot Plant2Pro), Eco-Mulch is consolidating its technological leadership with a cover cropping solution.

Partnership Plant2Pro Carnot Institute - Eco-Mulch

Eco-Mulch’s intercrop mower — an accessory to a multi-purpose piece of machinery — combines an agronomic approach, the power of digital technology and agri-machinery expertise. The partnership with the Arvalis agricultural research institute has turned permanent cover crops into a genuine commercial proposition for a more sustainable agriculture.

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Partnership Plant2Pro Carnot Institute - Eco-Mulch

Thanks to the support of Arvalis (Carnot Plant2Pro), Eco-Mulch is consolidating its technological leadership with a cover cropping solution.

Eco-Mulch’s intercrop mower — an accessory to a multi-purpose piece of machinery — combines an agronomic approach, the power of digital technology and agri-machinery expertise. The partnership with the Arvalis agricultural research institute has turned permanent cover crops into a genuine commercial proposition for a more sustainable agriculture.

Supporting Innovation

In both traditional and organic agriculture, health, regulatory and societal constraints are driving the quest for alternatives to environmentally-unfriendly products and cover cropping is one such solution. It consists of alternating a row of main crops with a row of cover crops, which will be managed so as not to interfere with the main crop.  The cover crop traps nitrogen and helps control weeds, however managing the competition between the cover and main crops remains a tricky issue. With the Eco-Mulch mower — which is accurate to within 2 to 3 cm in guiding the carefully-centred machinery mounted on a support arm — cover crops can now be thinned out just when they need to give way to the cash crops. After it has been used, the intercrop mower arm can be replaced by the accessories for sewing and treating the cash crop. The cover crops are already present during the intercrop period and subsequently get more light and are able to grow more rapidly, boosting their capacity to restructure and enrich the soil.

The client needs

Eco-Mulch is an SME set up 22 years ago in central France by a couple of farmers in response to difficulties being encountered in organic farming. Their overriding idea was to replace specific dedicated tools with more versatile farming machinery to optimise production costs. The Gaïa tool carrier, unveiled in 2018, helps achieve this objective and comprises a single chassis consisting of a coupling device and a beam. Parallelogram arms are used to mount the accessories along this central column. The spaces between the parallelogram arms are regulated once and for all and you just move the axis of the hitching device to work either the rows of cover or cash crops.

Eco-Mulch is always on the lookout for new sustainable agricultural solutions and, thanks to the results achieved by Arvalis with permanent cover crops, it weighed up the potential of expanding its range of accessories with an intercrop mower. This provided an opportunity for a small company to consolidate its technological leadership in a rapidly growing market. Both the accessory and the entire model are affordable regardless of the type of agriculture practised.
Gaïa deploys the RTK-GPS guidance system already used in its other farm machinery and both mower and related system are now attracting interest on the international market.

Partnership

Arvalis agricultural research institute, part of Carnot Plant2Pro, works directly with farmers and professionals from the sector, helping them to respond to societal challenges by disseminating technological innovation. Arvalis has succeeded in demonstrating the benefits of permanent cover crops: trials conducted in 2017 and 2018 on soft wheat along with an alfalfa cover crop, show that controlled mowing of the cover crop results in high yields and wheat with a high protein content. However, to use this technique on a much larger scale, we need machinery that can control cover crop development without hampering the growth of the cash crop.

This partnership has enabled Eco-Mulch to develop an intercrop mower that augments its Gaïa range of farm machinery. It meets the technical requirements for managing rows of cover crops without stymying the growth of the main crop. This new piece of machinery is helping Eco-Mulch to maintain its technological leadership, as borne out by interest from the North American market. As ambassadors for this new approach, promoting the use of cover crops has also boosted the visibility of both Arvalis and Eco-Mulch.

February 2021

New high-tech vibration absorbers that boost the reliability of sensitive on-board equipment

Partnership Ingenierie@Lyon & Energies du Futur Carnot Institutes - AVNIR Engineering

AVNIR Engineering has carried out experiments to validate innovative vibration absorbers that cater to the needs of the aerospace industry. Mateis lab (Carnot Ingénierie @ Lyon) has developed and enhanced the technological readiness level of a new hybrid material that dampens vibrations when satellites are being put into orbit (a requirement of Ariane Group).

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Partnership Ingenierie@Lyon & Energies du Futur Carnot Institutes - AVNIR Engineering

New high-tech vibration absorbers that boost the reliability of sensitive on-board equipment

AVNIR Engineering has carried out experiments to validate innovative vibration absorbers that cater to the needs of the aerospace industry. Mateis lab (Carnot Ingénierie @ Lyon) has developed and enhanced the technological readiness level of a new hybrid material that dampens vibrations when satellites are being put into orbit (a requirement of Ariane Group).

Supporting Innovation

On-board equipment is very sensitive to vibrations and this tends to shorten its lifespan. To compensate for this and avoid having to design oversized structures, we need high-performance vibration isolators or — better still — to integrate the damping function into the structure itself. The INCAS collaborative project, coordinated by AVNIR Engineering, has come up with a hybrid composite that dampens vibrations in the upper stages of future Ariane Espace launchers. It consists of a stiff wire mesh obtained using additive metal manufacturing techniques and filled with a light polymer foam with a damping effect. Thanks to the foam, this material dampens vibrations by a factor of 10 compared with an equivalent module while limiting any increase in mass. Mateis lab, which is part of Carnot Ingénierie@Lyon, has managed to obtain TRL4 validation (on a nine-level technological readiness scale) based on multi-scale characterization of the composite and its constituent elements, and on small-scale, followed by larger-scale testing. The project also enabled AVNIR Engineering to design and build a scale 1 test bed for TRL6 experimental validation of innovative elastomeric and wire rope vibration isolators.

The client needs

The INCAS project has brought together four major groups, four SMEs (including AVNIR Engineering, which heads up the project), and two research labs — Mateis (Carnot Ingénierie@Lyon) and SiMaP (Carnot Energies du futur) — to devise solutions that cater to the needs of four major aerospace corporations especially those of Ariane Group by securing the low-frequency vibrational environments of satellites on future launchers. Dampening low-frequency vibrations (i.e. 5 Hz - 100 Hz) on satellite launchers is key to mission success and, in order to comply with all specifications and limit the number of iterations, structures have now become far too big. AVNIR Engineering, an SME with around fifty employees, tasked with experimentally validating the damper systems on an operational demo, devised and conducted validation testing of the vibration isolators developed in the frame of the project. Moreover, to ascertain the process engineering potential of the new hybrid composite material, characterization testing performed by Mateis indicated a technological readiness level of TRL4. This is the first step in the tricky process of integrating the vibration damping function into the components of satellite launchers themselves.

Partnership


Mateis (Carnot Ingénierie @ Lyon), part of INSA Lyon engineering school specialised in materials science, provided AVNIR Engineering with all of its expertise in analysing the microstructure and mechanical properties of composite materials. Mateis also modelled the innovative co-continuous hybrid material, composed of an open wire mesh structure filled with a lightweight polymer foam whose damping properties comply with Ariane Group technical specifications. Mateis came up with the materials for the wire mesh structure and foam while SIMaP (Carnot Energie du futur) harnessed all of its expertise in Electron Beam Melting 3D printing and in the architectural design of the metal structure.
Thanks in part to a joint thesis conducted by the two research labs, this fruitful venture has come up with a new material whose vibration damping performance has been validated (i.e., at TRL4 level) by larger-scale testing. Moreover, scale 1 benchmark testing has enabled AVNIR Engineering to demonstrate the TRL6-level damping properties of the vibration isolators. The results of all of these different tests have convinced Ariane Group programme managers of both the usefulness and the technological readiness of the solutions in question.

January 2021

Diabeloop and CEA LETI are perfecting insulin delivery by integrating AI into a closed-loop system that alleviates the decision-making burden on patients.

Partnership CEA LETI Carnot Institute - Diabeloop

Researchers and doctors working in a joint research lab have revolutionised the lives of people suffering from Type 1 diabetes. They have moved from one-shot blood sugar measurements and manual insulin injections, with all of the related decision-making and risks, to continuous measurement with personalised, secure insulin delivery.

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Partnership CEA LETI Carnot Institute - Diabeloop

Diabeloop and CEA LETI are perfecting insulin delivery by integrating AI into a closed-loop system that alleviates the decision-making burden on patients.

Researchers and doctors working in a joint research lab have revolutionised the lives of people suffering from Type 1 diabetes. They have moved from one-shot blood sugar measurements and manual insulin injections, with all of the related decision-making and risks, to continuous measurement with personalised, secure insulin delivery.

Supporting Innovation

Les conditions de vie des personnes atteintes de diabète insulinodépendant se sont régulièrement améliorées depuis ces 10 dernières années. Du stylo à insuline jusqu’à des dispositifs de mesure en continu de la glycémie avec pompe associée, le suivi de la glycémie et la délivrance d’insuline ont été simplifiés mais dépendent encore largement de multiples prises de décisions du malade. Le risque d’hypoglycémie, notamment nocturne ou consécutif à un effort physique, constitue un souci permanent pour la personne qui vit avec un diabète. Les « systèmes de délivrance automatisée d’insuline » permettent une réelle réduction de la charge mentale quotidienne en toute sécurité. Ainsi le dispositif DBLG1 de Diabeloop régule la délivrance d’insuline en fonction de la mesure continue de glycémie et communique directement avec la pompe via un algorithme hébergé dans un terminal dédié. Des algorithmes calculent en local la quantité d’insuline à injecter, le terminal étant relié par Bluetooth à une pompe patch miniature et à un capteur de glycémie. La charge mentale du patient est ainsi allégée, il lui faut simplement signaler au système ses repas et ses éventuelles activités sportives.

The client needs

Le dérèglement de la production d’insuline caractéristique du diabète de type 1 entraîne de lourdes complications thérapeutiques. Pour les malades souvent diagnostiqués avant 30 ans, c’est une vie de contrôle et suivi pluri-quotidien de la glycémie qui démarre. Dès 2011, l’équipe fondatrice de Diabeloop s’est intéressée à la prévention de l’hypoglycémie et au contrôle glycémique, ainsi qu’aux facteurs d’adoption, par le patient, d’un dispositif de boucle fermée à 3 composants. Constitué d’un système de mesure en continu de la glycémie, d’une pompe à insuline de type patch et d’un algorithme de pilotage, le système doit associer miniaturisation, fiabilisation des mesures, adaptation aux événements et sécurisation des données numériques. Le Carnot CEA LETI, très engagé sur la transition numérique à fort impact sociétal a apporté, dès l’origine, son soutien au projet. Les avancées du dispositif DBLG1 ont porté sur l’algorithme de régulation de l’insuline et pour plus de confidentialité et d’efficacité il fallait que l’algorithme tourne en local sans recourir au cloud mais tout en transmettant en parallèle les données à un service médical de suivi pendant la phase d’essais cliniques.  Le dispositif, déjà certifié CE depuis fin 2018, répond très bien à la réduction des hypoglycémies entre les repas et pendant le jeûne du sommeil. Mais, au-delà, il faut « apprendre » de la vie du malade pour mieux adapter la réponse aux besoins spécifiques du patient et disposer d’un système personnalisé de gestion automatisée de la glycémie ce qui nécessite d’améliorer l’étude de la variation sur 24h de la sensibilité à l’insuline, l’impact des repas, de l’activité physique, des émotions et du stress.

Partnership

Le Carnot CEA LETI s’attache à valoriser des innovations technologiques de rupture dans les domaines de la santé notamment. Par son investissement, dès 2011, dans la recherche d’une solution d’automatisation du traitement du diabète de type 1, avec le CERITD (Centre d'Études et de Recherches pour l'Intensification du Traitement du Diabète) il a permis de valider le projet qui a abouti à la création de l’entreprise Diabeloop avec laquelle il poursuit le partenariat dans le cadre d’un laboratoire commun dès 2015. Grâce à ses compétences en Data science, le Carnot CEA LETI a contribué à créer un algorithme de contrôle de la délivrance d’insuline en fonction de la mesure continue de glycémie (algorithme de bio-régulation). Il a également participé au développement de l’application qui sert d’interface avec le patient, bénéficiant de sa longue et forte expérience en technologies pour l’IoT.
A l’issue de tests cliniques concluants et de la certification CE, la commercialisation en France et en Europe démarre avec soumission du dossier à la Sécurité Sociale, un déploiement prévu en Allemagne et de premiers contacts avec la FDA aux Etats Unis. L’équipe Diabeloop, qui compte désormais plus de 80 salariés sur Grenoble, Paris et en Allemagne, poursuit l’objectif de gérer les pics glycémiques post-prandiaux, ce qui représente un défi important. L’entreprise a procédé en 2019 à la plus importante levée de fonds européenne en IA. Mais les retours des malades qui expriment par « vous avez changé ma vie » leur satisfaction d’avoir une charge mentale allégée marquent, plus que tout, la réussite d’un partenariat dans la durée.

November 2020

A start-up launches helium exploration and production in Europe

Partnership Extra&Co / Carnot ICÉEL - 45-8 Energy

Although helium is an essential input in the electronics, aerospace and medical industries, it is not produced in Europe and its price has trebled in less than five years. 45-8 Energy aims to seek out native helium and produce it locally in an environmentally responsible manner.

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Partnership Extra&Co / Carnot ICÉEL - 45-8 Energy

A start-up launches helium exploration and production in Europe

Although helium is an essential input in the electronics, aerospace and medical industries, it is not produced in Europe and its price has trebled in less than five years. 45-8 Energy aims to seek out native helium and produce it locally in an environmentally responsible manner.

Supporting Innovation

Helium is a highly volatile gas that easily passes through geological formations to reach the atmosphere. A start-up called 45-8 Energy is deploying a new method of exploration that involves measuring gas flow over time with specially-designed sensors. It came up with the idea of tracking surface gas as a means of detecting the deep, naturally-occurring reservoirs where the helium is trapped. To speed up exploration, it is necessary not only to identify the gas but to characterise fluxes (i.e., concentration, changes over time and in accordance with ambient conditions), and have this data in real time to be able to either approve or reject the potential viability of a site. For this, a strong and reliable sensor, tried and tested under real conditions is absolutely essential.
Because the company is taking up a major industrial sovereignty challenge by seeking out native helium that can be made rapidly available throughout Europe and with a greatly-reduced carbon footprint, this is the first sub-surface exploration project to be awarded the GreenTech Verte label by the French Ministry for Ecological Transition.

The client needs

45-8 Energy was set up near Metz in 2017 and its name refers to the latitude and longitude of the area of western Europe to be explored in its search for native helium and hydrogen. Because none of the benchmark sensors available on the market had proved suitable, the company wanted to develop a special sensor of its own. The Carnot Extra&Co consortium was set up to facilitate access to SMEs with R&D expertise in extracting raw materials. Following initial contact with the consortium made during “Geoenergy days” organised in the south-western French city of Pau, 45-8 Energy had a detailed discussion with the chargé d’affaires for the north-east of France. It was impressed by the project director’s grasp of the specific issues involved and was rapidly put in touch with the Carnot ICÉEL GeoRessources lab, which tested the sensor in real field conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, humidity, gas mixture composition) using its hydrothermal experimental platform.

Partnership

Carnot ICÉEL Institute aims to tackle energy-related and environmental societal challenges and pave the way for more sustainable processing of natural resources. This is the background to its partnership with 45-8 Energy to develop new sensors, particularly for analysing locally-occurring helium and hydrogen. The goal is to obtain 20 remote measurements a day without any human intervention.
A long-term relationship has been established to unpick the “technological locks” on this development. The company has launched new R&D partnerships with the GeoRessources lab (1 PhD and 1 post-doctoral researcher) and other Carnot ICÉEL Institute labs such as LRGP (specialised in reaction and process engineering) who are working on gas separation. 
The company has performed an initial study in the Nièvre department following an application for an exclusive research permit for the exploration of helium, carbon dioxide and related gases. 45-8 Energy has been able to leverage the potential of this successful partnership to raise the funds needed to finance its future development.

September 2020

INDUNOR provides the auto and construction sectors with natural foam, free from volatil organic compounds

Partnership ICÉEL Carnot Institute - INDUNOR

Industrial firms want expandable or flexible foam insulation! These foams are made from synthetic resins and handling and using them involves proven health risks due to the presence of formaldehyde and other VOCs. By teaming up with Lermab (Carnot ICÉEL Institute), Indunor – a specialist in tannin production – has come up with alternative natural resins that can be used to make pollutant-free foam.

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Partnership ICÉEL Carnot Institute - INDUNOR

INDUNOR provides the auto and construction sectors with natural foam, free from volatil organic compounds

Industrial firms want expandable or flexible foam insulation! These foams are made from synthetic resins and handling and using them involves proven health risks due to the presence of formaldehyde and other VOCs. By teaming up with Lermab (Carnot ICÉEL Institute), Indunor – a specialist in tannin production – has come up with alternative natural resins that can be used to make pollutant-free foam.

Supporting Innovation

Studies performed since the 1980s into the harmfulness of formaldehyde and volatil organic compounds have led certain governments to limit or even prohibit their use. The hazards of exposing employees to chemical risks, as well as consumer protection requirements are forcing industrial companies to come up with new formulae for producing the foams that have become so essential in thermal and electrical insulation and soundproofing. Indunor's engineers wished to harness certain characteristics of tannins – and their extensive expertise in tannin extraction – to come up with a biosourced component that could replace petrochemical-based resins. This Argentine-based company has been working with tannins from the quebracho – a tree that is native to the Gran Chaco province in South America – and the chestnut tree. Thanks to research carried out by Lermab (ICÉEL Carnot Institute), these tannins can be used in resins suitable for producing foams adapted to different uses. They have remarkable strength, fire resistance and thermal insulation qualities and provide industrial firms with sustainable solutions.  Indunor has set up a “Natural resins” division that rounds out its food and health products offering.

The client needs

INDUNOR, a Silvateam Group subsidiary, is a big player in tannin and vegetable extraction and commercialisation. It produces and markets food additives, stabilizers, thickeners and supplements on a global scale. While tannins have traditionally been used in leatherwork and winemaking, they have also been used to produce highly fire-resistant foams with great insulation properties since the 2000s.  However, the mimosa it had previously been using was not sufficient to meet burgeoning demand and Indunor needed to find a viable long-term alternative. The quebracho tree contains condensed tannins (their structure is similar to flavonoids, i.e., they polymerize), and those of the chestnut are hydrolyzable (polyester carbohydrates and phenolic acids). To analyse these tannins, and turn them into a raw material capable of meeting the needs of industrial firms, Indunor teamed up with the Lermab laboratory, which boasts 20 years’ experience in the production of tannin-based foams.

Partnership

ICÉEL Carnot Institute, based in eastern France, works in the field of materials, processes,  environment and energy. It combines 27 labs and technical centres, including Lermab, which specialises in research into wood, covering the molecular to the macroscopic level, and even wooden structures. A research partnership lasting several years, underpinned by a doctoral thesis, culminated in the filing of a number of patents on a co-ownership basis. Lermab, along with the Jean Lamour Institute, another part of ICÉEL in charge of the characterisation work, has enabled Indunor to market natural resins that represent real progress in solving a worldwide problem. The Silvateam Group is seeking to consolidate the leadership of its subsidiary, Indunor, in sustainably produced resins that help businesses comply with environmental guidelines. The enthusiasm of industrial companies for Indunor’s natural resins is a testimony to the success of this cooperation venture.

June 2020

REAL-e is a smart, on-board connected system for measuring pollutant emissions in real traffic conditions

Partnership IFPEN Transports Energie Carnot Institute - Capelec

REAL-e is the result of synergies unlocked between Capelec’s gas analysis expertise and pollutant emission models developed by Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie. It makes it much easier to produce exhaustive and reliable mass measurements of car pollutant emissions that are independent of the figures produced by carmakers.

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Partnership IFPEN Transports Energie Carnot Institute - Capelec

REAL-e is a smart, on-board connected system for measuring pollutant emissions in real traffic conditions

REAL-e is the result of synergies unlocked between Capelec’s gas analysis expertise and pollutant emission models developed by Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie. It makes it much easier to produce exhaustive and reliable mass measurements of car pollutant emissions that are independent of the figures produced by carmakers.

Supporting Innovation

Roadworthiness testing of passenger cars in France uses exhaust gas analysers that measure a tiny part of the gas emissions of a stationary vehicle. These systems are incapable of measuring pollutant emissions based on traffic conditions, driving style or type of journey. REAL-e is no bigger than a suitcase but it contains an exhaust gas analyser (CO, CO2, NOx, PN, NH3) connected to an EOBD dongle which reads the vehicle’s settings and geolocalises and collates the data before sending it to the cloud. These measurements are then merged with digital emissions models and the resulting data is enriched, contextualized and compared to the emissions of the vehicle’s “nominal digital twin”. The tested vehicle may then be either “passed” or sent back for additional testing. REAL-e provides a cost-effective solution for measuring vehicle emissions under real conditions, for vehicle development, market surveillance or “in-service conformity” pursuant to RDE regulations (Real Driving Emissions). REAL-e measurements can be usefully positioned between a “pollutant radar” (i.e., quick and simple but one-off and not very accurate) and the measurements used for accreditation purposes (PEMS: Portable Emissions Measurement System).

The client needs

Capelec has been supplying vehicle test centres with measuring instruments and test benches since 1989. This SME is renowned for the quality of its exhaust gas analysers and it has now began to focus on measuring pollutant emissions in real situations as required under the most recent regulations. Raw data needs to be re-contextualized and rounded out so that it can be compared to benchmark data. This digital step has been made possible by Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie algorithms for calculating pollutant emissions with GPS trace, which may be used to determine whether or not a vehicle is compliant. At the end of the test – which doesn’t last long and is unconstrained by having to follow a pre-defined circuit – the equipment may easily be removed from one vehicle and attached to the next. Big polluters or non-compliant vehicles are identified very quickly. REAL-e came away with the Grand Prix at the Auto Equipment Innovation awards.

 

Partnership

Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie has been partnering the sustainable mobility challenges of big and small operators since 2006. It markets Geco Air, the free smartphone app developed by the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) which allows motorists to visualise the pollutant footprint of their different journeys. Using vehicle specifications and journey parameters, Geco Air’s mathematical models provide an estimate of gas and particulate emissions and fuel consumption. The app delivers a “mobility score” out of 100, complete with tips on how to reduce the driver’s environmental footprint. This anonymised data is also used to improve infrastructure and traffic regulations. In this partnership, the Geco Air algorithms and Capelec analyser have been adapted and used to co-develop REAL-e. This is a simpler, cheaper and faster system than those currently being used and is a first step in identifying vehicles that are big polluters under real conditions. REAL-e gives this Montpellier-based SME a clear edge over the competition in the emerging market of “in-service conformity” and market surveillance together with very attractive growth prospects.

May 2020

R-CUE harnesses residual heat from a district heating network to a high-performance system for drying wood.

Carnot Institute MICA - R-CUE

R-CUE is helping to meet increasing demand for firewood by reusing the unavoidable heat from its district heating network. The hot air driven through specially-adapted containers – designed in partnership with Carnot MICA Institute – dries the logs in just a few hours instead of in a couple of years !

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Carnot Institute MICA - R-CUE

R-CUE harnesses residual heat from a district heating network to a high-performance system for drying wood.

R-CUE is helping to meet increasing demand for firewood by reusing the unavoidable heat from its district heating network. The hot air driven through specially-adapted containers – designed in partnership with Carnot MICA Institute – dries the logs in just a few hours instead of in a couple of years !

Supporting Innovation

In 2013, R-CUE (a French acronym for Eastern district heating network) inaugurated a biomass cogeneration plant and heating network that serves the equivalent of 3500 dwellings in the town of Saint-Louis. The plant uses local wood chips and corn cobs to heat over 300 m3 of water flowing through the networks’ 12 km of pipes. Thanks to the energy recovered from the smoke using a condenser, a water circuit heated to nearly 50°C projects hot air into specially-designed containers, each containing 20 cubic meters of 25 cm wood blocks. The contribution of Carnot MICA Institute has helped to optimise end-of-process humidity content, giving the fuel excellent heating properties while minimizing pollution. Thence, the plant gets improved energy efficiency and meets a growing societal demand.

The client needs

Since 2014, power plants must recover their sources of residual heat and R-CUE and R-CUA were created in that year as “carbon-light” heat producers. The subsidiaries of R-GDS and Primeo Energie (formerly EBM), along with R-CUA (Alsace district heating network), quickly gained a dominant foothold in the virtuous heating network sector. As part of its quest for a solution that would enable it to re-use the unavoidable heat from the Saint-Louis plant, the SME contacted Carnot MICA Institute. It only took a few brief exchanges to pinpoint an opportunity to apply the Institute’s expertise in material behaviour to the private wood fuel market. Demand is increasing, however timber needs to be dried for one to two years before the humidity content can be reduced from an average of 75% to under 20%, thus providing satisfactory heating properties. R-CUE gave Carnot MICA Institute a free hand to come up with a solution while also boosting its energy efficiency by designing an easy-to-use process with a big local impact. The two partners are working together to come up with a rapid drying system for wood blocks that harnesses waste heat from the network. The results of this green innovation have been highly satisfactory for the company, which has boosted its energy efficiency by 10% and created 10 direct and indirect jobs. In 2018, R-CUE began operating a second drying plant in the town of Sarre-Union capable of drying 10 000 cubic meters of wood a year.

Partnership

Carnot MICA Institute harnesses its expertise in functional materials, surfaces, interfaces and related processes to devise solutions for diverse business sectors, including luxury goods, the environment, sports, automobiles and energy. The insides of the container provide optimal drying conditions by pulsing hot air from one end and they have been designed using researcher expertise in materials and their transformation. Their command of interactions and behaviour within a divided and heterogeneous mix of materials was used to develop a model that provides the drying time required based on a simple humidity rate reading taken when the timber arrives. This first partnership between R-CUE and Carnot MICA has helped the French National Forestry Office (ONF) to improve productivity through more effective rotation and more enlightened forestry management practices.
It has been so successful that the two entities are planning to continue their strategic innovation collaboration on a long-term basis. For example, R-CUA, the other subsidiary, is set to reap the benefits of Carnot’s research into materials capable of storing heat over long periods. This low heat loss stored energy may be recovered at a later stage, either to reduce fuel consumption or to meet a specific demand outside of the domestic heating season, such as heating swimming pools.

April 2020

Malengé Packaging produces flexible packaging that meets the recyclability requirements that now apply in the agri-food industry

Partnership Carnot Institute PolyNat - Malengé Packaging

Dry foods can now be protected from light, oxygen and humidity by a really light and totally recyclable paper container made from virgin fibres, developed in partnership with CTP (Carnot PolyNat).

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Partnership Carnot Institute PolyNat - Malengé Packaging

Malengé Packaging produces flexible packaging that meets the recyclability requirements that now apply in the agri-food industry

Dry foods can now be protected from light, oxygen and humidity by a really light and totally recyclable paper container made from virgin fibres, developed in partnership with CTP (Carnot PolyNat).

Supporting Innovation

Packaging has been identified as a major cause of pollution due to the difficulties inherent in sorting and recycling a complex product made from materials with very different life cycles. Under French EPR  regulations, producers must design their packaging  in a way that reduces its impact on the environment once it is processed as waste. Malengé Packaging’s commercial offering is made from a mono-material paper base with barrier properties conferred by functional printing processes. Optimal sealing  and surface treatment properties reduce its weight by between 15% to 40% of equivalent-type packaging with a plastic or aluminium layer. The result is a container that is compatible with the paper recycling chain while affording excellent protection to products. Overall, the carbon footprint can be up to 60% smaller than existing solutions on the market.

The client needs

Malengé Packaging is a one hundred-year-old company based in the Hauts de France region of Northern France and specialising in offset printing. Since 2000, it has been harnessing its expertise to the emerging flexible packaging market, where it has become a reference, particularly for organic products, coffee and seeds. The company has invested in the search for a solution that would enable manufacturers to comply with their environmental commitments in terms of packaging. Malengé wishes to develop a flexible packaging offering that uses processes and materials from the paper industry. It is based on 100% recyclable barrier paper whose components must all be optimized to meet the imperatives of cutting down on both materials and weight. It was as part of a joint research lab (ANR-LAB3P), bringing together Malengé Packaging and the Pulp and Paper  Research and Technical Centre (CTP), that these two long-standing partners made this project a reality by developing the Cycle Pack range, based around a material recognised as being recyclable by CEREC (French committee for evaluating the recyclability of paper-cardboard packaging). ANR-LAB3P was set up in 2016 and by 2018 it had already come up with a commercial product that met the requirements of a first customer. Cycle Pack is fully adapted to collection and recycling channels and it earned Malengé the Grand Prix Innovation prize at the Citeo Circular Challenge.

Partnership

PolyNat Carnot Institute seeks to create new bio-based materials and functional systems. As part of this research, CTP explores all of the innovation possibilities linked to the sustainable use of paper resources. It focuses on replacing multi-material solutions that use aluminium and polyethylene and are responsible for a major portion of materials wasted. CTP’s contribution was decisive for selecting ecological barrier components and for using functional printing, which provides the barrier properties by depositing optimal quantities only in the areas concerned. Its expertise in this domain initially made it possible to come up with a light, printable and heat-sealable  paper, compatible with standard machines, and 100% recyclable. It was first used to store a powder flan, thoroughly insulated from light, water vapour and grease. The partnership is continuing apace and all of Malengé's teams are on board. The company will be able to expand its product range and the range of barrier properties it can offer its customers. Thanks to increasing demand, Malengé is already adding production capacity and expanding its workforce.

February 2020

Doctegestio aims to both improve data processing and streamline hospital administration processes through the use of semantic analysis

Partnership Carnot Institute CEA LIST - Doctogestio

The DIM-IA artificial intelligence project tackles the challenge of streamlining codification of  procedures in computerized patient records and speeding up health insurance reimbursements.

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Partnership Carnot Institute CEA LIST - Doctogestio

Doctegestio aims to both improve data processing and streamline hospital administration processes through the use of semantic analysis

The DIM-IA artificial intelligence project tackles the challenge of streamlining codification of  procedures in computerized patient records and speeding up health insurance reimbursements.

Supporting Innovation

Doctors must carefully read and transcribe all medical data concerning each of the 7.7 million hospital admissions using a strictly codified nomenclature. This stage is indispensable for patient reimbursement and now serves to populate patient’s shared medical records. Doctegestio, a key stakeholder in healthcare and medical welfare, provides assistance to hospital doctors through a reading and coding solution  based on semantic analysis of natural language that is sufficiently accurate to speed up the outcome and make it more reliable. The DIM-IA project, focusing on hospital medical data and information management departments, combines anonymised databases with artificial intelligence developed by Carnot CEA LIST. The system aims for optimal processing time and coding quality while complying with regulations, thus freeing up high value added medical resources.

The client needs

Doctegestio was created in 2000 and is a major player in healthcare, medical welfare and social and family tourism in France, with 290 establishments and nearly 10,000 employees. The Group’s development strategy is based around strong external growth and highly digitised data management processes. Doctegestio is currently involved in a number of integrated healthcare AI projects that reflect the Group’s commitment to solidarity and upholding the common good. 
Codifying hospital stays requires collation of a vast quantity of data from post-operative reports, hospital admissions and the results of medical tests, etc. In order to ensure complete anonymity, each hospital has an archive of anonymised medical records, based on a unique number without a transcoding table, thus avoiding any identification of patients/visits. The archive is processed using artificial intelligence  based on semantic analysis in qualified medical language. Doctegestio and CEA LIST have conducted a major joint research project to automatically codify medical procedures that monopolise a lot of time and resources . The French national health insurer (CNAM) has already expressed interest in the system as a means of populating patient’s shared medical records.

Partnership

Carnot CEA LIST conducts smart digital systems R&D and has developed solid artificial intelligence expertise. After adapting its semantic analysis algorithms to medical terminology, the Institute has linked its semantic platform to hospital databases managed  by Doctegestio. The system has achieved remarkable performances. The learning process factors in the wide variety of available sources: free [or] unstructured text that is frequently difficult to process. Starting with this unstructured data, AI extracts the relevant information from patient records and classifies it according to the WHO’s ICD-10 statistical classification of diseases and related health problems. This has demonstrated the ability of CEA LIST teams to automatically process the transcription of medical hospital data.  As well as boosting the productivity of the people involved, the system also speeds up the medical billing chain and makes it more secure. 
Following the success of the DIM-IA project, which demonstrates the value and reliability of AI in the healthcare arena, CEA LIST and Doctegestio have set up a joint research lab  and now have their sights set on projects with a nationwide reach.

January 2020

A connected washer providing contactless control over nut tightening in aero engines

Partnership Carnot Cetim - JPB Système

JPB Système has teamed up with Cetim to meet the needs of the aeronautical industry by reducing the time aircraft need to spend on the ground checking that nuts are properly tightened.

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Partnership Carnot Cetim - JPB Système

A connected washer providing contactless control over nut tightening in aero engines

JPB Système has teamed up with Cetim to meet the needs of the aeronautical industry by reducing the time aircraft need to spend on the ground checking that nuts are properly tightened.

Supporting Innovation

Significant progress has already been made in contactless control over nut tightening in the nuclear industry and rail transportation in a context of vibrations and sharp changes in temperature. However, in the aeronautical industry, JPB Système is pioneering a similar solution for aircraft engines that combines simplicity, speed and accuracy. The company, which is already a leader in self-locking nuts, has leveraged its in-house operational expertise of the Internet of Things (IoT) to come up with a connected washer that is resistant to electromagnetic interference and displays the required torque in just one second. Measurement accuracy to within 6% may be obtained from 10 cm away, whereas an operator using a traditional method achieves 10% at best. Such performances significantly reduce the time for which aircraft are out of action performing checks on their engines.

©Cetim

The client needs

JPB Système is a young family-owned business, created specifically to come up with secure nut tightening solutions for leading aero engine manufacturers. Beginning in 2009, the SME began innovating and robotizing its production processes and making them self-adaptive by harnessing technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT). Its ability to rapidly turn out a range of customised, affordable fixing or sealing solutions has allowed the business to grow rapidly and move into the international market. To come up with a solution that provides quick and accurate contactless checks over nut tightening, JPB Système’s teams leveraged all their experience of the IoT as well as acquiring new expertise. In particular, strain gauges were inserted into washers in partnership with the Carnot Cetim mechatronics resource centre. The Company was able to harness all of Cetim’s human and technical resources to prove the effectiveness and performance levels of its connected washers. Aside from technological considerations, Cetim was able to tap into JPB Système’s corporate DNA by helping to maintain the degree of responsiveness to, and the fit with end user needs.

Partnership

The Carnot Cetim Institute partners businesses in the mechanical engineering sector, particularly where a high level of mechatronics expertise is required. Mechatronics incorporates the electronic systems that are so indispensable to the intelligence embedded in mechanical engineering equipment. These can then be linked to service functions. This mechatronics expertise has enabled Cetim teams to partner the development of a washer that actually helps to mechanically tighten nuts. In particular, to measure torque, it was necessary to produce a machined test body to position the strain gauges while integrating the communication device. The reader developed by the JPB Système teams is installed on a laptop placed a few centimetres from the nut. The screen takes just one second to display the axial tension measured by the washer, which is remotely powered by a passive system to eliminate all electromagnetic interference. A first 12 mm diameter washer was presented at the 2019 Salon du Bourget trade fair. Over the coming months, work will be performed to optimise the electronic systems and enable the partnership to market washers of different diameters. JPB Système is meeting the challenge of measuring required torque at any given time for one of its customers.

December 2019

PROTEOR prostheses will now be adapted to everyday living restrictions

Partnership Carnot ARTS - PROTEOR

In addition to facilitating mobility, PROTEOR has teamed up with Carnot ARTS to restore lower limb capacity by reducing restrictions and inconveniences

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Partnership Carnot ARTS - PROTEOR

PROTEOR prostheses will now be adapted to everyday living restrictions

In addition to facilitating mobility, PROTEOR has teamed up with Carnot ARTS to restore lower limb capacity by reducing restrictions and inconveniences

Supporting Innovation

Lower-limb amputees now have access to increasingly light prostheses that are much easier to manipulate and may even be adapted to a particular sporting activity. If walking is possible, certain situations require compensating movements on the part of the prosthesis wearer. PROTEOR wanted to get around replacing a missing limb by a passive prosthesis and it harnessed the research of the Georges Charpak Human Biomechanics Institute (IBHGC) to achieve major progress in movement over uneven or unstable ground or when the body is bent over. This research culminated in the creation of a microprocessor-controlled knee-ankle-foot prosthesis, an innovation that has drawn praise from the DGA, the French Defence Procurement Agency.

The client needs

The PROTEOR Group has been meeting the needs of physically handicapped people who require prostheses since it was set up in Burgundy in 1913. It does business in fiercely competitive international markets, notably in Europe, but its “human-first” strategy based on a customised offering has turned it into a key market player. PROTEOR is in constant contact with patients and invests in R&D to deliver reliable and accessible solutions to both individuals and professional customers. This constant quest for improvement highlighted the potential benefits of the close study of prosthesis-wearer walking patterns during an initial partnership with IBHGC and this first phase was rounded out by digital solutions for prosthetic components. PROTEOR and Carnot ARTS have been innovating since 2010 in the whole area of complex movement scenarios. To bolster its position, particularly with major institutional contractors, PROTEOR has renewed its partnership, showcasing the mutual contributions of both organisations.

Partnership

IBHGC is a cross-disciplinary research unit providing expertise in human biomechanics within Carnot ARTS. It is tasked with studying all situations involving injuries or malfunctions, together with the means of preventing, diagnosing and dealing with these situations.
Successive CIFRE PhD agreements have played a big role in developing the modelling base and studying the effects of prosthetics materials on movement by combining an experimental approach with digital modelling.
This cooperation has been in progress since the early 2000s and has enabled Proteor to benefit from cutting-edge research within a relationship based on mutual trust and exchange. The diversity of patient case studies, their evolution over time and the durability of ties with PROTEOR have facilitated the deployment of embedded technologies in a product that has been awarded a prize by the French Ministry of Defence.
PROTEOR continues to focus on customisation and research into adapting to everyday living restrictions and the quality of the fit in order to secure its future development.

October 2019

Using living organisms to improve water quality monitoring

Partnership Carnot Irstea - ViewPoint

ViewPoint has combined video-tracking of living organisms with Irstea’s ecotoxicology expertise to come up with a new solution for monitoring aquatic pollution.

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Partnership Carnot Irstea - ViewPoint

Using living organisms to improve water quality monitoring

ViewPoint has combined video-tracking of living organisms with Irstea’s ecotoxicology expertise to come up with a new solution for monitoring aquatic pollution.

Supporting Innovation

Maintaining water quality is a key environmental and health imperative. Viewpoint measures the behaviour of invertebrates whose mobility reflects the toxicity of a given environment. Irstea researches the use of living organisms to perform diagnostic testing of contamination and toxicity in aquatic environments. The partnership with Irstea has made it possible to develop and market ToxMate, a comprehensive solution for monitoring water contamination on line with a 30-day power reserve. ToxMate is particularly effective in measuring the quality of wastewater and sewage – the main pathways for chemical contaminants – in order to assess performance with regard to the treatment of micropollutants in wastewater for example, or phytosanitary intake in aquatic environments.

The client needs

ViewPoint, an SME based in Dombes, France, has been marketing innovative applications for analysing animal behaviour using video-tracking since 1990. In 2014, it began participating in developing new standards for detecting toxicity in water. As part of the joint FUI SMILE project, ViewPoint and Irstea approved the general principle of measuring the toxicity of an environment by analysing the behaviour of a group of organisms. This enabled Viewpoint to handle the technical requirements involved in monitoring aquatic environments and its workforce began to grow. The partners filed two patents, essential for protecting their findings and safeguarding the company’s development. The partnership with Carnot Irstea was extended in order to develop a standalone application designed for manufacturers.

Partnership

Carnot Institute Irstea is renowned for its research and expertise in the diagnostic testing of contamination and toxicity in aquatic environments. It used all of its know-how and field experience to design the device. It teamed up with ViewPoint to adapt the method and select a combination of invertebrates that would provide optimal sensitivity to a wide range of pollutants. Data is generated by analysing images produced by a camera placed inside a box containing the carefully calibrated organisms. Locomotor behaviour measurement, correlated to a specific toxicity threshold, is transmitted on line. The application was evaluated in situ at a waste water treatment plant where ToxMate was instrumental in identifying a deterioration in toxicity over a 12-week period of continuous monitoring.

September 2019

Segula Technologies innovates with a new more accurate fluid-structure interaction model for predicting potential nuclear risks

Partnership Carnot Smiles - SEGULA Technologies

Segula Technologies and Carnot Smiles have teamed up to help predict critical velocity thresholds that can cause instability in the steam generator tubes of nuclear power plants.

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Partnership Carnot Smiles - SEGULA Technologies

Segula Technologies innovates with a new more accurate fluid-structure interaction model for predicting potential nuclear risks

Segula Technologies and Carnot Smiles have teamed up to help predict critical velocity thresholds that can cause instability in the steam generator tubes of nuclear power plants.

Supporting Innovation

Segula Technologies is an engineering group with a global presence, helping to boost competitiveness in all major industrial sectors: automotive, aerospace, energy, rail, naval, pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals. Among their many areas of expertise, Segula engineers help meet the technological challenges inherent in nuclear power plant safety and reliability. For example, modelling the behaviour of steam generator tubes is a critical link in the process of sizing nuclear facilities. Consequently, Segula Technologies has developed expertise and software for understanding and modelling the underlying physical phenomena. To enhance nuclear power plant safety, Carnot Smiles is endorsing Segula Technologies’ innovative strategy, offering new complementary models that provide a better understanding and more accurate predictions of the underlying physical phenomena that trigger instability in steam generators.

The client needs

One of the key technological challenges in the nuclear industry concerns the dynamic stability of the steam generator tubes that drive the turbines that actually produce the electricity. These tubes are prone to strong vibrations due to the forces induced by the fluids flowing inside the steam generator. These vibrations need to be controlled to avoid any instability that could compromise the mechanical integrity of the heat exchangers. As a means to this end, it was necessary to analyse stability thresholds – which depend on crossflow – together with algebraic models that determine the instability threshold. The aim of the project was to help gain a better understanding of how fluids behave when they interact with the tubes, using innovative mathematical methods to simulate and predict critical flow velocity thresholds.

Partnership

Carnot Smiles is a public research institute specialised in mathematical modelling, numerical simulation, optimisation and data science. One of its research labs, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, contributed expertise in the numerical analysis of physical models. This, combined with the operational strength of Carnot’s research engineers, helped accelerate Segula Technologies’ innovation processes. The partnership objective was to come up with a new mathematical model that would pinpoint dynamic instability thresholds in steam generator tubes based on flow velocity – considered to be irreducible – by modelling the effects of fluid-structure coupling, thus predicting the generation of critical vibration phenomena. Carnot SMILES teams provided knowledge transfer that helped enhance Segula Technologies’ ability to compete in the technological, fiercely competitive nuclear sector.

June 2019

Enogia can convert even low-temperature heat into clean electricity

Partnership Carnot IFPEN TE - Enogia

Enogia and Carnot IFPEN TE are using enhanced Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) modules to move beyond industrial uses and target the mobility sector.

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Partnership Carnot IFPEN TE - Enogia

Enogia can convert even low-temperature heat into clean electricity

Enogia and Carnot IFPEN TE are using enhanced Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) modules to move beyond industrial uses and target the mobility sector.

Supporting Innovation

Enogia is a Marseille-based SME that harnesses ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) technology to convert heat into electricity. This technology uses a Rankine thermodynamic cycle – most famously illustrated by the steam generator – together with an organic component. ORC has huge potential in the current energy policy environment but it needs to be green, affordable and as widely available as possible to have a real impact. With a helping hand from Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie, Enogia has already made its  device technically and financially accessible for numerous SMEs. It is now possible to convert even low-temperature heat into electricity. The organic heat transfer fluid does not negatively impact the environment and the ORC micro-turbine is a big step towards making boat, truck and car engines cleaner and more energy efficient.

The client needs

Enogia has been designing and manufacturing stationary ORC applications since 2012. It quickly realised that it wanted to make these systems accessible to companies of all sizes.
An initial partnership with the Carnot institute enabled Enogia to develop a range of devices capable of producing between 5 and 200 kW of electric power. The heat transfer fluid – crucial for the project – was selected using simulators and test stands designed specifically by Enogia and IFPEN Transports Energie.
This joint initiative pinpointed a specific market need and culminated in an increase in Enogia’s workforce from 10 to over 35 people.
The Company is absolutely convinced of this technology’s potential for harnessing low-temperature heat and is now looking to incorporate it into boat, train and car engines. It is continuing to work with Carnot institute IFPEN Transports Energie towards a first industrial demo.

Partnership

Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie has been partnering the sustainable mobility challenges of big and small operators since 2006. Thanks to positive results in terms of innovation, tech transfer and industry partnerships it has become an internationally recognised expert. Carnot initially provided Enogia with computational and experimental resources. The two structures worked hand-in-hand to design a micro-turbo pump adapted to motor vehicle engine power that would be compact, eco-friendly and relatively cheap to produce.
A number of patents already filed – jointly owned by Enogia and IFPEN – are a testimony to a fruitful partnership between teams with common interests. Carnot’s commitment to this project is helping to grow an SME that is itself driving innovation in a market with high potential.

May 2019

An infrared sensor that locates and counts people but respects their privacy

Partnership MICA Carnot Institute - Irlynx

By enhancing the thermal resistance of a polymer, MICA Carnot Institute has enabled Irlynx to come up with an infrared detector that helps create a more sustainable city.

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Partnership MICA Carnot Institute - Irlynx

An infrared sensor that locates and counts people but respects their privacy

By enhancing the thermal resistance of a polymer, MICA Carnot Institute has enabled Irlynx to come up with an infrared detector that helps create a more sustainable city.

Supporting Innovation

Infrared radiation (IR) has long been used to detect presence based on levels of heat emitted. Infrared technology frequently combines the use of a video camera to make up for the lack of detail. High-precision analysis is required to protect privacy and eliminate any possible misinterpretation of a situation. Irlynx has successfully developed a French-produced sensor to come up with an affordable solution that can distinguish an animal from a human being, locate and count individual people, determine whether they are moving or static, and even detect if they are having a fall. This customisable, camera-less system is easy to deploy either during the construction phase or when a building is up and running. It is aimed at the security market and at “smart buildings” that regulate power supply based on whether any users are actually around.

Illustration : exemple d’utilisation du capteur IrLynx pour une application de GTB

The client needs

Irlynx was created in 2012 to develop anonymous IR sensors for health and assisted-living facilities. From 2014 on, advances in research and the changing needs of property developers led this Grenoble-based SME into the broader-based markets of security and building facilities management. However, Irlynx needed to enhance the precision of its camera-less system to cover all situations: one of its insulating polymers proved to have poor heat resistance which affected the sensor’s precision. In 2015, the company entered into a partnership with MICA Carnot Institute and Charles Sadron Institute (Michel Bouquey) – which has specialised expertise in polymers – took charge of the project. This partnership culminated in an affordable product with remarkable technical features, brought to market in 2018. With a workforce of 20 people, Irlynx is now looking to tackle the international market.

Partnership

Carnot MICA Institute brings together 16 research laboratories and technical centres including ICS Strasbourg, all focused on materials, surfaces and interfaces and related processes. It has a multi-sector offering and develops projects for all markets. Following a six-month feasibility study and an 18-month R&D programme, MICA and Irlynx teams created an innovative, very thin polymer that is compatible with process engineering. The research lab focused on an original strategy of enhancing the polymer’s heat resistance by combining it with air – the best insulator currently known to man – through the use of a foam-like porous material. The composite material, consisting of resin filled with hollow silica microbeads and placed directly on the silicon semiconductor, optimizes the infrared radiation emitted by the detector. It has enabled the partners to greatly improve the quality of the analysis. MICA partnered the SME through to technology transfer needed for moving into the production phase, thus illustrating its capacity to participate fully in the company’s growth and development. Irlynx is now ideally positioned to meet the needs of the booming “smart city” market.

April 2019

The new portable spectrometric gamma imaging system NuVISION

Partnership Carnot Institute Leti - Nuvia

The NuVISION compact portable spectrometric gamma camera developed by a shared Nuvia-Leti lab, detects, locates and identifies sources of radiation in real time.

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Partnership Carnot Institute Leti - Nuvia

The new portable spectrometric gamma imaging system NuVISION

The NuVISION compact portable spectrometric gamma camera developed by a shared Nuvia-Leti lab, detects, locates and identifies sources of radiation in real time.

Supporting Innovation

NUVIA is a nuclear specialist and an expert in the security and safety of installations and people.
It has harnessed its on-site detection and mobility requirements to develop a light, compact and autonomous device that is capable of meeting the needs of the nuclear industry, the environment and security requirements.
This portable spectrometric gamma camera allows users to not only detect but also measure a dose rate,  localize the source and identify the radioisotope, thanks to excellent spectrometric ability on a wide energy range (20-1400keV). Additionally, the processing speed makes it possible to perform real-time imaging and to observe mobile sources.
The detector’s sensitivity to gamma rays makes it a highly reliable product accessible to a wide range of users, operators and experts. It is marketed under the NuVISION brand.

The client needs

NUVIA designs, manufactures and distributes both standard and specific radiation protection and measuring equipment for all stakeholders in the nuclear industry and sensitive sectors, under the NUVIATech instruments brand. Its R&D teams use state-of-the art technologies to design products of excellence in the nuclear safety and security arena.
Gamma imaging is used for homeland security, dismantling, safeguards and dose monitoring which covers conflicting requirements: sensitivity, high dose rate capability, energy resolution, field of view, angular resolution.
To satisfy all of these requirements, we need to combine coded aperture, which provides sensitive and accurate imaging but with limited field of view, and Compton imaging which allows all-directional imaging but with limited angular resolution.

NuVISION – which was unveiled at Millipol 2017 – takes up these challenges and is now part of the Nuviatech instruments catalogue.

Partnership

Carnot Institute Leti is a CEA Tech institute dedicated to micro and nanotechnologies and integrating these technologies into systems. Leti researchers worked in a shared lab alongside NUVIA R&D teams to reconcile the seemingly contradictory requirements of this portable gamma camera.
CZT (CdZnTe) semiconductor detectors are used and specific algorithms make it possible to combine Compton scattering with coded aperture to build multi-isotope images and cover wide angles.Rapid processing time also enables fast reconstruction and real time imaging, endowing the system with exceptional qualities.This joint lab is continuing its research to improve camera ergonomics and design and to ease camera operation for the end user as well as catering to the needs of experts. This makes the product even more effective and enables it to be used more extensively.

March 2019

A pipe-crawling drone helps anticipate and rationalise dredging operations.

Partnership CEA LIST Carnot Institute - Veolia SARP

Thanks to its partnership with a Carnot Institute, SARP, a subsidiary of French group Veolia Environment, is able to offer a faster and economical assessment to local communities with its new drone "PREDIRE".

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Partnership CEA LIST Carnot Institute - Veolia SARP

A pipe-crawling drone helps anticipate and rationalise dredging operations.

Thanks to its partnership with a Carnot Institute, SARP, a subsidiary of French group Veolia Environment, is able to offer a faster and economical assessment to local communities with its new drone "PREDIRE".

Supporting Innovation

The use of video to inspect sewer pipes for maintenance work has been in use for quite a while. But such a solution quickly reaches its limits in the case of a partially clogged drain. With PREDIRE, the exploratory analysis can be carried out whatever the environment. Indeed, the fully autonomous unmanned vehicle can move across a broad variety of terrains (grease, mud, sand) by means of a worm screw propulsion system and climbs up and down obstacles very easily.
The wireless and pilotless explorer can travel distances up to 1.2 km per day. The robot is able to take high-definition photos every 10 seconds, thus providing the teams with the necessary data to estimate what is actually needed in terms of dredging operations or in relation with the sections to be treated.
This most effective preventive economical maintenance process therefore allows to save on very costly operations.

The client needs

SARP, a subsidiary of French group Veolia Environment, results from mostly the aggregation of several, sometimes 100-generation old, family-run businesses.
The 150 agencies making the group provide sewer maintenance for the municipalities and local communities.
Dredging clean-up operations require heavy equipment fitted with high-pressure pumps. The company has asked to limit this type of maintenance operation to a strict minimum by way of preventive inspections since 2014. To this end, SARP made field requirements to the CEA LIST Carnot Institute.
Now four years later, PREDIRE is able to move across pipes up to 20-30 cm diameter, ie accross 70% of the sewer network. The data thus collected has enabled SARP to significantly improve its knowledge and learn about the sewing pipes by implementing a reliable predictive maintenance strategy. SARP is able to provide its 100 000 customers, as a result, with a very innovative and competitive cost-constrained service offering, including both a drone pre-diagnosis and dredge optimisation.

Partnership

The CEA LIST Carnot Institute is a tech institute dedicated to smart digital systems. In response to SARP’s needs, without any technological a-priori, the teams collaborated iteratively by applying the so-called Archimedes screw or worm screw for the propulsion system. Linked to a dedicated control system the drone scans and refines its approach, as it moves through the detected environment.
Two patents protect this innovation, moved to a state of industrialisation  at the end of 2018.
The Carnot researchers have worked from an expression of requirements. They have managed to apprehend all issues and constraints and conceive a built-in system through a collaborative R&D interactive partnership. The robust PREDIRE inspection system is already being operated by SARP and has been introduced on newly gained markets. Used internally for now, the device could well be marketed  widely in the near future.

February 2019

Latest fingerprint reader for a more accurate and secure identification

Partnership Télécom & Société numérique Carnot Institute - IDEMIA

The Télécom & Société numérique Carnot Institute and IDEMIA teams have developed, over a 18-month collaboration, a device which analyses and compares the external and the internal fingerprints.

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Partnership Télécom & Société numérique Carnot Institute - IDEMIA

Latest fingerprint reader for a more accurate and secure identification

The Télécom & Société numérique Carnot Institute and IDEMIA teams have developed, over a 18-month collaboration, a device which analyses and compares the external and the internal fingerprints.

Supporting Innovation

Since their general application in 2003, fingerprint readers have been the target of increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts.
At the same time, a few ‘genuine’ but too damaged fingerprints were not properly recognised by these devices.
To overcome these two subjects Telecom SudParis* researchers relied on the so-called optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging technique. They used the correlation between the external fingerprint, consisting of an embossed outer layer, and the internal structure of the fingertip skin combined with the sweat pores layout.
The relevant biometric data acquisition is performed by the BioDigital device through a contactless light beam. Incoherent diagrams alert on fake finger prints.
Any damaged-skinned eroded fingers are offset by a complete and reliable sub-cutaneous print.

*An entity of the Télécom & Société numérique Carnot Institute.
copyright : IDEMIA

The client needs

IDEMIA, a recognised leading player in the field of biometric identification, was born from the merger between Oberthur Technologies** and Morpho+ in 2017.
To build on and consolidate its position as a global leader, the company’s 13000 employees – including 2000 R&D engineers – have to be able to anticipate any fraudulent attempts at biometric data.
To determine, to this end, the effectiveness of the BioDigital solution conducted by Bernadette Dorizzi and Yanek Gottesman from Télécom SudParis, IDEMIA made a specific algorithm and a reference database available.
The first finding was that Biodigital improves indeed the precision and reliability of fingerprint comparison with a near 100% false print detection rate.
A relevant patent has been registered and close collaboration between the teams made it possible to finalise a product design for a contactless fingerprint reader based on such patent.

** French-based specialist in digital security
+ French-based specialist in security and identity solutions

Partnership

The Télécom & Société numérique Carnot Institute incorporates Télécom SudParis, an engineering school whose Cybersecurity platform stands out for its ability to enable various realistic situations to be simulated.
The BioDigital technology was developed within the Biometrics unit. It makes it possible to obtain a high-quality image reconstruction of the internal fingerprint once light wavelengths are projected across the finger pulp layers.
The specific lighting into the fingers sends various echoing information to the reader depending on depth. These data allowed to reconstruct a high-resolution 3D image of the internal fingerprint, which is then compared with the embossed external fingerprint.
Between these two fingerprints, the additional rebuilt of the sweat pores network makes the process safer.
The Carnot teams have really taken up the technical challenge and transferred the technology to IDEMIA, thus improving the latter’s competitive advantage in the field of ‘Augmented Identity’.

January 2019

French Group Lebronze alloys commit to the health sector with new high-performance copper alloy

Partnership MICA Carnot Institute - Lebronze alloys

The MICA Carnot Institute showed and quantified scientifically the bactericidal properties of the already marketed Steriall range.

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Partnership MICA Carnot Institute - Lebronze alloys

French Group Lebronze alloys commit to the health sector with new high-performance copper alloy

The MICA Carnot Institute showed and quantified scientifically the bactericidal properties of the already marketed Steriall range.

Supporting Innovation

Lebronze alloys have been known for quite some time for using copper, a metal acknowledged to be showing a very strong micro-organism resistance, in particular against pathogenic bacteria.
However, the effects of a real activity in terms of sanitation and health protection obtained through quantitative information using sound and thorough scientific methods must be shown to both companies and the general public.

The research teams wanted to check and evaluate in real-life situations the benefits of door equipments, handles, handrails, railings as well as thrust plates required by very demanding healthcare establishments such as: hospitals, long-term care nursing homes ()…
Whereas stainless steel, widely used in door handles, remains almost inert, the French-manufactured Steriall alloy is highly effective. It has indeed proven to reduce the risk of infection through direct contact.

copyright : Steriall

The client needs

Lebronze alloys is a key player on the metal industry.  Thanks to strong growth the company invests each year several millions of Euros in R&D.The already Cu+-labelled Steriall product line has been on the market since 2012.

Nevertheless, the laboratory wanted to explore without bias the anti-bacterial qualities of the Lebronze alloy mixed metal so as to present convincing elements of the copper effects upon pathogenic factors.
Following a very first positive study with the MICA Carnot Institute in 2014, the company has renewed its partnership to measure the impact of the products in real usage situations.
The MICA Carnot Institute has put forward a two-stage evaluation protocol validated through both in vitro and in situ assessments.
BIOS* laboratory’s expertise in microbiology has enabled to bring about the much needed deliverables expected from the teams of the Eastern France-based foundry and supplying transformer.
Hence asserting Lebronze alloys’ ambition to value the beneficial aspects of their natural copper alloys for overall human health.

* Biomatériaux et inflammation en site osseux (Biomaterials and Inflammation in Bone Site)

 

Partnership

The MICA Carnot Institute supports innovation through its work on functional materials in the health, building and transport sectors. The Institute integrates 9 research laboratories and 8 technological resources centres based in the ‘Grand Est (Eastern France)’ region. BIOS first determined the given time necessary to kill opportunistic pathogenic agents in contact with various copper alloy touch surfaces.

The researchers then compared the microbial populations of a variety of handle types inside 5 nursing homes.
The study has confirmed that the examined bacteria have been found to survive for several months on a said support, but 90% did not by simple alloy (Steriall series) contact.
The taking methodology used made it possible for Lebronze alloys to move forward in terms of strategy against microbial resistance. It is also at the origin of a draft standard with the French Standardization Association (Association Française de Normalisation, AFNOR) on the measurement of anti-microbial activities of non-porous surfaces.

December 2018

Novimmune relies on the CeVi collection to demonstrate the efficacy of its bispecific antibody

Partnership CALYM Carnot Institute - Novimmune

To assess the efficacy and the mode of action of NI-1701, Novimmune collaborated with CALYM by relying on the richness and quality of its bank of viable cells, ISO 9001 certified.

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Partnership CALYM Carnot Institute - Novimmune

Novimmune relies on the CeVi collection to demonstrate the efficacy of its bispecific antibody

To assess the efficacy and the mode of action of NI-1701, Novimmune collaborated with CALYM by relying on the richness and quality of its bank of viable cells, ISO 9001 certified.

Supporting Innovation

Lymphomas, first blood cancer, have a large variety of types and sub-types. For B-cell lymphoma, 30 to 60% of patients are resistant to standard treatment with chemotherapy combined with anti-CD20 Rituximab antibody. Novimmune developed a bispecific antibody, as an alternative treatment, by targeting other proteins involved in this lymphoma: CD19 and CD47. NI-1701 thwarts messages sent by CD47 and binds to CD19 in order to specifically trigger phagocytosis of tumor B lymphocytes. The innovation lies in the ability to target two proteins while displaying low toxicity towards healthy cells. It is essential to increase efficacy of standard treatments and to provide a solution for relapsed or refractory patients.

 

The client needs

In the long process of getting a drug to market, preclinical tests are a primordial step before the setting up of clinical trials. To achieve this, a maximum of scientific data is necessary to confirm the therapeutic interest and efficacy and the benefit/risk ratio for patients. Novimmune wished to use the CeVi viable cell collection, set up by CALYM, to have not only a big quantity of patient « cases », but also skills of teams specialized in the lymphoma field. Novimmune found in CALYM, the resources to test the in vitro efficacy of the antibody and to bring to light its mechanism of action. Anti-tumor activity was confirmed on various cells including those of patients with follicular and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The support provided by CALYM contributed to Novimmune's announcement from June 2018 of the planning of clinical trials end of 2018 or beginning of 2019.

Partnership

The CALYM Carnot aims at accelerating innovation and its transfer in the lymphoma field. At the heart of its strategy of research and partnership with industry, unique databases and biological collections, including CeVi. Human cells are cryopreserved, isolated from lymphomas and reactive lymphoid tissues. This bank covers all lymphoma sub-types, from the most common to the most rare forms of the pathology, including biological and clinical data. After the progress made thanks to the support of the team of Rennes, “Microenvironment Cell differentiation, iMmunology And Cancer”, Novimmune researchers could illustrate safety of NI-1701 on blood cells or T lymphocytes and confirmed its efficacy in vivo in mouse. This partnership was decisive in Novimmune’s progress towards further development of a new treatment expected by many patients.

November 2018

As children’s feet stretch, Decathlon and Carnot ARTS Institute rethink the way shoes are designed

Partnership ARTS Carnot Institute - Decathlon

The strong technical collaboration has helped reduce the risk of injury among junior tennis players without altering performances.

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Partnership ARTS Carnot Institute - Decathlon

As children’s feet stretch, Decathlon and Carnot ARTS Institute rethink the way shoes are designed

The strong technical collaboration has helped reduce the risk of injury among junior tennis players without altering performances.

Supporting Innovation

For 40 years, Decathlon R&D teams have been challenging many of the pre-conceived notions  to create high-value products, whose guarantee of exclusiveness paves the way to their commercial success.
Based on the observations of its SportsLab, Decathlon innovates with a new type of ‘tennis shoe’ for kids.
Contrary to the competition’s custom, which considers kid’s shoes as mini adult shoes, Decathlon was, as a result, able to design a tennis shoe best suited to the kid’s feet development.
In partnership with LAMIH*, one of Carnot ARTS Institute’s lab, and the ISM**, a component of the STAR Carnot Institute, Decathlon has monitored 30 junior tennis players over an entire playing season.
The ideal footwear design could be established based on the behaviour, on the one hand, of the players fitted with the new shoes, and on the other hand, on the ground impact characteristics of the shoes during the play more particularly.

* France-based Laboratory of Industrial and Human Automation control, Mechanical engineering and Computer Science  (Laboratoire d'Automatique, Mécanique, Informatique, industrielles et Humaines)
** Institute of Human Movement Sciences,  (Institut des Sciences du Mouvement) based at Aix-Marseille University (AMU)

The client needs

Decathlon has been built on its capacity to set itself apart from the competition trough innovation. Its ambition is to allow the greatest number of players to pursue sport and physical activities in optimal safety conditions.
Decathlon R&D teams complement their studies built around high-level scientific inflows from external laboratories through parternships.
 On the basis of a CIFRE*** doctoral thesis, Decathlon has thus been able to study and model individual gestures and multiply modelling to their prototyping.
Measurements on the young players make it possible to validate physiological constraints and maximise convenience for users, without affecting their performances.
Such technological advance is crucial for Decathlon, which targets a market with high growth potential despite stiff competition, and reinforces its position as the preferred company for French customers ahead of Amazon.
In France, tennis is the most important individual sport with more than 524,000 regular licensed players aged 18 or younger****.

***CIFRE = Industrial Agreement of Training through Research (Doctoral fellowships program)

**** Source FFT http://www.fft.fr/fft/missions/quelques-chiffres

Partnership

LAMIH aims at studying the relationship between humans and systems.
Fostering interactions and agents, laboratory of the ARTS Carnot Institute is also able to analyse, model and simulate human movements.
LAMIH has provided Decathlon a recognized expertise in data-processing and analysis of movement kinematics and dynamics.
Physiological readings have not been averaged using common practice. All specific cases, on the contrary, were examined to extend the statistical data subjects.
Installed at Valenciennes university’s campus, geographically close to Decathlon SportsLab’s teams, LAMIH has provided its foremost resources with a view to supporting the group’s strategy for innovation.
With 80,000 employees in 2017, Decathlon operates globally and saw an 11% increase in sales.

Photo - Source Decathlon SportsLab

October 2018

Officially launched in June 2018 by Inventec, the soldering paste expected by the high-tech industry comes to fruition

Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat - Inventec

The Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute’s expertise in the field of materials allows it to fulfil the most stringent requirements  for electronic components used in both the aeronautical and space industries.

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Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat - Inventec

Officially launched in June 2018 by Inventec, the soldering paste expected by the high-tech industry comes to fruition

The Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute’s expertise in the field of materials allows it to fulfil the most stringent requirements  for electronic components used in both the aeronautical and space industries.

Supporting Innovation

Inventec has been an established leader in the field of chemical solutions for the high-tech industry for more than 50 years. Its offering as regards electronic assemblies has just grown with the latest introduction of its EcorelTM Oxal AG product.
While being high-temperature resistant, this silver-oxalate-based soldering paste stands out by its ability to be worked at low temperatures, without emitting any particulate pollutants or nano-scale particles.
It meets the strict requirements of the high-tech electronic industries: miniaturisation, an outstanding electrical and thermal conductivity,  mechanical resistance. It is also a lead-free product complying with the highest EU environmental standards (both the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals regulation (REACH)).
It is a key element to ensuring high quality of surface-mount technology (SMT)2 solder joints by attributing excellent electrical, mechanical and thermal properties to the soldering.

The client needs

Electronic circuits, in particular aerospace and power electronics, are getting much smaller and are subjected to ever higher temperatures (300° C and above).  
In such cases, the brazing material must be highly thermally conductive to enable heat dissipation.
None of the products sold by the competition is really satisfactory.

Cirimat have opened up a new way through the development of an innovative brazing process using silver-oxalate micro-particles. This process has allowed to generate Ecorel TM Oxal AG, a new product which has been showcased in June during the SMTconnect fair in Nuremberg. The competitively priced product responds to strong expectations from the manufacturers of electronic products subject to very high temperature. By anticipating the latest set of regulatory and environmental constraints planned to be introduced in 2021, Inventec guarantees a significant business edge to customers.

Partnership

As a CNRS-affiliated research centre, Cirimat’s know-how is based on an extensive expertise in material science. The research team has based the new brazing process by combining his knowledge of metal organic precursor and powder metallurgy. Inventec enjoyed the benefits of a patent license resulting from a partnership between Thales group and Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute, while participating to the Bravoh* programme, a project supported by the French Government Defense Procurement and Technology Agency (Direction générale de l’armement, DGA) in which were also involved Gaches Chimie** and ISP System***. It is under such context that Inventec could determine the formula of such soldering paste. which is operated at a low temperature for highly thermally conductive and environment compliant solders.
The 2011-registered license patent allows Inventec to market the very innovative brazing material, which constitutes a significant progress and engine for the industry. Hence consolidating, through such novelty, its leading position across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North-America regions.

* BRAsing microVOid free and High thermal conductivity
** French distributor of commodity chemicals
*** French-based key player in the field of mechatronics, precision engineering and robotics

September 2018

Fluigent provides laboratories with effective and reliable precision analyses techniques at the micron and the nanometre length-scale

Partnership M.I.N.E.S and Fluigent

To gain a larger share of such very dynamic market and increase competitiveness, Fluigent, a pioneer of microfluidics, features the  algorithms developed by the M.I.N.E.S Carnot Institute in terms of innovation.

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Partnership M.I.N.E.S and Fluigent

Fluigent provides laboratories with effective and reliable precision analyses techniques at the micron and the nanometre length-scale

To gain a larger share of such very dynamic market and increase competitiveness, Fluigent, a pioneer of microfluidics, features the  algorithms developed by the M.I.N.E.S Carnot Institute in terms of innovation.

Supporting Innovation

Microfluidics ensures that vast numbers of samples can be processed very quickly to the benefit of the many laboratories involved in various fields such as biology, medicine, pharmacology…
Due to the techniques used, the automated manipulation and the quantities applied are helping to lower the cost of the undertaken laboratory analysis.
On the one hand, Fluigent stands out by its own disruptive technology which incorporates powerful algorithms. On the other hand, by its dedication to integrating solutions ensuring a steady microfluidic flow and a sophisticated management of complex fluidic systems.

FRCM* products and EZ™ Flow developed in partnership with the M.I.N.E.S Carnot Institute are much appreciated by their users and forecast the efficient, reliable, economical with-a-strong-adaptation-capacity laboratory of the future.

*Flow rate control module

The client needs

As of 2006, Fluigent has verified that the analysis of micro samples of fluids circulating in channels etched on a glass or plastic plate opens up a new era of instrumentation.
Yet, this technology dictates a complete mastery of the fluid circulation through the channels. Fluigent is then primarily driven by reliability and miniaturisation considerations. Its teams think out flow control systems that may be put together to build upon request tools able to be rapidly operational readiness without requiring a long calibration step.
The French-based SME has been partnering from 2012 onwards with the Centre for Systems and Control (CAS-MINES ParisTech) of the Carnot M.I.N.E.S institute.
This partnership materialises very quickly with the launch of the FRCM software (2013), then the Flow EZTM (2017) modules, which significantly contribute to the steady revenue growth providing a strong competitive edge over the competitors.

Partnership

The M.I.N.E.S Carnot Institute** aims to eliminate scientific barriers to allow for innovative technology development with a strong socio-economic impact.
The teams have taken advantage of their 15 years of work in control theory and succeeded in improving performance significantly. The contribution involves optimising the control of miniature valves thanks to embedded algorithms continuously monitoring flows in real time.
The partnership has staunchly upheld the solid principles of independence while safeguarding Fluigent industrial property rights, as well as its closeness to end-users’ applications.
Being involved in the design of the Flow EZTM module architecture since the beginning, the team led by Nicolas PETIT has contributed to the strengthened leadership of the French firm of 30. Fluigent pursues its strong growth and global expansion in more than 40 countries.

**Innovative Methods for Business and Society

June 2018

Data Moove enhances the tourist experience with improved sources of information using flow aggregation

Partnership Télécom & Société numérique and Data Moove

Such products have been jointly developed under a strategic research partnership with Carnot Télécom & Société numérique (EURECOM).

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Partnership Télécom & Société numérique and Data Moove

Data Moove enhances the tourist experience with improved sources of information using flow aggregation

Such products have been jointly developed under a strategic research partnership with Carnot Télécom & Société numérique (EURECOM).

Supporting Innovation

Tourism is now an important industry.. It is economically dependent to, a large extent though, on the most appropriate response given to increasingly demanding, global and mobile travellers. Very much aware of the territorial challenges ahead, Data Moove aims at providing current and correct information to the right people in the right place at the right time. The start-up pulled off the ambitious venture by aggregating wisely a rather heterogeneous collection of data and selecting relevant information while making them available via a kiosk or mobile extension by means of its City Moove app. The partnership with a Carnot institute will enable the enterprise to go further and build a brand ecosystem of services to support the travellers.

The client needs

The territorial reform and progression towards more sustainable and competitive tourism require the territories to mobilise their resources and optimise their economic benefits. Data Moove thus offers both the local authorities and private stakeholders a solution providing real-time information for the tourist as to the many activities he can take advantage of during his stay. From the day it was founded back in 2014, Data Moove has been exploiting large volumes of public and private sources related to tourism and culture, in accordance with applicable regulation and in compliance with the strictest quality criteria. Given the huge amount of data and various types of contents, the continuous updating through social networks as well as the obvious redundancies, R&D support has been indispensable. For its part, Carnot Télécom & Société numérique works on structuring the social media data, while modelling variations and relationships by use of semantic graphs. The partnership has started as early as 2015.

Partnership

EURECOM, an engineering school part of the Télécom & Société numérique Carnot Institute based at Sophia Antipolis** quickly learned how to work through and around the constraints and objectives experienced by Data Moove. The partnership has facilitated the development of a major app function that can, on the one hand, be auto-calibrated to assess the degree of similarity resulting in duplicate entries and, on the other hand, categorise events. Saint Barthélemy has been the first location equipped with the relevant software. The application can naturally be set to adapt to every single type of digital environment and connect automatically to existing application programs. Due to the huge potential of the global tourism market, a project of interactive dialogs was launched accordingly in 2018. EURECOM and Data Moove pursue a comprehensive strategic research partnership which includes, beyond the R&D component, a system of financial support for companies. The solution range has revealed support and commitment across the partners and a broad spectrum of the parties involved, including the tourist information services.

May 2018

While the dental implant market is bursting, Anthogyr, in co-operation with Ingénierie@Lyon, innovates to improve efficiency

Partnership Ingénierie@lyon - Anthogyr

With a better control of the behaviour of new zirconia-based composite features Anthogyr has been able to improve the stability of its ceramics and unlock innovation potential to gain a relevant position at an international level.

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Partnership Ingénierie@lyon - Anthogyr

While the dental implant market is bursting, Anthogyr, in co-operation with Ingénierie@Lyon, innovates to improve efficiency

With a better control of the behaviour of new zirconia-based composite features Anthogyr has been able to improve the stability of its ceramics and unlock innovation potential to gain a relevant position at an international level.

Supporting Innovation

Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) known as zirconia has been actively used in biomedical contexts, notably the dental sector, for about 15 years, where its use effectively meets the needs of patients in terms of safety and aesthetics.
Through further improvements of both the composition and the manufacturing technique of zirconia-based ceramics, Anthogyr hope to gain more security and more market share.
The innovation consists in extending the implant’s behaviour over time without degradation products combined with a production on an industrial scale.
Already established in China and Russia, Anthogyr faces fierce competition. Its ability to offer a range of superior products at an affordable price corresponds to its ‘Prime Mover in Implantology’ strategy.

Copyright : Anthogyr

The client needs

Anthogyr, an intermediate-sized enterprise established in the French Alps, wants to effectively meet the challenge of ever-increasing demand in implants at a global level.
For that matter, Anthogyr has engaged in the design, manufacturing and distribution of an extensive range of products for the oral health professionals.
For some products, the enterprise uses zirconia recognised for its biocompatibility, toughness and whiteness properties.
By using a high-quality zirconia powder, Anthogyr possesses complete mastery of the entire production chain to provide supply of products well-suited to complex prostheses in different degrees of translucency and colour shades.
In 2015, the partnership with Ingenierie @ Lyon Carnot Institute is given concrete form with the launching of a common laboratory with Mateis, a Material Science Laboratory based in Lyon. The establishment of such common laboratory has triggered a considerable step towards increasing resistance to water and corrosion of implants (biofluids) through doped cerium rather than yttrium.
Research on the manufacturing process on an industrial scale was carried out in parallel with the development of this new range of composite ceramic.

Partnership

The MATEIS’ team is part of the Ingenierie@Lyon Carnot Institute, a Material Science specialist lab centred on a research approach that blends chemical, physical and mechanical simulations applied to medicine, transport and energy mechanisms.
The lab aims to reveal, through experimentation and modelling, the technical relationships between the recipe, the microstructure and the physical properties of both metals and polymer-derived ceramics and composites.
Internationally recognized for the commitment and high standard of the work of its researchers, it has been able to boost Anthogyr’s innovative capacity from a technological perspective as well as in terms of economics.
Within the context of the LEAD* common Lab, a Speciality Appliances Dental/Orthodontic Laboratory, Mateis and Anthogyr have pooled their expertise to acquire the knowledge and skills of information and technologies necessary, in additive manufacturing especially, and a renewed vision for the approach to dental implant therapies in the future.
Worth more than EUR 46 million, Anthogyr employs more than 330 people in France and 420 globally, and devotes 8% of its revenue to R&D. For Anthogyr the R&D partnership with the Carnot Institute has become a key component in stepping up growth through innovation of a complete range of associated products and services.

*LEAD = Laboratoire d’Excellence en Application Dentaire

March 2018

Iskn capitalises on current scientific research related to magnetic fields to streamline interface between traditional drawing and digital graphic design.

Partnership Leti - iskn

Three researchers have transformed more than 50 years of research on magnetoresistance by the Leti Carnot Institute into an app dedicated to raise public awareness of the arts, the design and education.

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Partnership Leti - iskn

Iskn capitalises on current scientific research related to magnetic fields to streamline interface between traditional drawing and digital graphic design.

Three researchers have transformed more than 50 years of research on magnetoresistance by the Leti Carnot Institute into an app dedicated to raise public awareness of the arts, the design and education.

Supporting Innovation

The production of a digital graphic usually requires the use of a graphic tablet or the scanning and editing of a paper drawing. The Slate system allows to use of a standard pad with  a simple drawing tool. It is equipped with a sheet of paper laid on an adjustable support and a pen fitted with a magnetic ring.
To record the drawing, each movement of the pen is sensed by the 32 tri-axial magnetometers embedded in the support. The data are sent over to a Smartphone or tablet in both real-time and off-line modes.
The associated software allows both the drawing to be manipulated, edited and exported for common formats.
Intended for the general public, the Slate system is distributed in more than 350 points of sales including the major French brands. After Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, the Asian markets see in Slate a way to match the Art of Calligraphy with prospective digital teaching materials.

The client needs

In a highly competitive sector, iskn illustrates the need for further R&D to be carried on to turn such innovative project into an economic success.
Indeed, digital drawing software programs have been efficiently applied for nearly 30 years.
The Leti Engineers who have brought the research to where it stands today wanted to give back the right to determine what tools are needed as appropriate to any human operators. They, for the most part, were betting on the links between physical objects and digital world.
A crowdfunding campaign has allowed the gathering of an amount significantly higher than the level of financing needed. However, moving beyond the announcement effect and great deal of interest generated, the technological leadership had to be safeguarded. By constituting a common laboratory with Carnot CEA LETI, iskn has grown from 12 patents upon their establishment in 2014 to 20 today.
This type of multi-year collaboration is essential to make it possible for the SME of 38 employees to respond favourably to increasing public and professional expectations alike, while turning to the world of interactive entertainment products and applications of business functional practices.

Partnership

As part of the CEA Tech Institute, the Grenoble-based Carnot CEA LETI has taken a pioneering role in studying and facilitating the uptake of discoveries on antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic fluctuations. The work of 1970 Nobel Laureate French physicist Louis Néel has been very determining in this regard. The Leti Institute is a major player in terms of dynamic R&D in the area, thanks, in particular to the Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies (GIANT) campus.
The intelligent Slate pen tablet uses a matrix of ultra-sensitive magnetometers and signal-processing algorithms carried out under the partnership and protected by 22 valid and enforceable patents.
With 50.000 “Slate” sold since the beginning, a growth in revenue by almost 300% against 2017 and the doubling of the number of employees in 2018, the long-lasting collaboration and closeness of interactions with researchers provide iskn the means to strengthen an already solid case.

March 2018

Carnot ICÉEL contributes to Crossject successful completion of a specific needle-less syringe

Partnership with ICÉEL Carnot Institute and Crossject

Crossject has reached its intended goal of providing safe medical injection without the use of a needle in a format adapted to the needs of both the professionals and the patients.

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Partnership with ICÉEL Carnot Institute and Crossject

Carnot ICÉEL contributes to Crossject successful completion of a specific needle-less syringe

Crossject has reached its intended goal of providing safe medical injection without the use of a needle in a format adapted to the needs of both the professionals and the patients.

Supporting Innovation

Crossject aspires to make the injection of medical products at a more reliable pace with a single button press using NFIT (Needle-free injection technology). Indeed, the needle-free procedure minimises the stress induced by the patient as well as the unpredictable effects upon the medical injection considerably. ZENEO®’s commercialisation move comes after several years of research in co-operation with doctors and patients. The simple ‘single-use’ device guarantees the correct quantity of products in an ideal environment. The unique highly specialised expertise acquired has made it possible for Crossject to become a key player in his field. The SME undeniably provides enhancements that can help improve the self-injection process when caring for chronically ill persons and/or in an emergency setting.

The client needs

Crossject has been demonstrating the validity of its concept in 2005 since day one, when conducting the first controlled clinical evaluation of a specific influenza vaccine. Initially, concrete steps had to be taken in terms of ergonomics and regulation of injection quantity. The device was designed to allow adaptation to different fluid injection viscosity volumes according to the depth desired, whether intradermal, subcutaneous or intramuscular.
However, the conventional methods used to validate the device effectiveness fell short of expectations. According to statements by Patrick Alexandre, the Crossject’s CEO, the partnership with a team of the ICÉEL Carnot Institute*, a Fluid Dynamics specialist, enabled to explore solutions very far apart from the traditional reasoning.
For Crossject, the TJFU** Laboratory, a unit of Carnot ICÉEL, has drawn on its experience in modelling and implementation of pulsed microjet nozzles to conceive an innovative injection duct A key component of the delivery device, it is the subject of numerous patents placing Crossject in a situation of authority over the competition.

* ICÉEL : Institut Carnot Énergie et Environnement en Lorraine
** Technical centre specialising in abrasive water jet destined to the cutting of metal parts

***  Technological Resource Centre

Partnership

The ICÉEL Carnot Institute brings together 22 laboratories. Its R&D spectrum allows the backing of projects with a significant social impact in areas relating to energy and environmental sustainability.
The Institute acting as the R&D partner of a majority of the largest manufacturers, as well as SME’s matching Crossject’s profile, has helped the latter to innovate by breaking with normal practice. As a pulsed microjet specialist, TJFU’s CRT***, has been a 10-20% hydrodynamic efficiency saver for the injector duct using an innovative geometry optimisation. Abdel Tazibt, a TJFU CRT researcher, underscores the importance of such contributions for the successful improvement of ZENEO® in terms of effectiveness.
To further enhance the ZENEO®-designed syringe’s flexibility and robustness and reduce costs, co-operation is being continued and extended beyond the common patent application.
5 out of 7 products to be used during emergency and disaster situations are currently awaiting regulatory approval.
In 2017, ZENEO® has scooped the Janus Award, in the Prospective category, acknowledging the impact of user behaviour, the introduction of newer applications and the emergence of a new economy.

February 2018

The design of a comfortable and reliable stand-alone climb assist system allows FIXATOR to target the world wind energy market

Partnership ARTS Carnot Institute - FIXATOR

Exolift helps reduce arduous maintenance occupations. The culmination of three years' research, including two year research collaboration with ARTS Carnot Institute, has led to its market uptake.

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Partnership ARTS Carnot Institute - FIXATOR

The design of a comfortable and reliable stand-alone climb assist system allows FIXATOR to target the world wind energy market

Exolift helps reduce arduous maintenance occupations. The culmination of three years' research, including two year research collaboration with ARTS Carnot Institute, has led to its market uptake.

Supporting Innovation

The climbing of vertical access ladders by workers to reach elevated surfaces, such as pylons or wind turbines, for inspection requires intense muscular efforts. French SME FIXATOR, a specialist in the manufacturing of suspended platforms and lifting winch for hoisting and lowering persons and equipment, have underscored the intent of their design around the technician’s morphology. While the latter’s weight is being taken into account, continued assistance is provided and adjusted based on the technician’s speed. The climb assist system taking about 80% off the user weight, he is therefore able to adapt his speed of ascent / descent accordingly without tiredness and in better safety conditions. Indeed, the transportable system’s strap is fixed to a rigid part of the ladder. With an autonomy averaging between 8 to 10 return trips over an 80 m-distance, Exolift shows an  ascend / descend time divided by 3 and physical effort required divided by 5.

The client needs

Based in the Loire region (Angers, Western France) FIXATOR started 90 years ago with the development of permanent / temporary suspended working platform and lifting winch design. The SME’s solutions are distributed worldwide through and extensive network of distributors. FIXATOR R&D teams took the chance to innovate while meeting burgeoning demands notably for  installation activities and maintenance of wind turbines. The argument put forward was that swift action was needed to respond to such demand at international level, as it was outgrowing the French orders. This new idea entailed to work out an adequate and reliable climb assist systems. Its integration into existing installations has been facilitated through new technologies. The great benefits with such system are: autonomy of use, drudgery reduction, cost-efficiency, enhanced productivity.
Assistance by AMVALOR over 2 years, a subsidiary of Arts et Métiers Paris Tech and a part of the ARTS Carnot Institute, has brought forward the development of Exolift.

Partnership

The ARTS Carnot institute focus on the design, industrialisation and production of innovative and complex manufactured goods with multiple technologies. To meet FIXATOR’s expectations effectively, the Arts et Métiers Paris Tech researchers have worked for optimising the demands on weight, performance and costs. They also designed the measuring chain to control the speed of travel using a dynamometric axis while adjusting the electronic parameter settings of the control system developed with company SEIA*. The ARTS Carnot Institute’s support combined with FIXATOR’s associated internal resources were decisive for marketing the system. Exolift is not only a technological breakthrough but also a QWL** strong determinant.
Exolift has received the regional Trophy for Innovation in 2014, before its marketing launch in 2015.
*A French-based SME specialised in industrial electronic repair
**Quality of working life

January 2018

French-SME Teqoya captures both the markets and Environmental Guardians with a highly efficient domestically manufactured air purifier.

Partnership ESP Carnot - Teqoya

Using the Carnot ESP existing competencies in the fields of motorisation and macro-/nano-particle release, Teqoya can help ensure the device is economically and environmentally efficient.

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Partnership ESP Carnot - Teqoya

French-SME Teqoya captures both the markets and Environmental Guardians with a highly efficient domestically manufactured air purifier.

Using the Carnot ESP existing competencies in the fields of motorisation and macro-/nano-particle release, Teqoya can help ensure the device is economically and environmentally efficient.

Supporting Innovation

Apartments as well as confined spaces, like car interiors, channel a considerable amount of fine and extra-fine particle emissions from combustion of motor or heating systems.

For the general public, emissions control solutions through ionisation often have that disadvantage of being noisy, require frequent routine maintenance of non-recyclable filters and are likely to be ineffective.

Thanks to Carnot ESP’s test run capabilities and independent measures, Teqoya has been able to successfully provide a device with a 10-year guarantee in continuous use. Eliminating the needs of consumables, the energy-saving and quiet device boasts unrivalled performances.

The client needs

Teqoya’s venture initiated in 2015 is the result of ongoing research started 15 years ago on the production of negatively charged ions. Purpose was to eliminate the potential risk of ozone- generating effects, such as chest tightness especially.
The SME relies on a production unit of about 10 people based in the Bordeaux region. The small business is seriously engaged in environmental compliance, greater comfort and ease of use, as well as in the elimination of consumables.
The local Chinese market has been the intended and immediate objective of Teqoya’s focus. More mature than the French market, China is facing persisting problems associated with the introduction of unreliable consumer devices. To guarantee quality of the clean, sanitised air through its proprietary process, Teqoya has retained the Carnot ESP-linked CERTAM* unit. It is the only organisation that possesses the necessary expertise and adequate resources required to analyse and quantify the effects of the device positioned nearest to the end-user in a 15m² (161ft²) room.
The results obtained by Teqoya enabled the SME to get noticed at CES** 2015 in Las Vegas, in addition to New York and China.
Mixing robustness and the ‘’Made in France’’ luxury label the device proven efficacy has already won an appreciable share of the Chinese market, which accounts for 80% of the SME’s 2016 revenue.

* a centre of technological transfer located in Normandy providing engine test benches, air quality and pollutant emissions characterisation

** a global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshow

Partnership

Certam is a major part of the ESP Carnot Institute. Two pivotal elements formed the R&D partnership: first, the impact of Teqoya’s system on the extra-fine and fine particle distribution in confined spaces, second, utmost safety for the user even if he/she finds him/herself in the nearest vicinity of the device.
Certam has conducted a simulation close to reality. Its mastering of the combustion and spray modelling fundamentals enables Certam to design an environment where particles of various sizes range between 20 and 1000 nm.
Checks carried out in a 20 m² (215 ft²) - room performed on a device designed for treating a 15 m² (161 ft²) area  indicate a good air quality status within the first hour of use.
To determine the absence of air oxidation with such element such as ozone, Certam relied on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analyses thanks to spin probes. This fully mastered technique is broadly consistent with other less effective tests performed by Teqoya and supports the indisputable safety of the device.
Teqoya is currently serving the interests of the French consumers who are fully informed about such pollution-related risks, via relevant websites such as Boulanger* or Celyatis**. Teqoya’s product range encompasses devices that can be used in 15 m² (161 ft²) to 30 m² (323 ft²) rooms, as well as elements for car interiors.

* French store chain specialised in leisure, multimedia and household appliances
** French store chain specialised in health, welfare and autonomy

December 2017

French SME Bulane takes on the challenge of generating clean fuel for welding from water and electricity

Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute - Bulane

The Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute and Bulane have been setting standards with innovative developments using hydrogen flame since 2009. Their efforts have enabled the transformation of the underlying concept into a sales mechanism for industrial companies, small businesses and craftsmen alike.

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Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute - Bulane

French SME Bulane takes on the challenge of generating clean fuel for welding from water and electricity

The Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute and Bulane have been setting standards with innovative developments using hydrogen flame since 2009. Their efforts have enabled the transformation of the underlying concept into a sales mechanism for industrial companies, small businesses and craftsmen alike.

Supporting Innovation

Brazing and welding processes require a fossil fuel-based source of significant heat, such as acetylene. The storage of liquid fossils fuels in an industrial setting or within the context of artisan manufacturing imposes particular constraints. It is necessary to take into consideration the entire supply logistics chain, any potential risks and implications, as well as degradation products during production. Thanks to dyomix®, an intelligent gas generator, Bulane allows to eliminate all stages for the transport of fuels, by using an Oxy-hydrogen flame through real-time monitoring of water electrolysis. Indeed, the device only requires water and an electrical connection to operate. The result is a clean, performing flame, which effectively improves operator comfort and safety. Experts in their field have recognised the device as a major technological innovation. For that matter, the project has won 2 awards in 2017: the "Gold Award of Excellence in Innovation" during the Batimat* trade show and the "Application Innovation Trophy" remitted by the regional Chamber of Commerce of Montpellier (southern France).
* International exhibition dedicated to innovations in the building, construction and architecture sector.

The client needs

Bulane sit through as early as 2009 with the idea of using hydrogen instead of fossil fuels with respect to welding applications across the industrial sector. Recognising the efforts motivating such technological breakthrough in terms of Research and Development, Bulane engages partners, including the Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute, very quickly. They do so through studies, patents and ongoing exchanges of views and rich interactions. Such co-operation made it possible to improve the conditions of the flame and energy efficiency, the development of innovative electrodes and the filing of international patents. Bulane and the Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute have demonstrated the need for such a mechanism through industrial facilities as of 2013. They have actively continued to pursue joint programmes with the objective of selling it to both the local artisans and professional market. An intense collaborative R&D has further enabled miniaturisation of the device along with the fitting of composite electrodes to a mobile piece of equipment. With its extensive portfolio of about 150 industrial systems used on a daily basis, Bulane can market a wide range of clean, efficient and secure mobile dyomix® brazing stations.

Partnership

As part of the Chimie Carnot Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute, the Charles Gerhardt Institute areas of interest include, among other subjects, solid-state and divided matter chemistry. For this reason, the AIME* team has facilitated access to its expertise in materials in addition to electrode and electrolysis design. Advanced particle/polymer composite electrodes have been jointly developed to optimise formation of hydrogen and oxygen on electrode surfaces.
The contributions were vital to deliver energy efficiency improvements in gas production. They can enable miniaturisation accordingly while increasing the power-to-weight-to-density compactness device ratio. The Carnot teams involved in the project goals since the outset have supported Bulane each and every year with the aim of taking into account the constraints of all potential buyers from the commercial and industrial enterprises. The results prove to be very positive for the SME from Southern France. Present in 11 countries already, Bulane has created 10 jobs in just 20 months and generated 100% growth in the last 12 months. As a French Tech ambassador at COP21, Bulane has additionally been recognised for its environmental practices.The French Institute for Research and Security INRS has furthermore highlighted the positive impact of Bulane’s work on working conditions.

* Aggregates, Interfaces and Materials for Energy

November 2017

Ingénierie@Lyon helps introduce a new set of tools to improve brake pad manufacturing quality

Partnership Ingénierie@Lyon Carnot Institute - Renault and SMW Autoblok

A piece of clamp jaw manufactured using direct metal additive processing increases existing machining productivity.

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Partnership Ingénierie@Lyon Carnot Institute - Renault and SMW Autoblok

Ingénierie@Lyon helps introduce a new set of tools to improve brake pad manufacturing quality

A piece of clamp jaw manufactured using direct metal additive processing increases existing machining productivity.

Supporting Innovation

The clamp jaw placed over the chuck must be as light as possible to avoid strong clamping centrifugal forces during machining operations. Indeed, a heavier clamp would exacerbate tightening of the workpiece with induced deformations. IPC*, as part of Ingénierie@Lyon Carnot Institute, worked to make the holding clamp, manufactured by chuck specialist SMW AUTOBLOCK, lighter. The combined topological optimisation/metal additive processing has reduced the clamp weight by 50%, allowing for a reduced tightening. Therefore eliminating the risk of distorted brake discs during the machining process. Renault thus managed to improve process capability while ensuring quality of the brake pads

*IPC = Innovation, Plastic Technology, Composites

3D image of the optimised chuck/clamp piece (shaded areas represent cut-outs only possible using  metal additive processing)

The client needs

Renault and SMW Autoblock have been faced with many obstacles in reducing the piece of clamp jaw, while maintaining its mechanical properties for a firm holding of the machined brakes. They subsequently turned to the IPC Technological  Centre as part of the Ingénierie@Lyon Carnot institute. Using the OptiStruct structural analysis solver from Altair Hyperworks, the teams first re-examined design topological optimisation, so as to respond to the main requirements of improving mass and resistance constraints. The geometrically complex series part was subsequently produced using metal additive processing. The lighter clamp jaw is enabling to hold the machined part with better gripping conditions and a lower torque in comparable quality. As a result, Renault could increase productivity and reduce reject rates in production making allowance for improved ecological and economic balance.

Partnership

The Ingénierie@Lyon Carnot institute brings together both the IPC and 13 other reseach laboratories. The objective of its R&D spectrum is to develop  new materials and technologies for applications in the field of transport, energy and health devices. In addition to multidisciplinarity the Institute’s research partnerships support innovation of very small companies and large international groups alike, .
The IPC Technological Centre, could dramatically contribute to Renault’s and chuck maker SMW Autoblock’s venture by combining two of its competences, i.e. topological optimisation and laser metal fusion. Such valuable work has been acknowledged and revered by the professionals. The project has been awarded the 3DPrint trophy for best applications for metal additive manufacturing in June 2017.

September 2017

A joint laboratory shared with Carnot CEA LIST gives Sherpa Engineering entry into the autonomous vehicle market.

Partnership TN@UPSaclay Carnot Institute - Sherpa Engineering

This type of joint partnership with a Carnot Institute provides the SME with both the flexibility and responsiveness needed. Such collaboration offers a very efficient tool for the design of AV’s.

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Partnership TN@UPSaclay Carnot Institute - Sherpa Engineering

A joint laboratory shared with Carnot CEA LIST gives Sherpa Engineering entry into the autonomous vehicle market.

This type of joint partnership with a Carnot Institute provides the SME with both the flexibility and responsiveness needed. Such collaboration offers a very efficient tool for the design of AV’s.

Supporting Innovation

For all the designers as well as engineers, modelling, simulation and control are key stages of the systems engineering process. Nevertheless, the design phase runs into feasibility and product depiction issues. To address these concerns, Sherpa Engineering and Carnot CEA LIST have agreed to share their efforts in terms of research and innovation capacities within a joint laboratory. Such close co-operation has resulted in the development of ‘PhiSystem’, an innovative environment for the construction of models for complex process-oriented systems.Its key competitive advantage: by providing a function approach to derive the architecture and the components, the solution enables to integrate the most comprehensive complex systems. Customisable and SysML-based1, PhiSystem is particularly used within the context of ADAS2 studies by Renault and the RATP Group3.

1. Systems Modelling Language
2. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
3. Body responsive for the transport system in Greater Paris

The client needs

Thanks to its workforce of about 100 employees Sherpa Engineering has been conducting engineering studies for 20 years. The SME was able to capitalise on its experience from hundreds of projects and have its own R&D facilities. This allows the enterprise to channel concerns quickly and efficiently from various clients subject to considerable competitive pressure across their lines of business. In order to respond to the biggest challenges facing AV’s, including in terms of complex issues at both a reliability and safety level, there was a need to further develop an appropriate and most productive framework. To increase interactivity over several years, Sherpa Engineering and Carnot CEA LIST have mutually agreed on a joint laboratory so as to reduce the information exchange and validation phases. Undertaken in close synergy, the  developments are more rapidly achieved and are directly processed as required. The PhiSystem environment streamlining the various processes has emanated from the choice of both Papyrus4 as a tool and SysML as a modelling language, and proximity of the teams. To meet its industrial customers' specific requirements, Sherpa Engineering can thus offer them a new and efficient engineering service, based on a standardised model-oriented methodology and status as a key expert in its field.

4. Papyrus : open-source unified modelling language tool

Partnership

The CEA LIST Carnot Institute has developed a sought after know-how in the area of digital intelligent systems based on its own technological bricks. To help develop increasingly complex industrial systems, the Institute makes use of an easily customisable software/system engineering platform to suit the business needs. The Institute’s experience on this type of adaptive and responsive partnership with enterprises of all sizes have allowed it to suggest such initiative of a joint laboratory to Sherpa Engineering to exploit their complementary design and modelling skills. The launching of ‘PhiSystem’ during ‘#techday#cealist’ on 14th March 2017 has fully exposed the simultaneous time saved to make productivity improvements and cost-reduction opportunities, as well as shown the partnership approach to be valid and innovating.
The joint laboratory is a major asset for the SME as it contributes to maintaining its digital engineering leadership position: PhiSystem has made quite a splash among the French professionals giving Sherpa Engineering an entry into the Japanese market.

July 2017

Through the STAR Carnot Institute, science meets amateur and pro football players

Partnership STAR Carnot Institute & Wizwedge

With the support of The Carnot Institute of Sport Science a passionate entrepreneur gives players a fair advantage with its newly launched customisable and high-performance shoe while keeping them safe from injury.

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Partnership STAR Carnot Institute & Wizwedge

Through the STAR Carnot Institute, science meets amateur and pro football players

With the support of The Carnot Institute of Sport Science a passionate entrepreneur gives players a fair advantage with its newly launched customisable and high-performance shoe while keeping them safe from injury.

Supporting Innovation

Shoes with a customisable design aimed at improving specific sporting activities are current trend. The technique often involves moulding a sole as a carbon copy of the player’s own footprint for better postural balance and ideal comfort. The Wizwedge shoe concept offers an innovative technology mixing ergonomics with customisable options, where a partly removable Wedge, a component of the outer sole, a so-called technological space, adapts to each individual.

The instant hit with professional male and female football players laid out a concrete basis for the brand to open its first online store. Amateur football players can now benefit from biomechanical features for cushion, medium or dynamic exercises.

The client needs

Wizwedge has stemmed from the talent and interest of Jean-Luc Guer, an experienced football player. As far as he is concerned, the shoe is one of the major elements holding the key to the player’s footballing skills. Turned podiatrist, Jean-Luc Guer keeps contact with top athletes, while trying to develop and upgrade such outdated gear. He regularly tests and strives to improve his concept that would result in a shoe featuring the WedgeBox®, holding the removable Wedge. Once clarified, Jean-Luc Guer had to determine the ideal shape of the sole for perfect posture, improved balance and stability, to prevent injuries, at the same time, enable better performance. Located in Marseilles, the SME can make use of the Laboratory of Applied Biomechanics’ resources for his incisive analysis. Such co-operation has been awarded the First Prize for Sport & Health Innovation 2016.

Partnership

The STAR Carnot Institute places 8 Research units in the same organisational grouping revolving around sport, health and wellness. Among these, the Laboratory of Applied Biomechanics (LAB) provides researchers with a cross-cutting and multidisciplinary approach between Engineering Science and Medicine. Beside the usual aspects of the human body, the LAB investigates prevention and rehabilitation of traumatic injuries. It made therefore absolute sense for the LAB teams to get involved by endorsing the Wizwedge concept. All relevant platforms were made available to the SME to conduct studies, i.e. bone vibration frequencies during typical exercise regimens, human motion captures and numerical simulations. The LAB has carried out static and dynamic postural behaviors of all types of football players. Through his business expertise, the LAB has managed to determine the characteristics of one of the biomechanical elements able to respond to the various types of practices. The OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), for its part, can build upon such positive results by expanding innovative products from a fairly restricted distribution network into more appropriately priced lines fully accessible to amateurs.

June 2017

Effidence innovation gets boosted thanks to Irstea

Partnership Irstea Carnot Institute - Effidence

Thanks to Agile methodology, the Irstea Carnot Institute multiplies prototypes. The SME is therefore exploiting research results to fulfil the farmers’ and military’s needs.

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Partnership Irstea Carnot Institute - Effidence

Effidence innovation gets boosted thanks to Irstea

Thanks to Agile methodology, the Irstea Carnot Institute multiplies prototypes. The SME is therefore exploiting research results to fulfil the farmers’ and military’s needs.

Supporting Innovation

Integrated innovation aims to find innovative solutions by integrating a variety of technological modules. Such approach has been applied to the agricultural robot EffiBOT, a fully automated trolley that follows the operator. Launched by Effidence, this robot has been honoured with the Integration Award at the National Robotics Competition supported by the French Ministry of Industry in March 2017. Beyond the development of a ground-breaking technology, the SME has strived to venture into new markets by optimising research and prototyping stages in co-operation with Irstea. Recognised for its expertise in the logistics sector, the 11-employee SME demonstrates as such its ability to tap into the military and agricultural markets. Considering that both are constantly seeking the most cost-effective solution to overcome not easily predictable all-around encounter situation-aware applications.

The client needs

The project starts in 2009 when Effidence is established to use research results of a data-fusion module with limited computational resources in the field of security and remote surveillance. The first collaborative robot was designed for logistics applications. The SME provided its very first robots to international logistics stakeholders in 2016. To be able to respond to the needs of  agricultural and military applications the trolley must position in regard to the operator’s position and act in complex and not easily predictable environments. Irstea’s capacity to apply Agile methodology in co-operation with the Institut Pascal’s teams allows for rapid prototyping and strongly-noted achievements while taking account of the constraints specific to such operating environments. Therefore making it easier for Effidence to convince with high-performance prototypes.

Partnership

The Irstea Carnot Institute responds to industrial issues and societal challenges in agricultural and environmental areas. Its dedicated co-operation has led to the development of an intelligent tracking system fitted with 3 UWB radio beacons (2 on the robot and 1 for the user followed by that robot). Such ultra-wideband tracking system covers environmental interference data transmission applications in a variety of significantly disrupted environments. The processing is driven with lesser resources used by the database data-fusion module and linked algorithms. One key feature of the partnership, which enables Effidence to be identified and recognised in the field of collaborative robots, is motivated by the use of agile iterative methods. Testing, assessing, abandoning, engaging into projects about new prototypes and developing applications to specific usage is made possible through the vital assets of the Institute. Irstea’s active support still continues during sales presentations.

May 2017

New MultiX X-ray spectrometer detects nitromethane from water

Partnership Leti Carnot Institute - MultiX

Thanks to Leti’s various skills, the combination of reduced stage security inspection process and travel safety is attracting both the airport authorities and other sector industries.

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Partnership Leti Carnot Institute - MultiX

New MultiX X-ray spectrometer detects nitromethane from water

Thanks to Leti’s various skills, the combination of reduced stage security inspection process and travel safety is attracting both the airport authorities and other sector industries.

Supporting Innovation

How can we differentiate water from nitromethane in liquids? While conducting R&D to resolve such delicate matter, a Grenoble Isère-based business realised that it was able to concretely fulfil the issue of heightened security checks at airports. The use of the MultiX X scanner is becoming routine procedure to discriminate liquids in baggage. The main innovation rationale behind such technology is to fast-scan via efficient photodetection all screened photons rather than just a fraction passing through the scanned item. The detection sensor is an unparalleled source of information which has driven the American Authorities at US airports to use such technology to improve detection of explosives in hand-held baggage.

The client needs

MultiX has been utilising X-ray spectrometric detection technology since 2010 for non-destructive inspection and security screening to identify substances.
Their teams, widely dedicated to R&D, have given themselves the objectives of providing a reliable solution with reference to baggage screening that can be directly integrated to industry. To succeed in this increasingly competitive market, MultiX needed a partner capable of providing a major technological advance to offset the competition. The SME with 18 employees was able to develop in concert with Leti Carnot institute (Cea Tech) the entire workflow for processing X-ray spectrometry data. Such guarantee ensures detection of explosive compounds while making easier the traveler’s experience.

Partnership

The CEA LETI Carnot Institute has strived to maintain world-class imaging, notably health care radiography, expertise. The teams’ ability for spectrometric measurement of gamma- and X-ray using high quality sensors paired with information extraction algorithms have consequently been shared with their MultiX counterparts. Spurred on by Leti regarding their patent management, the SME has the competitive advantage to deal with faster development while creating jobs to support international business. The ME100 detector easily integrates into the clients’ scanning systems. Thus benefiting key security operators at sensitive locations or places with industrial activity.

April 2017

SFH transforms machining sludge into valuable metal briquettes.

Partnership Cetim Carnot Institute - SFH

Both SFH and Cetim develop a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to minimising, even eliminating, waste landfill for the industry sector.

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Partnership Cetim Carnot Institute - SFH

SFH transforms machining sludge into valuable metal briquettes.

Both SFH and Cetim develop a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to minimising, even eliminating, waste landfill for the industry sector.

Supporting Innovation

As far as SFH is concerned, waste management must translate into an immediate financial gain. This is the real origin of a wide range of specially designed filter presses dedicated to machining sludge. Inside factories processing high value materials, particularly those used in aerospace, sludge produced from surface grinding contains large amount of high-quality metal particles. The disposal of which is in effect a burdensome and costly process. Thanks to the ancillary filter presses supplied, SFH allows for significant on-site waste compaction for the industrial partner. The waste are turned into briquettes for re-integration into the production cycle or marketed as a product. Such innovation is not only important to industrial users but to service partners as well.

The client needs

Founded in 1981, SFH experienced a shrinking economic activity in 2010. The SME contemplates at once the redirection of its operations and gradually focuses on recycling, in particular the valuable re-use of manufacturing waste. The Saint-Etienne-based SME turns to Cetim to blend its expertise and know-how in ultra high-pressure hydraulics with substantial multi-disciplinary resources, including the technical, legal and commercial aspects necessary to complete the project. Much closer than a partnership, such co-development and structured gain / risk sharing mechanism have resulted in the production of a series of several waste compactors since 2011.

Partnership

When SFH presents the idea, the Cetim Carnot Institute is already working toward the reprocessing of machining sludge. Cetim puts a proposal within the context of its ‘Innovation’ offer that focus on marketing and industrialisation studies by way of co-financing. Heavy investments to financing the venture are not required from SFH and the Cetim-managed project is progressing quickly. The range of machines manufactured by SFH for compacting sludge surface grinding, more generally manufacturing waste as well as sludge mixed with swarf, matches the various sectors of the industrial market segments. Sales increase dramatically, including through export, and hiring is on the rise for the start-up. In 2015, headcounts and revenue is double the 2009 figures.

March 2017

Azur Drones expands its business to deal with major natural disasters

Partnership BRGM Carnot Institute - Azur Drones

Thanks to the technology transferred by BRGM the SME has been enabled to offer new high-added-value services.

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Partnership BRGM Carnot Institute - Azur Drones

Azur Drones expands its business to deal with major natural disasters

Thanks to the technology transferred by BRGM the SME has been enabled to offer new high-added-value services.

Supporting Innovation

Remote aerial drone photography is now widespread practice. However, its relevance to landslide/rockslide disaster assessment remained to be seen. Up until now, cliff edge profile monitoring was performed using laser measurement from a fixed reference mark. The deviations between the two sets of measured data are being aggregated to produce disaster estimates. This approach, although reliable, is a rather costly, access-restricted and time-consuming task. By way of photogrammetry, the drone is able to capture images from different angles (diagonal, horizontal and vertical). An algorithm superimposes acquired images to build up the cliff contour resulting in a 2 cm-level mapping accuracy. The drone concept enables the necessary calculations in an expedient manner. It is as efficient also proving to be much more economical than laser measuring, while allowing for increased control promoting better protection.

The client needs

As a result of the knowledge acquired by Azur Drones since 2012, the company has developed competence that is recognised by major clients in the construction and civil engineering as well as private security industries. The company associates the drone’s system reliability and economic benefits with data acquisition systems featured to suit any requirements. The SME compared drone measurements alongside laser measurements of changes on the same cliff edge position. Through the BRGM Carnot Institute’s computational tools the superposition of successive views per second of flight time has resulted in a densely accurate 3D point cloud generation fully consistent with the laser measurements. With such implementation of technology transfer by BRGM, Azur Drones is now in a position to provide detailed natural disaster assessments, which has created an opportunity to hire a specialist.

Partnership

The BRGM Carnot Institute is the one-stop scientific executive Agency for resources and above-ground/below-ground disaster management services. The establishment of the Institute has led to the development of relief calibration and modeling tools from acquired data flows. Recognising the potential of combining photogrammetric modelling with drone flexible platforms, a reference partner was much needed to integrate such new know-how into its commercial offering and widen its scope for applications. The Azur Drones-BRGM Carnot partnership, also known as the ‘SUAVE Project’, takes on concrete form by providing the full potential of an established economically viable scientific practice for numerous peratorss via the Azur Drones SME.

February 2017

2 Carnot Institutes work together on consumer-oriented product development

Partnership Energies du futur - Leti Carnot Institutes- Bubendorff

Industry leader of built-in motorised blinds Bubendorff markets devices designed to automate with no auxiliary voltage supply, even when installed north!

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Partnership Energies du futur - Leti Carnot Institutes- Bubendorff

2 Carnot Institutes work together on consumer-oriented product development

Industry leader of built-in motorised blinds Bubendorff markets devices designed to automate with no auxiliary voltage supply, even when installed north!

Supporting Innovation

The ‘ID2 Autonome’ controlled blind automated system comes complete with a blind, batteries and remote control pack offering outstanding energy savings thanks to a 100% solar return.
To ensure consistent system performance even with poor solar insolation a systematic methodology for efficient-energy use was approached so as to optimise a specified set of energy expenses (stand-by mode, radio contact between the blind and the remote control, the blind motor system…). The selection of the appropriate battery type has been decisive to meeting the French manufacturer’s Seal of Approval and 7-year warranty. The products have been available to consumers since 2012 and help the company keep its number one position in the French market.

The client needs

The small, family-run Alsace-based Bubendorff enterprise has been specialising in the manufacture of roller shutters since 1959. While constantly striving to improve competitiveness, the manufacturer keeps investing substantially in research and development through logistical proficiency and innovative solutions to help each of their clients reduce their environmental impact. It is on this basis that Bubendorff approached and started discussions with LITEN, a section of the “Energies du futur” Carnot Institute , prompting the idea of a useable solar powered blind motorised system to suit one’s new or soon-to-be-renovated building/house whatever the light exposure. This requirement means increased efficiency, and optimisation of the entire energy system.

Partnership

The “Energies du futur” Carnot Institute has determined  the high-performance battery complying with optimized charging and discharging parameter assessment. The CEA LETI*, Carnot Institute, enables significant gains in energy efficiency by dividing total radio communication consumption by 100, compared to the earlier generations of radio system. Such co-operation with Bubendorff has resulted in the launching of a comprehensive range of sustainable blinds whose energy-efficiency is enhanced when they are controlled according the ratio  amount of sunshine / temperature.

* Research institute for electronics and information technologies

January 2017

At the heart of a winning strategy is collaborative robotics

Partnership ARTS Carnot Institute - Kuka

The ARTS Carnot Institute helps Thyssenkrupp Presta France tostrengthen its production tool.

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Partnership ARTS Carnot Institute - Kuka

At the heart of a winning strategy is collaborative robotics

The ARTS Carnot Institute helps Thyssenkrupp Presta France tostrengthen its production tool.

Supporting Innovation

By co-ordinating highly sensitive tasks both humans and robotic systems can perform very closely in order to bring improvements in both productivity and agility to the production teams. The on-site integration of LBR* iiwa, Kuka’s collaborative robot, into these OEM’s** highly automated production facilities is considered very innovative. Not only in terms of state-of-the-art technology but also regarding its contribution in relation to comfort at the workstation, new material architectures and process simplification. Beyond selecting the appropriate hardwares the real innovation revolves around the approach to setting an industrial policy for Industry 4.0 developed and tested based on multiple scenarios, while winning over the operators’ support) at the same time.

* Lightweight robot (Leichtbauroboter)

** Original equipment manufacturer 

The client needs

Thyssenkrupp Presta France [attention, boutons des versions anglaise et allemande non actifs sur le site web de l’entreprise], which employs about 1200 people spread over 2 highly automated production facilities (Florange and Fameck), have been ensuring assembly of steering columns and EPS (Electric Power Steering) systems since 2001 and 2011 respectively. Praised by all the major car brands the company delivers on a just-in-time basis security components that can be found on nearly 1 car out of 7 around the world. To maintain and reinforce its position globally, the foundations for developing one’s production base remain insufficient. New solutions must be tried and tested constantly and the production teams driven to technical perfection regularly. Such endeavour could only be achieved through an influx of external resources with a long-term vision in line with the company’s values.

Partnership

With its strong network of 20 research labs spread over 15 production sites across 9 regions the ARTS Carnot Institute has the capacity to respond to a high volume of ad-hoc industrial inquiries quickly and efficiently and to provide decisive technological expertise at knocking down the technological barriers [OU unlocking the technological bolts]. In view of the appropriate Thyssenkrupp requirements, the ARTS Carnot Institute has developed a robust co-robot cell to assess the robot’s ability to perform specific rack ? assembly operations using different configurations and [steering ?] types. While affirming the need of a global vision, the ARTS Carnot Institute has provided impetus and supported Thyssenkrupp Presta France’s  exemplary Industry 4.0 approach in the region to allow the business impact of collaborative robotics (ColRobot) to be encouraged, notably by the launch of a specialised Master’s Degree Programme at ENSAM Lille*.

*Arts et Métiers Paris Tech

December 2016

Diota becomes the first French publisher of Augmented Reality software for industrial use

Partnership CEA LIST Carnot Institute - Diota

Technological success for a recently launched start-up supported by the CEA LIST Carnot Institute.

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Partnership CEA LIST Carnot Institute - Diota

Diota becomes the first French publisher of Augmented Reality software for industrial use

Technological success for a recently launched start-up supported by the CEA LIST Carnot Institute.

Supporting Innovation

Commercial success for Diota’s Augmented Reality (AR) software solution for the Manufacturing Industry is already under way. It offers above all new ways to get everyone acquainted with a new manufacturing, control and maintenance format. The primary asset of such leading-edge technology for CEA LIST: a model-based markerless 3D tracking device for object identification linked to a multi-criteria information overlay module. Second asset: a gateway connecting the  software and  Industrial Information Systems directly to each other.

The client needs

The DiotaPlayer solution enables the improvement of manufacturing efficiency through the interaction between the digital data interfaces and the workspaces. Diota’s AR software solutions empowers all human operators performing time-continuous operation tasks to simplify data collection using markerless technique while providing enhanced ergonomics. Via a link-up with the Corporate information system DiotaPlayer makes it possible for the operators to receive the 3D models created from the 3D scanned data at both plant and production line levels. Into the bargain, higher productivity gains and quality outcomes leading to a reduced number of resultant manual inspections.

Partnership

The CEA LIST research efforts are devoted to developing digital intelligent systems aiming to specifically meet the challenge of the Factory of the future. The teams as of 2009 have become involved in the project by supporting Diota’s start-up, also by bringing its expertise in the AR field. The fruitful partnership has given the start-up the opportunity to appeal to a vast number of large corporate groups but also SMBs using AR for communication purposes or to highlight their product portfolio. CEA LIST Carnot Institute, which collaborates closely with Diota, helps them continue writing their success story on a worldwide scale. With  Safran and CEA Investissement’s entry in the stock of Diota, along with a doubling of the present level of its personnel, the start-up is stepping up its industrial development strategy.

October 2016

The French solution to treat obesity without surgery arises from a partnership Carnot

Partnership Cetim Carnot Institute - Horuscare

Start-up Horuscare considers clinical trials of alternative innovative solution to bariatric surgery for 2017 agenda.

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Partnership Cetim Carnot Institute - Horuscare

The French solution to treat obesity without surgery arises from a partnership Carnot

Start-up Horuscare considers clinical trials of alternative innovative solution to bariatric surgery for 2017 agenda.

Supporting Innovation

Slowing passage into the bloodstream of essential nutrients so as to facilitate significant weight loss! Such is the tenet of Horuscare’s ‘Reborn’ medical device. A 60-cm titanium / silicone tube that is inserted into the duodenum during an  endoscopic by high channel non-surgical procedure. Once the tube is in place, the outer membrane prevent fats and sugar from quickly seeping into the bloodstream. The system effectiveness in particular lies in its capacity to seal off the supply of nutrients, at the same time assess organic stability.

The client needs

Horuscare was born out of the conviction of Jean-Michel Verd, the founder of the company, that existing obesity treatment approaches needed to be re-thought. Both mechanical and medical expertises have been necessary to determine the relevant technical base to guarantee stability and reliability of the system after implementation. The first step required formalising a set of constraints in accordance with very strict specifications imposing that no hook cause wounds or infections.  The device placement was however recognised essential to avert migration and subsequent intestinal obstruction due to contractions. In view of such procedure, long-term simulator testing was performed to allow validation of the 60-cm tube length hypothesis based on the original anatomical shape of the intestine (anchoring the final 3D-position of the ligament of Treitz at 180 degrees)

Partnership

Assistance has been provided as needed to Horuscare by CETIM Carnot Institute at Saint-Étienne for the development of the medical device. After specifications were completed several alternatives assessments have been devised. Hence stent– which is already used in cardiology - as the chosen solution. The waterproof membrane structure is supported by the stent which is held in position without hooks. Consequently, the device and unique test bench were jointly developed by CETIM and Horuscare. Such bench is used by both Radwan Kassir, MD. at Saint-Étienne University College Hospital, and Horuscare to determine the proof-of-concept in vitro study with a prototype. Beyond the patenting, Horuscare is presently involved with animal-based (in vivo) testings, at the same time seeking adequate funding of clinical trials applied to the human body. This innovation enriches the offer of not surgical therapy and aims at a multi-million euro mainly export market.

October 2016

A new surface treatment to meet aerospace industry requirements

Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute - Mécaprotec

 

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Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute - Mécaprotec

A new surface treatment to meet aerospace industry requirements

 

Supporting Innovation

The  Zinc-Nickel process enables to protect against corrosion surfaces subject to high stress, particularly in the aerospace sector.  The usual method, which is based on the use of products that have a high degree of toxicity, such as Cadmium and Chromium, had to be replaced for compliance with applicable international regulations. Many years of research have been necessary to develop a new type of environmentally-friendly electrolyte. Mécaprotec today is in possession of a unique process recognised by leading aircraft manufacturers worldwide where the benefits compel for competitive advantage and revenue increase.

The client needs

Mécaprotec Industries is a Toulouse-based medium-sized business of 400 employees facing fierce competition and growing demand from manufacturers. Committed very early to a programme of environmentally-friendly improvements, Mécaprotec Industries have developed from a supply-based business to a proactive-based ‘prescriber-advisor’ [OU from an executor to an experienced innovator]. By soliciting a Research partner Mécaprotec has succeeded in developing its own exclusive process, opening access to foreign markets while meeting the highest standards of the most demanding industries. Beyond the commercial dimension and the posting of regular growth in revenues Mécaprotec continues to collaborate with Research centres, thus ensuring successful strategy in terms of, innovation combined with the  flexibility and responsiveness of a human scale company.

Partnership

The Toulouse-based Inter-university Material Research and Engineering Centre (Centre Inter-universitaire de Recherche et d'Ingénierie des Matériaux, Cirimat) is part of the Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute. Its team of researchers  work on the design, development, characterisation and study of basic physical-chemical properties and other ceramic, metal or polymeric materials in usable conditions. Cirimat contributions to the Zinc-Nickel process development has been essential for determining the new electrolyte formulation without altering the resistance characteristics treatment.  A key to successful Research and knowledge transfer, yet another example of the Carnot Institute’s commitment to its local industrial partners on a large variety of skills and tools.

September 2016

From the treatment of blindness to Super Bowl

Partnership Voir et Entendre Carnot Institute - Atis

Atis, from Research to global industrial success.

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Partnership Voir et Entendre Carnot Institute - Atis

From the treatment of blindness to Super Bowl

Atis, from Research to global industrial success.

Supporting Innovation

ATIS is a camera whose system core works in a similar way to the eye retina. The bio-inspired vision sensor operates in an asynchronous mode on a stream of per-pixel incoming events rather than displaying conventional split-action movement by superimposition of successive images. The sensor performance in terms of data acquisition, encryption and energy consumption makes it an essential and unique choice for applications requiring capture of real-time data.

The client needs

This technology was first applied to respond to the specific needs related to the development of bionic vision systems (artificial retina). Such systems require an expedite processing of images associated with encoded information adapted to the specific retinal and cortical features.

The IRIS2* device, which is going through a clinical assessment, is currently being developed by Pixium Vision, a leading player in the treatment of blindness. The device, combining both an ATIS sensor and a retina implant, allows observed subjects with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) to perceive certain patterns of light and some shapes of objects and acquire a greater degree of autonomy in their day-to-day lives.

Beyond the more constant  medical activity, ATIS high potential was the key reason for setting up French spin-off Chronocam, to further develop its use across all image sensor markets (haulage, robotics, security, video games), and in the not too distant future improve instant replays at major sporting events such as the Super Bowl!

*Intelligent retinal implant system, second generation

Partnership

The ‘Voir et Entendre’ Carnot Institute is one of the leading integrated Eye Research centresin Europe. It was in this Institute that the team of researchers and mathematicians designed the sensors and algorithms in co-operation with Pixium Vision. On top of this, the Institute is concurrently working in close collaboration with Chronocam. These various exchanges show the Carnot Institute’s ability to effectively integrate into the economic and industrial realities of innovative enterprises.

  

July 2016

With the serious game Toap Run Genious becomes an actor of silver economy

Partnership ICM Carnot Institute - Groupe Genious

The Genious-ICM Carnot resulting partnership initiative stands out for its therapeutic software excellence.

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Partnership ICM Carnot Institute - Groupe Genious

With the serious game Toap Run Genious becomes an actor of silver economy

The Genious-ICM Carnot resulting partnership initiative stands out for its therapeutic software excellence.

Supporting Innovation

Thanks to the joint efforts of computer-games specialists, neuroscientists [OU brain researchers] and clinicians the use of gaming applications [OU of serious games] as a practical tool in healthcare is now very much a reality. The growing aging population means looking at new mechanisms to prevent and manage neurological disorders from a mixture of sources (Alzheimer’s disease, stroke…). The designed ‘Toap Run’ software intented for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease combines digital creativity and a high level of scientific rigour. The rapidly developing healthcare industry was very much in need of such forerunner with very effective – verified and calibrated - innovative solutions. As of October 2016 the Toap Run serious game will be freely available to health care professionals once the subsequent clinical phase has been validated.

The client needs

Since 1983, the small and medium-sized Paris area-based Genious Group of 200 employees, with branches in Montpellier and Rennes, has developed the skills and expertise needed in the fields e-learning, mobile data and serious games. As an e-health contributor, the IT services provider has wanted to improve mobility of all patients with Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore the entire solution had to be cost-effective and scalable so as to provide helpful reference to caregivers to track symptom assessment. To validate such approach Genious Group had to ensure continuity of scientific support for the project and evaluate its possible use in real-life settings.

Partnership

The ICM Carnot Institute is conducting active brain and spinal cord research at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. Consequently, both the researchers and clinical neurosciences experts have collaborated with Genious on the Toap Run project. As a result, progress in primary health care affecting therapists as well as patients has permitted to allow Genious to be recognised among one of the best digital gold diggers. In addition, Toap Run has been selected as a potential successful candidate as part of the WorldWide Innovation Challenge 2030. Beyond general availability for the software, the desired partnership took on concrete form also with the establishment of a shared lab called BRAIN e-NOVATION

June 2016

Pellenc ST sold 20 machines to the biggest European waste treatment facilities

Partnership Irstea Carnot Institute - Pellenc ST

R&D strategy for the PellencST Carnot partnership becomes export triumph.

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Partnership Irstea Carnot Institute - Pellenc ST

Pellenc ST sold 20 machines to the biggest European waste treatment facilities

R&D strategy for the PellencST Carnot partnership becomes export triumph.

Supporting Innovation

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) enables the optical analysis of various dry materials. In-depth analysis is needed to be able to discriminate between natural timber and painted wood, or between organic wastes and plastics. Innovation is above all about the ability to identify with a limited margin of error water-containing compounds. The colour-analysis / maximum-specimen-referencing / complex-algorithm-development combination has made it possible to put high-precision and high-performance optical sorting equipments onto the market.

The client needs

As of 2001 French start-up Pellenc ST has drawn on its analytical approach to describe the fruit ripening stages to tackle the very promising market for waste treatment. In 2009 the company responds to this challenge with the TRI+ project addressing food waste processing and wood recovery for recycling. Technological research and development effort is vast and essential for the very capable small and medium-sized Vaucluse-based robotics and infrared-processing specialist service provider. Completed in 2014 the project has culminated in a large number of sales, an Export Award as well as the selling of 20 machines to the biggest European waste treatment facilities in Naples.

Partnership

Irstea at Montpellier has been a long-standing partner of Pellenc SA, then clearly of Pellenc ST. The unique expertise of the lab is used to build a comprehensive knowledge base, therefore contributing to the Institute’s opportunity to publish significant articles in accordance with the contract’s confidentiality provisions. The research unit has been instrumental in promoting efforts to make the TRI+ project a success. Such endeavour could not have been supported by the start-up alone no matter how forceful. Concerned by the direct economic benefits of such partnership the teams have delegated 35 person-months over 4 years.

May 2016

A new process for the marking of glass packaging​ and forgeries protection

Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute - Athéor

Athéor-owned innovative Glass’in® process is being marketed thanks to a partnership with the Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute.

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Partnership Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute - Athéor

A new process for the marking of glass packaging​ and forgeries protection

Athéor-owned innovative Glass’in® process is being marketed thanks to a partnership with the Chimie Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute.

Supporting Innovation

Glass’in® patented ink is a dedicated technology for the marking of glass packaging for companies active in the cosmetic, food-processing, motor vehicle and pharmaceutical industries. The glass marking technology prevents glass weakness, while avoiding any changes in continuous production lines. The authentication solution expert provides either visible or invisible inkjet printing devices, including with decorative effects, when illuminated by UV beam. The designed optical scanner enables the reading of a unique hidden identifier. The marking is fully tamper-proof, solvent-resistant and readable regardless of the supporting element colour.

The client needs

Athéor was actively looking for a cost-reducing process technology in terms of glass marking. Making traceability and measures to combat counterfeiting more accessible both economically and technically provides the Montpellier-based start-up with extreme competitive advantage. In 2015 Athéor signed an agreement for the marking of 20 million bottles of Champagne.

Partnership

The Chimie-Balard Cirimat Carnot Institute as of 2010 has participated in the design and development of the ink composition comprised of colourants and optoelectronic components. Researchers with expertise in molecular architecture and nanostructured materials were vital to the success of a new regional project in full compliance with the Charter of the Carnot Institutes.

April 2016