In the frame of Urbane, Horizon Europe Project, the research center and the municipality will collaborate to advance in the integration of zero emission vehicles and intelligent transport solutions for advanced last mile delivery solutions. The project has started on September 2022, and will last for 42 months. In this time, smart urban electric vehicles, vans and bikes, will be used to develop advanced last mile solutions based on connectivity solutions, protection of vulnerable road users and energy harvesting through photovoltaic panels integrated in the vehicles.
In relation to connectivity, the vehicles will be able to “talk” with all the elements around to reduce their carbon footprint, V2X. In the case of vehicle to vehicle communication, V2V, the vehicles of the fleet will inform each other about the load capacity available and the final destination, to optimize the number of vehicles moving to the different zones of the city, In the case of vehicle to infrastructure, V2I, the traffic lights will inform the vehicles about the time to green or to red, and the vehicles will be able to optimize their speed in order to minimize the electricity consumption. In the case of vehicle to customer, V2C, the vehicle will inform the customer about the parcel delivery, and if the customer accepts it will be possible to remotely open the trunk of his/her vehicle to deliver the parcel.
In relation to vulnerable road users protection, it is a fact that electric vehicles are less noisy and then more dangerous for vulnerable road users, mainly taking into account that last mile logistics may be concentrated in center areas of the cities. For this reason, the vehicles used in the project are equipped with artificial intelligence that allows the detection and recognition of vulnerable road users, advising the driver or automatically braking the vehicle in the case of risky situations.
Energy harvesting will be made thanks to the installation of advanced photovoltaics cells in the surface of the vehicles, laboratory tests, made previously to the project, have demonstrated that in the case of the van, and under ideal conditions, 25 km of totally free emissions can be run. One of the aims of the project is to demonstrate the performance in real traffic conditions.
The research leading to these results has received funding from Horizon Europe Programme under grant agreement nº 101069782.
In the frame of Salient, Horizon Europe Project, Cidaut together with eleven partners will search for an innovative solution of the vehicle structure in the event of a crash. The front end structure of the vehicle will be equipped with intelligent sensors, whose first mission will be to advise the ADAS of the vehicle to avoid the impact, and in case this is not possible, the second mission will be to inform the structure of the vehicle about the kind of impact, the direction and the speed. According to this information, the solution developed in the project will modify the behavior of the component in charge of the energy absorption in order to optimize its behavior.
To achieve this innovative result, the consortium will develop new materials, based on advanced composites, aluminium or hybrid combinations on both. The project covers all the steps from the material characterization to the final validation test, where Cidaut will use its facilities to perform the real crashes that will demonstrate and validate the effectiveness of the solution.
Salient is a 36 months project that started on September 2022. CTAG, as project coordinator, hosted the kick off meeting at the headquarters in O Porriño. The twelve partners were present in the meeting enjoying the opportunity to celebrate face to face meetings, and taking advantage of the occasion to fix the next steps and milestones of the project.
The research leading to these results has received funding from Horizon Europe Programme under grant agreement nº101069600.
On 6 and 7 July 2022, the 3rd International Energy Engineering Congress (iENER’22) took place at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau site in Barcelona. The iENER, organised by the AEE Spain Chapter, is a congress that explores all areas of the field of energy engineering to help commercial, industrial and institutional energy users to establish a clear and optimal path towards the optimisation of installations and sustainability.
Within this energy sector forum, José Ignacio Domínguez Carrero, head of projects in the Energy area of CIDAUT, showed its progress in the application of the Digital Twin concept for the improvement of energy efficiency in production processes.
Thanks to the TEEPP project “Research in Innovative Technologies for the optimisation of Energy Efficiency in Production Processes”, the research carried out by CIDAUT for the specific case of induction furnaces for melting metals, has demonstrated that the Digital Twin is a technology of great interest and application capacity for the continuous improvement in energy efficiency. Furthermore, the continuous digitalisation of production processes makes it increasingly more affordable to implement this Digital Twin technology, which is enriched with the hybridisation of digital models with phenomenological models, allowing a continuous learning process of the production process.
The TEEPP project is a project co-financed by the Instituto para la Competitividad Empresarial de Castilla y León (ICE) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Thematic Objective 1, which aims to promote technological development, innovation and quality research.
In the process of growth of the interest on hydrogen technologies sector in Spain, the Spanish Hydrogen Technology Platform PTEH2 (old Spanish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform PTEHPC) is in a process of adaptation to these new times in order to provide valuable content. With this aim, the mission and objectives of PTEH2, as well as its structure, Working Groups and Internal Regulations have been reformulated.
Within this process, CIDAUT, as a technology centre linked to hydrogen technologies for more than 20 years, has been actively involved by renewing its participation in the Steering Group and acting as coordinator and vice-coordinator of the Working Groups on hydrogen use in mobility and use in industry, respectively.
CIDAUT will also work to ensure that PTEH2 achieves its three general objectives:
1. To be a forum of scientific-technical knowledge of reference: Promoting the exchange and dissemination of accessible, rigorous, public and independent R+D+i on the hydrogen sector.
2. To be a link between the Public Administrations and R+D+i: Consulting the Administration and national representatives based on the interests of the science-technology-innovation network and the keys to the short-medium term technological strategy.
3. To be a promoter of national and international cooperation: Coordinating the different stakeholders, establishing relationships with related sectors and proposing alliances and joint strategies.
The new corporate image and the changes approved and ratified at the General Assembly will soon be disseminated.
On 28 june 2022 the innovation ecosystem of the aerospace sector of Castilla y Leon met place in León Technological Park (Leon, Spain) to analyze the opportunities of the strategic project for the recovery and economic transformation (PERTE) of the aerospace sector
Aerospace Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE), is a public-private collaboration instrument to boost science and innovation in the aerospace field with the aim of responding to the challenges of the sector, such as climate change, global security and digital transition. Thanks to this strategic project, public administrations, companies and R&D&I centers will have the opportunity to work in coordination to strengthen the capabilities of the aeronautical and space industry, promoting the development and implementation of innovative technologies, including technologies that support the development of the zero-emission aircraft. The Aerospace PERTE also aims to strengthen Spain’s position in the space sector with initiatives such as the creation of the Spanish Space Agency, which will establish new mechanisms to coordinate space activities at the national level and Spanish participation in international programs.
Within this framework, last Monday 28th of June took place in the Leon Technological Park (León, Spain) an important event which brought together a broad representation of Castilla y León´s innovation ecosystem of the aerospace sector. This event was organized by CIDAUT Foundation and CTME in cooperation with Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León (ICE) under the training and support Program for R&D Business Centr@Tec.
The official opening of this event was carried out by Mr. Carlos Javier Fernández Carriedo (Councilor for Economy and Treasury of the Regional Government of Castilla y León), Mrs. Teresa Riesgo (President of the Center for Industrial Technological Development CDTI and Secretary General of Innovation of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain), Mr. Joaquín Barreiro García (Director of the Faculty of Industrial, Computer Science and Aerospace Engineering at the University of León) and Mr. José Antonio Diez (Mayor of León).
Next, Mr. Roberto Trigo Martínez (Head of the Department of Large Scientific Facilities and Dual Programs at CDTI) and Mr. Vicente Giner Herrera (Responsible for Telecommunications Programs in the Space Department of CDTI) showed the Aerospace PERTE as a strategic project for the recovery and economic transformation of the national aerospace sector, deepening both in the aeronautical pillar (Aeronautical Technological Program – PTA) as in the space pillar.
The final event proceeded with a discussion panel composed by a representation of Castilla y León´s innovation ecosystem of the aerospace sector: Mr. Ignacio Fernández Baragaño (Communication and Institutional Relations Manager of Grupo Aciturri Aeronáutica), Mrs. Pilar Rodríguez (Head of Capgemini Market Strategy and Innovation Solutions), Mr. Jesús Gonzalo (Aerospace Engineering Area of the University of León), Mr. Carlos Bernabéu (CEO of Arborea Intellbird), Mr. Víctor Montero (Business & Operations Director of B2Space), Mr. Óscar González Espadín (Head of the Center for Special Environmental Tests of INTA), Mr. Raul de Saja (Manager of the Office for research and technology transfer of CTME) and Mr. Álvaro Villarino Rodríguez (R&D Project Manager at the innovation management departmentof CIDAUT Fundation). This discussion panel addressed issues related to Aerospace PERTE, environmental challenges facing the sector, training needs, R&D challenges, possibilities to generate synergies between the different stakeholders, etc.
Finally, the event was closed with the invitation to the attendees to participate in the next workshops and events organized under the training and support Program for R&D Business Centr@Tec.
Last May 18th, 19th and 20th, the most relevant European Hydrogen Conference took place in the Duques de Pastrana Complex, in Madrid: European Hydrogen Energy Conference (EHEC 2022)
The European Hydrogen Conference EHEC 2022 brought together more than 1,100 visitors from 40 countries who, for three days, shared and contributed knowledge, technological advances and presented new projects and research related to hydrogen technologies. This edition of EHEC 2022 gathered renowned professionals and major companies in four plenary sessions, 36 parallel sessions and 70 poster sessions. Institutional representatives such as the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, and the Third Vice-President of the Spanish Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, also took part in the Congress. Teresa Ribera stressed that the national target for 2030 is aligned with the European Union’s strategy and welcomed the approval of the Repower EU package of measures. The President of the Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, stressed the need to accelerate the consolidation of the hydrogen economy. She insisted on the need to make progress in the energy transition by cooperating with industry and giving it the necessary visibility. In this respect, she underlined Spain’s fundamental role in the sector, highlighting that 20% of all new green hydrogen projects announced in the world were in Spain.
On this occasion, several members of CIDAUT participated in the different events organised. Miguel Castaños presented CIDAUT’s advances on “Multizone thermodynamic model to design piston compressors for hydrogen at high pressures” and Elena Castilla presented on “Analysis of the integration of bioethanol production plants with bioethanol steam reforming processes to produce hydrogen”. CIDAUT also contributed with a poster by Marcos Sánchez where he illustrated on “Air temperature effect in steady state regime ammonia combustion by diffusion”. Finally, Jose Ignacio Dominguez and Henar Olmedo participated in the Side Event organised by the Spanish Hydrogen Technology Platform.
The organisers of EHEC 2022 say goodbye until the next edition, which is expected to be held in Bilbao in 2024, where CIDAUT will once again be presenting its advances and developments.
In the midst of the seventh wave of COVID-19, intelligence technologies such as big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and deep learning have become more relevant. This pandemic, as the most important of our century, has shown that it is possible to fight against the spread of disease with the use of technology. By means of the preceding tools, we are now able to process massive and unstructured data and identify patterns and significant changes that are critical to attack the disease. Aware of this and at the forefront of technology, Cidaut is working on the development of a Digital Twin (DT) to fight against whatever infectious disease. The innovation of this work lies in transferring the epidemic prevention and control situation in the real space to the virtual space.
Taking the above into account, the process has started by defining a number of blueprints (strategies to mitigate the pandemic) in order to establish how the DT will control the situation. This has been done with the help of several technological companies from different European countries. In total, 16 strategies have been defined and the work is now underway on how to integrate them into the DT.
Part of the work done to date can be seen in the image attached, which would not have been possible without European Union funding within the framework of Green Deal and the project PROBONO (GA#101037075).
Researchers of the area of Material, Products, Process from the CIDAUT Foundation, attended the XIV National Congress of Composite Materials – MATCOMP2021, celebrated in Seville from June 21st to 23rd. This congress, promoted by the Spanish Association of Composite Materials (AEMAC), is the most important event for the scientific, academic and business community around composite and high-performance materials in Spain. In this occasion, the congress was organized by the Elasticity and Strength of Materials Group of the University of Seville to commemorate 25 years of MATCOMPs congresses, which began in Seville in 1995.
In this edition of MATCOMP, the role of industry in thedevelopment of composite materials has been highlighted. Thus, in addition to multiple oral presentations and posters, two of the three plenary conferences were oriented to industrial problems and the Congress closed with an industrial round table in which industrial representatives from the most relevant sectors in the field of composite materials discussed the future of the sector and the technical challenges in which the university and the technology centers can be an indispensable agent as a generator of knowledge and an asset for technology transfer. This emphasis was complemented by a significant participation of companies through stands, and with a visit to the Final Assembly Line of the A400M on the closing day of the Congress.
During this Congress, the researchers of CIDAUT Foundation presented their investigations in relation to composite materials. In the thematic area of ”Sustainability and Recycling”, two contributions developed in the OSIRIS Project (CER-20211009) were presented: a lecture entitled “RECYCLING OF REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE LAMINATE WASTE INTO HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS” presented by Dr. María Asensio-Valentin and a poster entitled “REVALUATION OF PLASTIC WASTES COMPOSED BY PEI REINFORCED WITH GLASS FIBERS FROM THE AERONAUTICAL SECTOR” presented by Dr. Mercedes Santiago-Calvo. Moreover, the researcher Mattia Mazzeschi presented a poster entitled “ELECTROMAGNETIC-BASED STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING APPROACH FOR THERMOPLASTIC WELDED JOINTS: EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS”, which was awarded the prize for theBest poster of the congress.
Besides this, CIDAUT Foundation was present at the stand of the OSIRIS Network (CER-20211009), together with GAIKER Foundation (coordinator of the Osiris Project), Research Association of Plastic Materials and Related (AIMPLAS) and Research Association of the Textile Industry (AITEX). The OSIRIS Network establishes an alliance between these four Technology Centers of Excellence “Cervera” and a national and international benchmark to strengthen the capabilities of R & D in recycling and recovery technologies to improve the circular economy of composites and complex plastic materials with high added value. Attendees were able to visit our stand and learn about the Network’s lines of work and its latest advances in R&D.
It seems obvious that driving automation needs new capabilities from the vehicle, lots of sensors have to be integrated to understand what is happening around, short and long range communication systems have to be developed to understand what is happening a little bit further, but, what about the occupants and their safety?
In the frame of Integra project, Cidaut is taking care of the occupants and their safety by modifying the design of the vehicle interior in accordance to the new needs. The first step is to know what is happing inside, with a webcam the occupants are recorded and thanks to the artificial intelligence the information is immediately processed to get relevant information. The functionalities developed by now include, the recognition of the occupant, the counting of flickers and yawns along time, the inclination of the head, the direction of the glance and the position and distance of the body. By processing all this information it is possible to know the alertness level of the driver and the position of all the occupants.
The alertness level is relevant for both standard and automated driving. In the case of the standard driving, the system can detect drowsiness, distraction or illness and alert the driver and/or the rest of the users of the road of this circumstance. In the case of the automated driving, mainly at level 3, it will be possible to alternate the responsibility of the driving between the vehicle and the driver. When the vehicle needs to take over the driving responsibility to the human, it has to be sure that the driver is ready to assume the control of the vehicle, thanks to the application developed it is easy to make this transition in a safety way.
The position of the occupants is also critical for their safety. The high automated levels of driving, mainly 3, 4 and 5, will allow the occupants to take positions inside the vehicle different from standardized ones. In these positions the usual restrain systems are unable to protect the occupants in a proper way. Attending to this, it is necessary to develop new restrain systems suitable for the driving scenarios linked to the automated position and it is also necessary to monitor the occupants position in order to activate the new restrains systems in the most suitable manner attending to the kind of collision, the biometric characteristics of the occupant, and the position.
The work driving to these results is been performed in INTEGRA project, funded by and CDTI through Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación in the frame of the funding for Excellence in Research Centers “Cervera”. CER – 2021 1031.
In the frame of SAHE, Hybrid and Electric Automotive Show, celebrated in Valladolid from the 22nd to the 24th of April, Cidaut has presented its last innovations related to sustainable mobility and intelligent transport.
At Cidaut’s booth, it was possible to see and touch two of the prototypes development in the last research and development projects carried out by the technological center. The first one was a crash test prototype that had been tested according to Regulation 94 homologation, in the frontal part of the vehicle the consequences of the crash were still visible. The rest of the vehicle has been repaired in order to shortly make an additional lateral pole crash test. Inside the vehicle, in the driving position, a crash test dummy was seated in order to make this testing tool familiar to the visitors. Most of the youngest assistants to the show were surprised and happy to see and touch the dummy while very few were surprised or scared.
The second prototype was a functional extra-light and safe urban electric vehicle. The interior of this prototype was monitored with a simple webcam and thanks to the application of artificial vision solutions, the vehicle was able to determine the position of the occupants, the direction of their glance, the number of flickers and yawns, and the alertness level of the driver. This solution will be applied to avoid unattended driving in automated driving scenarios, but also in standard driving conditions. The vehicle was open for the visitors to come in and test the performance of the monitoring systems. Again the youngest visitors were the ones who enjoyed the most the technological advances. Great to know the interest of youngest attendants in innovative solutions.
