Critical Materials S.A. is developing an innovating monitorization system of the aeronautic electric cables

sensWIRING – Harness integrated & delocalized sensors network for wiring health monitoring, is a CleanSky project that occurs between 2013 and 2015, coordinated by Critical Materials S.A. (Critical Group subsidiary company). The sensWIRING project aims to develop and testing an intelligent monitorization system to detect critical problems/damage in electric cables (of potency) for aeronautic applications. The principal challenge is to develop a technology of intelligent sensors, robust and low energy consumption, soaked and that allowed the detection and localization of damage in the cable/electric wiring. The technology embodies the latest wireless communication developments and environment energy collection (energy harvesting) for system feeding.

The project sensWIRING will develop an integrated prototype that will be tested in laboratorial environment, according with tests, rehearsals and aeronautics standards applicable to electric cables (TRL 5). This project involves an I&D budge of 493 thousand euros, and the result of it will be an important step on implementation of advanced monitoring system on electric cables, with tremendous impact on maintenance procedures and aircraft security.

Critical Materials S.A. is a Portuguese company founded in 2009, focused on technologic development and efficient products for monitorization, diagnostics, prognostic and critical applications management of advance materials, and coordinates this project on a sphere of winning applications to European program Clean-Sky – Systems for Green Operations and counts with the collaboration of  the german companies Advantec Engineering GmbH and Juergenhake Deutschland GmbH.

Besides AAVANZ

support, this project count, at the submitting phase, with the support of PEMAS and EACP. In this particular project, the European Aerospace Cluster Partnership (EACP) was of an extreme importance. PEMAS, Portuguese Association of Aeronautical Industry and founding member of EACP network, during the partnership identification process for the project sensWIRING had a fundamental intervention which has proved to be an enormous success.

PEMAS, by Critical Materials solicitation, launch an identification request of a potential partnership typology with extreme specificity, the request was repeated to the EACP network which, within three days, managed to identify 4 potential partners. Which, subsequent, were schedule meeting between promoter and potential partners and identified a candidate which would join the consortium. The extreme efficiency and quickness of identification of potentials partners helped to validate the efficiency of the EACP network and some from intrinsic value that international cooperation has to the clusters companies. PEMAS and established international collaborations are a fundamental element to facilitation and eventual success of projects of R&D collaboration.