Tony Ingham discusses technology transfer

Ingham believes that technology transfer may prove one of the cornerstone engines for growth as the UK emerges from recession over the coming months.

He said: 'We'd identified [back in 2000] a way to measure the torque in a rotating shaft without maintaining physical contact - well, the theory of how to do it.

'Doing away with the traditional slip rings would be a big advantage in many potential applications and we kept thinking of more and more reasons to develop the concept,' added Ingham.

By the 1990s, Sensor Technology had diversified into several parallel fields of research and development.

They had a number of projects running relating to electromagnetic corruption (EMC) and its control.

He continued: 'Computers and electronics were getting everywhere in the 1990s, but they could be susceptible to electrical interference if they were used in proximity to virtually any sort of machine.

'This included the obvious places such as factory floors, but also hospital wards, offices, broadcast studios, shops full of refrigerators and police command centres.

'EMC was a big hurdle that had to be overcome if computers were to reach their full potential,' said Ingham.

Sensor Technology had been investigating the use of surface acoustic waves (SAWs), or Rayleigh waves, as a way of blocking interference.

These waves are produced by most objects in motion and the theory was that they could be made to interact with the EMC waves and cancel them out.

Ingham added: 'We were setting up a long-running trial on a lab bench.

'Things had got a bit messy and we were just tidying up a bit before starting the trial, when we noticed on our instruments that SAWs react to strain.

'Over the next few days, the idea grew that the SAWs could be refined to act as gauges.

'Then it struck us that it was a wireless connection and this opened up many practical possibilities,' he said.

Soon, the company had Department of Trade and Industry (DTi) and Production Engineering Research Association (PERA) backing to run a proof-of-concept project.

Ingham said: 'We protected ourselves with patents and worked out a plan to commercialise the technology.

'We needed a spread of application projects to work on - some easy, some tough, some commercial, some academic, some mainstream and some specialist.

'Fortunately, just about every machine in the world uses a rotating shaft to transmit power so there were plenty of contenders,' he added.

At University College Dublin, the technology - now dubbed Torqsense - was used to mix solids into liquids.

There were highly defined targets relating to achieving an even mix in minimum time and with minimum power expenditure.

According to Ingham, this represents many industrial processes, particularly in Ireland's food-focused economy.

Greenwich University provided a project at the tough end of the scale - monitoring the torque in high-speed rotating stone saws.

These need to be brought up to speed very quickly; when they first contact the stone, the shock load is incredible, said Ingham, but to get a smooth cut surface a constant torque has to be maintained throughout the entire cutting process, with on-the-fly adjustments being made to account for variations in the stone's density.

Industrial stone cutting is a harsh environment and the Torqsense has to perform faultlessly hour after hour.

The technology proved itself in fields as diverse as aerospace, marine, nuclear, pharmaceuticals, packaging, pumping, conveying and mixing.

Soon, the company shifted its focus to developing variations of the basic theme.

'We designed big and small units, single-piece sensors that are simple to fit, two-part units with a small head that will fit into the tiniest space and communicate to a controller elsewhere on the machine and a pulley replacement unit for direct installation on belt and chain drives,' said Ingham.

Another technology transfer is now under way: Sensor Technology is developing a load sensor, which it is building into helicopter cargo hooks.

A wireless connection feeds real-time data through to the pilot and also logs it for later management analysis.

Being wireless is an advantage, he added, because it means that the hook is legally not a part of the aircraft.

Ingham said: 'Therefore, users don't need to spend time and money getting Aviation Authority approval for its installation.

'The data logging means exact billing to customers, while an integral GPS means spraying or similar tasks can be done with utter precision,' he added.