Shipyard group and sensor start-up to collaborate
Representatives from both companies sign the agreement (Source: Damen)
Damen Shipyards Group and Utrecht-based start-up company, Sensing360, are to collaborate on using sensor technology to raise the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of ships.
The sensor company uses photonics - the interaction between light and electronics – to collect more data, the companies explained in a statement. As many as 20 of these optical sensors can be incorporated in fibre optic cables no thicker than a human hair.
This simplifies data gathering in places that are difficult to reach or dangerous. The technology will enable Sensing360 to help develop algorithms that can analyse and interpret sensor data that should optimise the performance of Damen vessels.
Georgo Angelis, the sensor company CEO, commented: "The collaboration with Damen means we can now also deploy this technology — which we already use extensively in wind turbines — on board ships. For example, we are looking at deploying them in winches and other rotating parts. This is a step forward we are taking together to make the maritime sector safer, more efficient, and sustainable."
Damen’s head of Corporate Venturing, Jasper Schuringa, said: "The data and thus the insights gathered by photonic sensors are of crucial value to our customers. They also offer opportunities for new business models and support technological developments, such as remote control and automated operations.
"Through Triton, our ‘connected vessel platform’, information from many thousands of data points and sensors is collected to provide an overall view of the ship's performance indicators. So thanks to this collaboration, we can start adding quite a few more parameters to that.
"It is a great example of the growing trend of cooperation between start-ups and established companies to create synergies and generate value together," he added.
