SMART Growth
Artificial intelligence enhanced, sustainable growth of rare-earth materials based laser crystals
Co-funded by the European Union
Context of the project
European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) is responsible for developing and implementing the European Innovation Council and manages other EU programmes in the fields of SME support, innovation ecosystems, single market, consumer policy and interregional innovation investments. The mission of EISMA is to provide high quality support to European innovators, researchers, businesses and consumers. We aim to reinforce the European Union’s position as a global leader in Research and Innovation, strengthen its Single Market, open up opportunities for SMEs and maintain high standards of protection for its citizens towards a more competitive, digital, green and inclusive EU. Established on 1 April 2021, EISMEA groups together in one agency all the activities of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the programmes related to small and medium-sized enterprises.
https://eismea.ec.europa.eu/about-eismea_en
The Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument as part of the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) aims at supporting interregional innovation projects in their commercialisation and scale-up phases giving them the tools to overcome regulatory and other barriers and bring their project to investment level.
https://eismea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/interregional-innovation-investments-i3-instrument_en
Scientific abstract
Crystal growth, by Czochralski method for instance (see photo) for industrial, and in particular for photonics applications, is one of the crucial technologies for a modern society. Their manufacturing technology involves rare materials, a high amount of energy, and a lot of dedicated process knowledge. The crystal, as a product itself, is a core component of many photonics systems such as the broad field of lasers for various applications. Nevertheless, the value chain for crystal growing is rarely based on Zero-Defect Manufacturing (ZDM) approaches, which could enable a sustainable implementation of this crucial process.
Partnership
The consortium forms a perfect inter-regional group for these ambitious objectives. The crystal growth SME FILAR is located in Sardinia, Italy and the other partners are originated from regions that have a regional interest in contributing to the proposed technology and in the results involving applications for laser crystals:
- IKZ from Berlin, Germany, and UVT from Timisoara, Romania, for the crystal growth itself
- Fraunhofer IOF from Jena, Germany, for the process sensorics
- POLIMI, Holonix, and CiboLabs from Milano and Bolzano, Italy, for introducing the AI control into the crystal growth process towards ZDM
Partners have thus a strong interest in high-tech products, which are manufactured in Europe.
Objectives of the “SMART GROWTH” project
The demonstration of SMART-Growth inter-regional case will rely on the transfer of competencies between the local eco-systems and the synergetic benefits that will arise from the cross-regional collaboration. The goal of this project is to develop the capacity of some regions involved in this project by the transfer of specific knowledge in the areas of optics, AI-enhanced Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure.
The main objectives of SMART GROWTH are:
- applying ZDM by means of Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches to address the main ZDM pillars: 1) Detection, 2) Prediction and 3) Prevention of failures in a typical crystal growth process
- enhancing the yield of the crystal production
- reducing the amount of energy that is needed and scraps that is created
- improving the quality of the as-grown crystal.
Allocated resources
The total European contribution for this project is: 3M€. Source : https://ec.europa.eu/
GERMANY
FRAUNHOFER IOF : FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG:
EU Contribution: 189k€
https://www.iof.fraunhofer.de/
ITALY
PARCO GENETICO DELL OGLIASTRA SCARL:
ROMANIA
Project Timeline
Particular role and goals of UVT in SMART GROWTH project
– Participation to the definition of the process chain in a Czochralski system
– Participation to the AI control loop implementation
– AI-assisted crystal growth experimental campaign
– Validation of the AI process in a Czochralski system
Þ Generalization of SMART-Growth technologies to different applications and business cases will be performed through the analysis of implementation potentials in futuristic industrial scenarios in Romania.
Þ Development of a value chain in West Romania (Banat region) with ssustainable implementation of AI-enhanced manufacturing processes at high temperature for industrial purposes: crystal growth, waste recycling, packaging, agrifood, health, ceramics, art, …
Crystal growth Lab’ and UVT members involved in SMART GROWTH project
– Dr Habil. Philippe VEBER (Smart Growth leader at UVT): philippe.veber@e-uvt.ro
– Dr Daniel Vizman (Professor) : daniel.vizman@e-uvt.ro
– Dr Alexandra Popescu (Lecturer) : alexandra.popescu@e-uvt.ro
– Dr Dragos Tatomirescu (Post-doc) : emilian.tatomirescu@e-uvt.ro
– Dr Alexandra Petcu (Head of Innovation & Technology Transfer Office, WUT): alexandra.petcu@e-uvt.ro
Mention : views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or I3 instrument. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.