Prototypes of embedded systems for use on parapets

The company METALESA, dedicated to the development, manufacture and installation of equipment for transport and mobility infrastructures, contacted the Institute of Automation and Industrial Informatics (ai2) of the UPV to start a new line of innovation in its products.

A prototype was proposed based on the introduction in the sensors themselves of the identification of road conditions (atmospheric conditions, pedestrians, collisions with protections or traffic intensity, among others) and which, with this, would react by providing different lighting depending on the case.

The solution is based on the use of a communications bus that makes it possible to cover the distances that exist in this type of installation (in some cases hundreds of metres). The lighting nodes are located along this bus, following a distributed control architecture.

Dismuntel as industrialiser of the final solution

From the moment the need was identified to involve a third partner to accompany METALESA at the point where the ai2 left the prototype, in order to industrialise the final solution (HW and SW), METALESA began a search for the agent that would serve this purpose.

Dismuntel, a company dedicated to the manufacture of electronics and integration of these systems in cloud applications, has been advising METALESA and working for the success of the prototype-product transition. The prior knowledge that Ai2 and Dismuntel had of each other, as a result of previous collaborations, is an immaterial asset that has facilitated the whole process, especially with a view to early commercialisation in an increasingly competitive market.

Impact on innovation

This innovation offers two lines of impact as a result of the project. On the one hand, the development of a new product, with novel capabilities that offer a competitive advantage over those of competitors. But on the other hand, this project has meant for METALESA the beginning of a journey in a sector (digital products) that offers possibilities in business models linked to information that until now were unthinkable with the previous products.

It is no longer just about selling a protective barrier for a bridge, but an infrastructure that acts in an “intelligent” way to what happens and also provides data that are of interest to different actors (municipalities for example) and that until now did not have them.

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