Chas A Blatchford & Sons Limited
Chas A Blatchford & Sons Limited (Blatchford) develops and manufactures orthopaedic products and services designed to offer individuals the best possible mobility, function, comfort and cosmetics after amputation or other pathology. Our international network supplies prosthetic and orthotic products based on bio-mimetic design principles which work perfectly in sync with the human body. Our clinicians also provide highly specialist treatment and rehabilitation in markets including the UK, Europe, Russia, India and the Middle East.
Blatchford is the project coordinator. Blatchford is mainly responsible for the definition of the functional specification of the end users and their requirements and for testing the system integration with end users in its UK centres as part of verification and validation.
Brunel University London
Brunel University in West London is a dynamic institution with 14,000 students and over 1,000 academic staff with total staff numbers in excess of 2,500 operating in a vibrant culture of research excellence. It also plays a significant role in the higher education scene nationally and has numerous national and international links and partnerships with both academia and industry. Major research initiatives are coordinated through interdisciplinary Collaborative Research networks in the fields of Ageing, Complex Systems, Creative Industries, Innovative Manufacturing, Energy and Environmental Sustainability.
Brunel University is the technical coordinator of the project. Brunel University is mainly responsible for development of advanced materials composition/structure and related processing solutions and development of computational tools for advanced design methodologies.
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – ITIA
CNR-ITIA strategic mission is the growth of competitiveness and sustainability of manufacturing in Italy and Europe through industrial innovation. The RTD activities of the institute aim at innovating products, processes and organisations in several research areas, by focusing its competences on following applicative areas: mechatronic knowledge-based systems, robotics, multi-layer adaptive control systems, microsystems, virtual prototyping and integrated simulation of mechatronic manufacturing systems and methods of products and processes and new organizational, management and business paradigms.
CNR-ITIA is responsible for the development and prototyping of Local Additive Manufacturing system of body contacting parts of MAD products and contributes to the development of industrial Manufacturing solutions.
CNR-ITIA also supports activities for the Supply Chain value development, and contributes to the design and development of Custom Made Parts for local and industrial solutions.
Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
TNO is one of the major contract research organizations in Europe, staff of approximately 2900 and an annual turnover of 500 million Euros. TNO functions as an intermediary between basic research organizations and industry. By translating scientific knowledge into practical applications, TNO contributes to the innovation capacity of businesses and government. TNO is involved in many international projects (about 30% of the market turnover), including EU-funded collaborations. The expertise covers the whole process from basic (material) research, design and engineering to manufacturing and testing of products and systems.
TNO is mainly responsible for applying conductive materials for integrated electronics and developing additive manufacturing solutions for structural parts both applied in MAD’s.
Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana
SUPSI offers more than 30 Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree courses, characterized by cutting edge education which merges classical theoretical-scientific instruction with practical orientation. Great focus is given to research, carried out in key domains for EU competitiveness, and funded on acquired projects within European or National frameworks.
Within SUPSI, the Institute of System and Technologies for Sustainable Production (ISTePS) will participate to the project. The mission of the Institute is the innovation of products, manufacturing processes and business models in order to accompany companies in facing the challenges of globalization under the economic, environmental and social aspects.
SUPSI is responsible for the development of the MovAiD Integration Platform, focusing its main activities on the definition of the infrastructure needed for the support the MovAiD products value chain and on the design of the Total Body Avatar data structure, meant to support products services for the user along the overall supply chain.
Synesis s.c.a.r.l
Synesis is a European public-private consortium, made up of Italian and German SMEs and of public research and technological development Institutes: the Italian CNR (National Research Council) and the German Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. Synesis is the consortium dedicated to industrial research and technology transfer activities for the innovation of manufacturing processes and products. The consortium operates to facilitate the transfer of technology arising from research to industry, exploiting the most challenging results of R&D efforts through the development of new value added industrial solutions in partnership with high tech enterprises operating in various sectors of manufacturing.
One of Synesis’ fields of competence is that of the Mass Customization paradigm, achieved through personalized production of consumer goods through a mini-factory approach. Over the past several years it has acquired an essential know-how in the areas of both overall factory Automation & Control and a more vertical Technology Development of tools for advanced design and manufacturing.
These competences allow for Synesis to be involved in a large span of activities in MovAiD between different WPs, supporting the design & development of complex Custom Parts but, most importantly, prototyping an innovative Local Manufacturing system for their production, whose demonstration will validate this integration of advanced design tools and dedicated additive machines.
Gait Up SA
Located in Lausanne (Switzerland), with working offices in Renens, Gait Up was founded in 2013, as a spin-off of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Gait Up designs wearable systems using micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS), and dedicated software for motion analysis in Sports and Clinics. Gait Up uses advanced algorithms of signal processing and biomechanical models to measure and analyse accurately human motion in natural conditions, with applications ranging from real-time kinematic estimation to physical activity monitoring or performance evaluation.
Gait Up’s role within the MovAiD project is to develop the embedded sensing solution and dedicated kinematic monitoring algorithms to drive an integrated capture system.
AnyBody Technology A/S
AnyBody Technology develops and markets the AnyBody Modeling System™ (AMS), a unique software product for biomechanics and computer-aided ergonomics and simulation. AMS is a modelling system that enables the user to make dynamic simulations of large-scale musculoskeletal systems. It has a powerful GUI that allows the users to see the model in 3D and also analyse very detailed results simultaneously. The AMS comes with the AnyBody Managed Model Repository™ (AMMR), which is a near-complete model of the human musculoskeletal system totalling more than 900 individual muscle branches.
AnyBody Technology’s main role in the project is to develop advanced musculoskeletal solutions in order to simulate the effect of the exoskeleton in connection with the human body.
Technology Transfer System S.r.l.
TTS was founded as a spin-off of the National Research Council of Italy in 1993. The company business profile has been widened during the last 20 years, complementing traditional industrial research activities in the area of digital factory representation and knowledge management with the development of proprietary and customized platform solutions for manufacturing companies and technology transfer actions. Recently, the company business has incorporated consultancy on quality and environmental assurance.
TTS is responsible for the development of the MovAiD Integration Platform, capable to handle the value chain coordination and to exploit constant monitoring of MADs generated data, towards efficient sales, spare parts supply, and service provision.
KMWE Precisie Eindhoven BV
KMWE is a reliable supplier and partner for the High Tech Equipment Industry and Aerospace. KMWE is specialized in the High Mix, Low Volume and High Complexity machining of functional critical Components and the assembly of fully tested mechatronic Systems. KMWE is a global player located in those regions which are of strategic importance for its customers. More than 55 years of experience, an international supplier network, over 300 motivated well educated employees and a continuous drive for Excellence enables us to fulfil the highest demands of our customers.
KMWE is mainly responsible for development, prototyping and integration of an industrial manufacturing system.
ALSTOM TRANSPORTE SA
Alstom is a world leader in transport infrastructure, power generation and electrical grid. Present in around 100 countries with sales in 2013/14 of about €20.3 billion and 93,000 employees (at 31 March 2014) is nowadays the world leader in very high speed and high speed transport. Alstom supplies rolling stock, transport infrastructure and signalling, maintenance equipment and global rail systems. From the very first TGV* delivered in 1978 to the AGV, the fourth generation of very high speed trains, Alstom has developed a world leading position in this market sector.
Alstom participates in the project as an industrial demonstrator; more precisely in the workers population. The main job is to find possible applications of a MAD in some industrial processes with the main objective to improve worker ergonomics and workplace.
Michelotti Orthopedic Solutions
Michelotti Orthopedic Solutions is an Italian company that produces customized orthopaedic products such as shoes, lower limb and foot orthotics, corsets and prosthetics. The company was founded in 1916 in Tuscany, and it operates through 12 different locations. The headquarter is placed in Lucca, Tuscany, with the largest showroom of wheelchairs of Tuscany and also a Podiatry Center, Postural & Orthopaedic Laboratory and a specific centre for the amputee. Michelotti Orthopedic Solutions counts 35 workers, of which 25 are direct employees. The staff is characterized by clinical experts, orthopaedic technicians and shop assistants who work in his Commercial Shops Network.
The Michelotti Orthopedic Solutions role within the project is to define the MAD preventive/corrective aspects and define the target users of the project.
International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics
ISPO is a global multidisciplinary organization aiming to improve the quality of life for persons who may benefit from prosthetic, orthotic, mobility and assistive devices.
Its members are prosthetists and orthotists, prosthetic and orthotic technicians, orthopedic surgeons, rehabilitation doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, orthopedic shoemakers, nurses and biomechanical/rehabilitation engineers. The Society gathers about 3,500 members in over 100 countries.
ISPO is mainly responsible for the dissemination activities of the project results. With ISPO’s experience as a global multidisciplinary organization it will identify key stakeholders and key dissemination events.