The School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) at the University of Kent is delighted to have been awarded funding to work with Kent based SME, Dyrhoff Ltd, through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme.
Dyrhoff Ltd has been designing and supplying inflatable rubber dams and pneumatically-operated spillway gates for over 25 years. They have supplied over 175 pneumatic dams and gates across 26 countries, ranging from run of the river hydropower projects to small in-line sewer applications.
The Dyrhoff team identified the need to develop a system for measuring the cross-sectional shape, height and vibration of inflatable rubber dams. Using a combination of sensor arrays and computing algorithms, Dyrhoff look forward to developing a technology which will enable continuous monitoring and control of rubber dam operating conditions and thus maximise efficiency in a chosen application. This technology will be the first of its kind in the sector.
Providing expertise for this ground breaking project is Professor Yong Yan and Dr Christos Efstratiou, from EDA. Together they will be imparting knowledge and expertise in inertial sensor arrays for 2D/3D shape measurement and in the application of data analytics and machine learning techniques.
Don Mason, MD for Dyrhoff Ltd, is looking forward to the project starting and said “Dyrhoff are delighted to be working with the University of Kent and the Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme on this project. By developing these new technologies, Dyrhoff will retain an innovative edge in this specialist yet very competitive engineering sector’”
KTPs are a UK-wide Government programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK academic knowledge base.
If you would like to hear more about this project or working with the university yourself please do get in touch at enterprise@kent.ac.uk