The development is funded by an €80,000 grant from the European Union's 'Silicon Eurocluster' project which aims to strengthen micro- and nanoelectronics sectors in Europe and promote environmentally friendly, sustainable, and digital solutions.
In October, 12 projects were selected from 61 European consortia, each of which will receive €80 000 for development.
Kristjan Tozen, the CEO of Krakul, stated that the collaboration began following an initiative by Aerones, which was seeking a development partner.
"Krakul's engineering team impressed us, especially with their work on the ESTCube-1 Estonian satellite project," said Lauma Blūmentāle, Aerones' project manager.
"Aerones is an exciting company in an important sector, and the work is intriguing for our engineers," said Tozen.
The Estonian-Latvian joint project aims to develop a device that can detect open circuits in lightning protection systems with 500 mm accuracy using radio communication technology. The completed prototype will be tested, validated, and demonstrated in a working environment, enabling efficient repair of wind turbine rotor blades and potentially benefiting other industries using lightning protection systems. The development process focuses on environmental sustainability and component recyclability.
The project is expected to conclude by June 2024. Following the solution's validation, Tozen indicated that the Latvian company plans to launch the developed system in the market. Aerones, a world leader in robot-based maintenance and inspection services for wind turbines, currently serves over 50% of the global wind turbine market.
"The new solution will not only strengthen Aerones' position in the field but will also allow them to cover an even broader spectrum of tasks in wind turbine maintenance," said Tozen.
Both Latvian and Estonian teams are optimistic about future collaborations, too. "Continuous innovation is in the DNA of both companies. I believe we can support Aerones with our engineering expertise in future projects as well," said Tozen.
The 'Silicon Eurocluster' project was born last year to contribute to the maintenance of European leadership in the fields of microelectronics, components, and systems. The project will run until February 2025 and has a budget of more than 1.5 million euros with funding of about 1.4 million coming from the European Union. 1.05 million will be addressed to financially support European Small and Medium Enterprises.
Krakul is a subsidiary of Bercman Technologies, which is listed on Nasdaq Baltic First North, iis a leading Estonian developer specializing in IoT and autonomous systems. Aerones is a world-leading robot-enabled wind turbine maintenance and inspection service provider from Latvia.
