Gooch & Housego in £18m Torbay expansion
Photonics equipment maker Gooch & Housego has received £1.2m in government funding to support its business in Torbay with 60 new jobs as part of a major expansion.
The company designs, manufacture and supplies fibre optic solutions used across the aerospace, defence, industrial, life science and scientific research sectors and is investing £18million in expanding in the region.
“This company is a great example of how the Regional Growth Fund is helping to build a stronger, more resilient economy and a fairer society,” said environment Minister Dan Rogerson.
“The Regional Growth Fund has enabled us to further strengthen our capabilities in Torbay and facilitate sustainable strategic growth over the next decade and beyond,” said Dr Andrew Robertson, Senior Vice President System Technology Group at Gooch and Housego. “With the ongoing support of the Torbay Development Agency, the fund has allowed us to recruit six new people already and we hope to add thirty more to the team in the coming three years with this number growing to 60 in the next ten. This will allow us to add many new skills to our R&D team, build our talent pool of Photonics Engineers and continue to expand of our production facilities, crucial to securing our long-term growth.”
So far £210 million of RGF money has been invested in businesses across the South West, helping to create 36,000 new jobs as companies have committed to investing an additional £700 million.
RGF Round Six, which will make at least £200 million available to companies across England, has just closed with 174 applications totalling more than £800 million. Thirty two bids worth £109 million were received from the South West. Successful bidders will be announced in the New Year.
Bristol robotics innovation facility opens to support small companies
One of the robots in the Robotics Innovation Facility at BRL
A new initiative to encourage and support the take up of robotics technology within industry across Europe has been set up at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL).
The Robotics Innovation Facility (RIF) based at BRL is part of the ECHORD++ project, a €20 million initiative funded by the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. There are three RIFs in Europe. The Bristol RIF is the lead institution – the other two RIFs are based at SSSA, Pisa in Italy, and CEA, Paris in France, launching in January. Bristol acts as the clearing house for the projects to be allocated to the most suitable centre, and there is a small fund to support travel and subsistence for the project duration.
The Bristol RIF aims to stimulate the interaction between robot manufacturers, researchers, and end users, by providing free access to robotics equipment and experts. Technical support is provided by a dedicated RIF team, with additional assistance from engineers and scientists within Bristol Robotics Laboratory. The projects can be about control systems and electronics as much as robotics and software and the project will run until 2018.
The RIF acts as a gateway for business, especially SME’s, to help them work with new robotic technologies; develop markets for new robotic products, services or processes; demonstrate proof of concept in novel robot application areas; and develop new value chains in existing and emerging sectors. Projects can have up to 6 weeks of support with equipment and engineers. This can be extended if the project needs it.
“SMEs, other businesses and manufacturers can sometimes find it difficult to access the latest technology, and understand the potential of robotics and how future deployment could help their business. For example, companies frequently have a product or process idea or improvement but can’t take it to the next stage within their current capabilities,” said Farid Dailami, who heads the Bristol RIF. “A company may hear that an expensive robot could help their production capacity, but they are unable to access the equipment or software that would allow them to verify this before investing significant time and money in a new system. Through the RIF we would be able to carry out the necessary experiments and modelling to help them understand possibilities, and resource permitting, support them in getting extra funding to continue development. We can also introduce companies to national and Europe-wide networks beneficial to the development of their innovation and ideas.
“In the first instance companies get in touch with us and through an application process we learn more about what they are trying to do. If the company is eligible, and once we are clear what the problem is and how we can help, we set up a meeting and take the process forward. We are also offering a series of workshops which will help participants to develop their understanding of this field and the potential of robotics to enhance their business.”
Professor Chris Melhuish, Director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory says, “BRL is leading the way in Europe in this project, providing a service that bridges the gap between industry and the latest research in robotics. At BRL we are committed to research that that has a positive impact on society, industry and the economy. The RIF is an opportunity for us to share the latest innovations in robotics and support existing and new businesses in an ever increasing competitive economy.”
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Bristol digital TV software group opens up suppliers
DTVKit, the digital TV open software software supplier, has launched a new membership level for companies wanting to use more than silicon supplier.
Product Plus membership provides the opportunity for members to work with whichever silicon platform they choose, even if the vendor is not a DTVKit delivery member. The membership grants unlimited royalty free rights to use DTVKit software compiled to run on any silicon platform, and as with Product membership, unlimited access to the source code. This is based on the proven technology developed by Ocean Blue Software over the last ten years that is used in over 15 million of TVs and set top boxes around the world.
As an enhancement of ‘Product’ membership, existing members can also upgrade to ‘Product Plus’ at any time.
“Introducing a third level of membership means that we are able to offer a more flexible option to new and existing members,” said Amy Cleary, Marketing and Operations manager at DTVKit. “Product Plus allows access not just to the suite of software components, but also enables members to commercially exploit them on any silicon platform. Having spent time listening to our members needs and expectations, we felt this introduction was a progressive step forward for the foundation’s growth.”
Current members of DTVkit include global manufacturer Tatung Technology and OEM box makers such as Eagle Kingdom Technologies using source code from OBS. This formed the v1.0 release from DTVKit by way of perpetual, irrevocable royalty free licence.
“OBS has, in recent years, been moving from a royalty based model to becoming a service and support provider to its customers. By licensing our software to DTVKit, OBS were able to move completely into the role of integration and support provider for members of DTVKit,” said Cleary.
“Using our expertise we are able to provide a high level of service to those members requiring it in order to achieve the fastest possible time to market. It also allows us to move ahead with developing new applications and functionality that can offer added value to the users of DTVKit, secure in the knowledge that as the membership of DTVKit expands, the risk inherent in such developments is considerably reduced,” she said.
“So far, our experience with DTVKit has been very positive, we are seeing the membership grow and this is generating significant opportunities for OBS. Our next challenge will be to manage the growth of OBS in order to maintain the high level of service we believe our customers deserve.
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TVS wins Chinese avionics deal
Bristol-based verification expert TVS has won a key deal helping develop avionics hardware in China.
TVS is one of the fastest growing tech companies in the UK, providing tools and expertise to ensure that hardware and software works the way it should. It has won a significant verification service project in China with TopBrain Design Systems to verify a new avionics FPGA design in compliance with DO-254 avionics standard. This standard is recognized by the Federal Avionics Administration (FAA) in the US as a means of compliance for the design of complex electronic hardware in airborne systems. Such hardware includes FPGAs, PLDs and ASICs and is the counterpart to the well-established software standard RTCA DO-178B/EUROCAE ED-12B. With DO-254, the FAA recognises that avionics equipment contains both hardware and software, and each is critical to the safe operation of aircraft.
The verification project service by TVS helps the leading company to verify its safety critical avionics FPGA designs. TVS will be applying advanced verification techniques such as constrained random verification, functional verification and assertion-based verification to the project. As required by DO-254 requirements traceability will be applied and TVS will use its unique asureSIGN technology to ensure that requirements can be traced to the verification data generated through the advanced verification techniques being applied.
“This deal confirms the strength of our partnership with TopBrain. There is a strong demand for advanced verification expertise in China and with more than 130 skilled engineers globally, TVS is well equipped to respond to those needs, and it makes perfect sense for TVS to collaborate with TopBrain,” said Mike Bartley, CEO and founder of TVS. “There are also a number of additional avionics products being designed in China that all require DO-254 compliance where TVS has lots of expertise.”
As a result TVS and TopBrain are considering further DO254 projects in China and as part of its strategy in the country, TVS plans to open an office there in 2015 to strengthen and underpin its presence in the region.
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UWE launches biomimicry robot design competition for schools
The Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) is working with Bristol Robotics Laboratory and Bristol Zoo Gardens to inspire young people to have a go at designing robots inspired by animals. The Robots vs Animals competition launches today during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (3-9 November), and is funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Young people aged between 11 and 18 are invited to answer the challenge, ‘What amazing animal ability would you use to design a useful robot?’ The winning entries will be exhibited as part of the Festival of Nature 2015, in the centre of Bristol.
Entry details can be found on the Robots vs Animals page.
As well as the national competition, local schools have the chance to participate in Robots vs Animals bioengineering sessions at Bristol Zoo. The sessions are designed for Years 8 and 9, and include the chance to interact with live animals and cutting-edge robots. “Robots vs Animals is an exciting collaborative project designed to inspire and enthuse young people about the possibilities of engineering as a career. Working with Bristol Zoo Gardens, we are developing workshops which demonstrate how engineering can solve real-world problems by taking inspiration from other realms, such as animals in nature,” said Project leader Laura Fogg-Rogers. “We are really keen to see the designs and creations young people can up with. Biomimicry is such an interesting area of engineering – just think of the possibilities for a robot with the flight of a bird, the sensing power of shrews’ whiskers, or the gentle strength of a monkey’s hand! We hope the young people who take part are really inspired by the competition to continue and develop their skills as engineers.”
The aim of the project overall is to demonstrate engineering as a creative, exciting and innovative field, and encourage a wider range of young people, both boys and girls, to consider it as a career possibility. The competition is a chance for young people to get inspired by nature in order to solve real-world problems.
Competition entrants will need to consider how their robot could be useful by solving real-world problems. It might be a robot that helps us to become more sustainable or supports our health and wellbeing. The robot also needs to take its inspiration from an animal, with careful consideration of the materials that it will be built with and the engineering design process used to make it work.
The winning entry will receive a Rover 5 Raspberry Pi Robot, with other great robotics prizes for runners up, all sourced from Dawn Robotics, a start-up business based in the Technology Business Incubator at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
The closing date is 17:00 on 18 May 2015.
