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Collaborating on national and international projects

Synergy between different areas of expertise and knowledge stimulates the development of innovative high technology. Technolution Advance therefore often chooses to collaborate with third parties in various working relationships. Technolution Advance regularly invests in projects that are often (co-)financed through national and international grant programs.
You can find an overview of the national as well as international collaboration projects that we contribute to on this page.

IMDAP – Imaging Data Platform for the FAST-EM

The FAST-EM multi-beam electron microscope, developed by Delmic, Thermo Fischer Scientific, TU Delft and Technolution Advance, makes it possible to scan biological tissue very quickly at nanometer resolution. The vast amount of data generated by the FAST-EM requires new transport and processing technology. Technolution Advance is therefore collaborating with the University Medical Center Groningen and TU Delft to build a new data management and processing platform, called the Imaging Data Platform. Technolution Advance develops the required high speed electronics as well as the data management and processing software. The IMDAP project is co-financed by Kansen voor West – the program management for the Western part of the Netherlands.

(Nano) Metrology Systems

The (Nano)metrology Systems project focuses on developing new metrology technology for analytical devices for semiconductors and life sciences. Together with Nearfield Instruments, Delmic, ARCNL and Delft University of Technology, we are developing new solutions and improving existing solutions for advanced nanoscale atomic force microscopy, scanning probe microscopy and multi-beam electron microscopy. Technolution Advance has taken the lead in this project. We focus on high speed data acquisition and control, safe and secure machine control, as well as data analytics and information extraction. Other partners in (Nano)metrology Systems are:

Nearfield Instruments (control & processing for atomic force semicon metrology);
Delmic (Life Sciences metrology);
ARCNL (nanolithografie);
TU Delft (sensors and algorithms for processing signals as well as measuring and control technology).

This project receives a Growth fund contribution from the NXTGEN HIGHTECH

MEKOPP – Metrology Equipment for critical scale up of PIC Production

Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) are chips that work with light (photons) instead of electricity (electrons). This makes PICs faster, more energy efficient and more compact than standard chips (ICs). It also makes them very suitable for high speed data communication. The production of PICs, however, is quite complex and requires multidisciplinary expertise and experience. The MEKOPP project (powered by IMS from Almelo) works on improving the production process. The project partners develop two measuring systems for testing PICs: a Photonic Test Prober and a Photonics Visual Inspection Tool. Technolution Advance is supervising the systems engineering and is providing the architectural design for the high speed data acquisition.
The MEKOPP project is co-financed by OP Oost (Operationeel Programma Oost): the grant program for companies and knowledge institutions in the Dutch provinces Overijssel and Gelderland. The MEKOPP project receives follow-up funding from the NXTGEN HIGHTECH program.

TRISTAN – a reliable RISC-V computer architecture

Technolution is co-founder and active member of RISC-V International. The FreNox softcore is our implementation of the RISC-V open standard. We have developed it especially for critical applications as well as for safety and security applications. The FreNox implementation was entirely developed in-house and contains no dependency on open source implementations. Technolution Advance has therefore had complete control over the design, which offers some welcome benefits in terms of verification, validation or certification of critical, safety and security applications.

In the European TRISTAN project, Technolution Advance is researching new methods and techniques for RISC-V safety and security applications, for example in space-proof embedded systems, such as the Control & Data Processing Unit (CDPU).
Technolution Advance is working closely together with the Dutch TRISTAN partners, the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), cybersecurity specialist Irdeto, University of Twente, and ESA.

AgroBots – Besturing en AI voor tomateninpakmachine

Technology providers are developing concrete solutions within the AgroBots program for open field cultivation through robotics and artificial intelligence. Automation, robotics and smarter data management reduce the work intensity of the cultivation and optimize the use of water, fertilizers, crop protection and energy. The AgroBots program is being shared with the entire sector to set an example as well as be an inspiration. Technolution Advance develops the robotic controls and AI computer vision technology for an advanced tomato packing machine. The AgroBots program is co-financed by OPZuid: the European Innovation program of the southern part of the Netherlands.

Adacorsa – working towards traffic management for drones

The European ADACORSA project works on a safe integration of drones into the existing mobility mix. ADACORSA focuses predominantly on BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) movements, which require a high degree of autonomy and collaboration of drones. This also includes taking regulatory provisions as well as laws and regulations into considerations.

Technolution Advance is collaborating with the chipmaker NXP within ADACORSA. Together we are researching the possibilities for secured connections between drones and stations on the ground. This can be the back office of the user, but also a registration app, or a traffic management system. NXP develops chips for the mobility market as well as for application in drones. Within ADACORSA, the PrimeLink 3015 line encryption from Technolution Prime was used for the secured connections between the drone and the demo version of a registration system. With an additional layer in MobiMaestro, the traffic management platform from Technolution Move, the movements of the drones will be monitored and visualized on the map.

CDPU – Control & Data Processing Unit for smallsats

With the support of the NSO scheme SBIR, Technolution Advance and the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) developed Control and Data Processing Unit (CDPU) for small satellites. The CDPU is an instruments computer to which sensors and (mostly optical) instruments can be connected. The CDPU controls the sensors and instruments, reads the sensor data and optical data and processes the data before it is send ‘downstream’ to earth. The invention makes instruments for small satellites much more flexible. Those building instruments can now develop without any satellite-platform dependency. The Dutch offer of (upstream) aerospace technology is much more complete because of this.

The CDPU development is co-financed by Netherlands Space Office (NSO). The CDPU prototype is demonstrated with the support of Airbus and SRON (Netherlands Institute for Space Research).