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Ericsson's fibre optic heat sensor Erica is to be given a second chance after being put on ice in 1995. This time around, the project will be run by an independent start-up company, which has acquired all patents from the telecom giant.
Together with some former colleagues, ex-project leader Bengt Carlström has bought patents as well as manufacturing equipment for the sensor from his former employer. He tells Elektroniktidningen that Ericsson's price was SEK1m ($100,000), and how, awaiting funding, everything is collected in premises near the Swedish research company Acreo's fibre lab in Hudiksvall.
"Since we have a complete design and all the necessary documentation, I believe we will be off to a flying start," says Bengt Carlström.
In his estimation, the company will need SEK16m ($1.6m) during the next two years to get started. What the company and the system will be called has not yet been decided. However, it will not be Erica, as Bengt Carlström explains:
"The name was the only thing that was not included in the deal with Ericsson."
The fibre optic heat sensor comprises a cable in which a wax filled tube runs parallel to an optical fibre. Heat expands the wax filled tube which then bends the optical fibre.
Before discontinuing the system, Ericsson sold it to about 50 customers and it is still in use. According to Carlström, the reason for abandoning the project is that resources within the company were redirected to mobile phones.
Now, Carlström's idea is to update the system to make use of advances in electronics and optics made since the mid-1990s. As he says:
"I am not even sure that all the original components are available on the market today."
Hopefully, manufacturing costs will fall and Carlström believes the system's installation cost will equal that of a conventional heat monitoring system.
"Since we have a complete design and all the necessary documentation, I believe we will be off to a flying start," says Bengt Carlström.
In his estimation, the company will need SEK16m ($1.6m) during the next two years to get started. What the company and the system will be called has not yet been decided. However, it will not be Erica, as Bengt Carlström explains:
"The name was the only thing that was not included in the deal with Ericsson."
The fibre optic heat sensor comprises a cable in which a wax filled tube runs parallel to an optical fibre. Heat expands the wax filled tube which then bends the optical fibre.
Before discontinuing the system, Ericsson sold it to about 50 customers and it is still in use. According to Carlström, the reason for abandoning the project is that resources within the company were redirected to mobile phones.
Now, Carlström's idea is to update the system to make use of advances in electronics and optics made since the mid-1990s. As he says:
"I am not even sure that all the original components are available on the market today."
Hopefully, manufacturing costs will fall and Carlström believes the system's installation cost will equal that of a conventional heat monitoring system.
Gittan Cedervall
