The spin-off Aracne, set up by the Eurecat technology centre and textile machinery manufacturer Canmartex and specialising in the development of predictive and quality control systems for the knitted fabric manufacturing process, has picked up a Green Digitalisation Category prize at the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) Awards.

The awards, sponsored by the European Digital Innovation Hubs Network, recognise projects in this European innovation ecosystem which have successfully delivered innovative services to small and medium-sized enterprises to support them in their digital transformation.

“The award for Aracne’s system in the Green Digitalisation Category singles out the innovation introduced by the Eurecat and Canmartex spin-off in tapping computer vision technology to control needles and platens for zero-defect manufacturing geared towards sustainability and the circular economy,” commented Xavier Plantà, Industrial Area director at Eurecat and the spin-off’s CTO.

“The innovation Eurecat and Canmartex have developed helps to make the industry more sustainable by ramping up production and cutting manufacturing costs while improving the innovation positioning of textile firms,” added Enric Marti, the spin-off’s CEO.

Standout technology with an environmental impact

Aracne predicts shortcomings in circular knitting machines caused by the condition of critical components in the machine such as needles and platens. This makes it possible to cut production defects by more than 60 percent, minimise material waste in the manufacturing process and thus lessen environmental impact.

It also monitors the drop of fabric when it is being manufactured to spot defects emerging at that time due to problems with the yarn, spots, holes and other issues.

Real-time analysis of the most critical components

An estimated 92 million tons of waste is generated annually by the textile industry, 25 percent of which is produced during fabric manufacture. Here the Aracne technological solution allows real-time analysis of the degradation of the most critical components in the manufacturing process.

The idea is to conduct predictive control using digital technologies to prevent typical quality problems or defects such as holes, streaks and spots which are generally only identified after the manufacturing process by experts or automated computer vision-based systems once they have already occurred.

The innovation Aracne brings to the market as a result of Eurecat’s technology transfer and valorisation, from the proof of concept to the incorporation of the company, has a direct impact on knitwear weavers and large diameter circular knitting machine manufacturers. The prediction and quality control technology developed is currently being adapted to suit other textile value chain processes.

Aracne’s innovation is based on several patented technologies which display and detect defects, each of which can be purchased as a module enabling manufacturers to tailor the solution to their weaving equipment.