Codespring is proud to inform that our sponsored research and innovation team from Cluj-Napoca’s “Babeș-Bolyai University” was awarded the EUROINVENT Grand Prize of the PRO INVENT Research, Innovation and Invention International Salon. The winning research and innovation team was also handed the „Iuliu Hațieganu” Pharmacy and Medical Univeristy’s Excellence Award for their incredible results in the field of applied science. PRO INVENT Research, Innovation and Invention International Salon was held between the 22nd and 24th March 2017 at the Technical Univeristy from Cluj-Napoca.
The research and innovation team from Cluj-Napoca, sponsored by Codespring was granted the Prize and the Gold Cup for the innovation of „Ph and Chemical Processes Remote Real-Time Monitoring with a Cross-Device App (running on PC, tablet and smartphone). It is important to note that the student research and innovation team from Cluj-Napoca was formed of students in chemistry (Petruț Henrietta, Szabó Róbert, Rigó Melinda) and students in information technology (Kelemen István, Mátyás Róbert, Kovács Zoltán, Váradi Péter, Vincze Dávid, Zsebe Ákos) coordinated by Ph.D. Prof. Eng. Barabás Réka and associate professor at “Babeș-Bolyai University”, Ph.D. Eng. Barabás László.
The aim of the chemical process studied by the research and innovation team from Cluj-Napoca is to prepare hydroxyapatite – Ca5(PO4)3(OH), a substance from the Apatite group. The hydroxyapatite is a bioactive, biocompatible and osteoconductive material often used in medical interventions as a graft for titan and stainless steel implants. One of the challenges that the research and innovation team from Cluj-Napoca’s Chemistry and Chemical Engineering department was facing in order to prepare the hydroxyapatite was the long chemical reaction that lasts about 20 to 36 hours, during which temperature and pH must be kept under tight control.
In order to address and solve the above-mentioned challenges, the awarded innovation integrates completely in the IoT (internet of things) universe, where objects around us, are not only able to communicate directly through the internet but also to take automated decisions without human interference, in other words they are able to develop a network logic. Thus, an automated, intelligent distributed network comes into operation.
In the figure below you can see the diagram of the iotwithchem system with the following elements:
- The elements that constantly affect the chemical reaction: A area
- The persistency elements: D area
- Messages sending and reception enablers: E area
- Acess to users enablers: B area,
- End-users (webclients): C area.
The temperature sensor, the pH value sensor, the heat source and peristaltic pump actuators were integrated with a Raspberry Pi bankcard computer. Through the application running on the Raspberry Pi computer, thanks to the built-in architecture, the logic of the system is controlled by events.
The factors influencing the chemical reaction: heat, pH changes (events) trigger the heat source or the peristaltic pump on and off. In the A area you can see the following items:pH-sensor, temperature sensor, peristaltic pump, relay, Raspberry Pi.
The data collected during the full chemical reaction are being stored in a cloud base data-base: which you can see on the diagram in the D area. For the fast search and the big amount of data, a no-SQL structured data-base was chosen.
The system integration was done by enabling the elements in the diagram to communicate: REST-based message-based and socket (WebSocket).
For more information on this project, you are welcome to contact directly the research and innovation team from Cluj-Napoca’s “Babeș-Bolyai University”, coordinated by Ph.D. Prof. Eng. Barabás Réka and associate professor at “Babeș-Bolyai University”, Ph.D. Eng. Barabás László.
Codespring is an active supporter of research and innovation in the field of IT systems and software applications. We consider the partnership with Babeș-Bolyai University as a necessary base for students to explore the fields of applied science and research.
