€11m European project aims to revolutionise manufacturing

22 Mar 2021

Image: © greenbutterfly/Stock.adobe.com

Irish applied AI centre CeADAR is one of the partners in the project, which seeks to achieve zero-defect manufacturing.

An €11m European project aims to use machine learning to enhance operations within the manufacturing industry.

While manufacturing companies routinely capture feedback from operators that could enhance operations, it is often not possible to produce accurate, reliable, secure and relevant information to optimise processes.

The InterQ project will use AI-driven tools to measure, predict and control the quality of the manufactured products and manufacturing processes, aiming to achieve zero-defect manufacturing.

‘CeADAR is developing AI solutions using natural language processing to understand feedback provided by factory workers’
– DR RICARDO SIMON CARBAJO

The consortium hopes to drive the competitiveness of the European industrial sector and improve the quality of manufacturing across a range of industries including aeronautics, energy and automotive.

Jokin Muñoa, coordinator of InterQ, said the project is focused on data processing for the optimisation of zero-defect manufacturing processes.

“For the participating machine manufacturers, this project represents a great opportunity both for the digital development of machines and processes through the search for full control of the quality of the final part,” he said.

InterQ involves 25 partners from 11 countries. This includes CeADAR, Ireland’s centre for applied data analytics and AI.

As part of its role in the project, CeADAR is developing a text analytics solution using machine learning to process and understand feedback provided by operators in manufacturing settings.

Dr Ricardo Simon Carbajo, who is the principal investigator for InterQ at CeADAR, said: “Augmenting the predictive analysis of sensor data with insights from operators of machinery in factories is key to improve the quality of the manufacturing process and product.

“CeADAR is developing AI solutions using natural language processing to understand feedback provided by factory workers, incorporating human expertise to the InterQ framework for zero-defect manufacturing,” he said.

The project began in November 2020 and will continue until 2023. It is led by the Ideko Research Centre in the Basque Country. Other project partners include Renault, Gamesa Energy Transmission and ITP.

Jenny Darmody is the editor of Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com