KOYRÉ SENSORSAIL

IF YOU DON’T MEASURE IT, YOU DON’T IMPROVE IT

Think about one of the most ancient inventions of world: the sail, the first propulsion system that makes humankind navigate across all the oceans.

Now, think about the most sophisticated sailing boats of these days: America’s Cup yachts flying at speed of 50+ knots, and the most powerful mono-hulls of the planet racing in the Vendée Globe.

They have very little in common except for one thing: the sails! Even if nowadays, they are more sophisticated and performing, modern sails don’t have any instrument or device that let us measure their performances and make some analysis based on fluid dynamics.

Interesting, isn’t it? On a modern sailing yacht, technology is so pervasive that hundreds of sensors detect in real time boat performances and control the operation of the different systems. Nevertheless, there is not any measure or control device on the sails, the real propulsion of the boats.

It is like a Formula 1 without the tachometer or an airplane without the Attitude Indicator.

SensorSail by Koyré has been conceived to close this gap; I ,is an IoT device designed to measure several mechanical and physical parameters using smart textiles as flexible sensors installed on the sails. The textile sensors and the electronics have been specifically designed to operate in the harsh conditions of a sailing boat.

A wireless communication system will connect several Sensorsails, applied to the key points of the sails, to the onboard CPU delivering the data you need on the displays on board: this is the ultimate sailing-lab.

SensorSail is an adaptable technology not only intended for sailing yachts but also for the modern sailing commercial ships, and for all the tensile structures which need a continuous monitoring system to guarantee their efficiency, resistance and safety.

DigiFed in collaboration with STMicroelectronics, has allowed Koyré the opportunity to design and realize the first link of the chain, the chipset, specifically designed to collect data from the smart textiles: the first unit is now ready for the field-tests.

Moreover, thanks to the partnership with STM R&D engineers, new ideas for energy consumption reduction have come up. Hopefully these new features will place Sensorsail a step beyond.

Koyré has been working for a while with the market leaders to integrate the new features of SensorSail in the existing electronics, to deliver the first commercial application.

SensorSail has been granted with Patent Protection in Italy and the patent term is being extended to the EU and the US.

Koyré Sensorsail program is supported by the Italian Ministry for Economic Development and by Regione Lombardia.