The University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) has signed a partnership with DataThings to conduct research on intelligent software systems for unique industry challenges. 

The first research project of this partnership between SnT and DataThings will explore how computer vision technology can be adapted to support quality control in industrial applications. This is a natural evolution of DataThings’ business, which currently uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to process numerical data to deliver operational insights and efficiencies to their clients. 

The core of DataThings software systems is their Greycat technology, Made In Luxembourg. Greycat provides machine learning tools to process live data and deliver business analysis and predictions. Clients of DataThings use this domain-specific artificial intelligence to monitor their infrastructures and production systems. It allows them to detect issues more effectively or predict outcomes faster, enabling them to reorganise resources to maintain efficient operation.

Adding computer vision capabilities to the Greycat technology will expand its capabilities as it currently relies on numerical data. There are many potential applications for visual data processing and recognition technology to be used for improving industrial systems. As a first use case the research project will focus on how visual data can be used to automatically identify flaws in products being made in a production line, to strengthen quality control processes. 

“Using computer vision technologies for automatic quality control in industrial manufacturing is necessary to meet the demands of modern manufacturing or the so-called Industry 4.0. This partnership project is unique because it will allow us to execute the research in context, giving us access to proprietary domain knowledge and data that we otherwise wouldn’t have,” says Prof. Djamila Aouada, Principal Investigator of the project at SnT. “Research partnerships with companies are so important to push technology innovation forward, and it is significant to have one of our own spin-offs collaborate with us in this way.” 

DataThings was launched in 2017 and is a spin-off of the research centre. The partnership marks the first time an SnT spin-off has become an industry partner. The creation of a partnership agreement between DataThings and SnT confirms the success of the start-up and SnT’s technology transfer programme. SnT focuses on bringing innovative technology research from the laboratory to the market, by encouraging a spin-off culture within the research centre.

“Since launching our start-up we have experienced first-hand how research can inform solutions that give a competitive advantage to our clients. This partnership will open up a new branch of technology for us, which will allow us to gain experience and find unique solutions for our clients,” says Grégory Nain, Co-Founder and Head of Operations of DataThings. “SnT is a unique family of innovators and we have never lost contact with the people we did research with while we were there, including Djamila. It means a lot to our entire team to be in a sense ‘coming home’ now as a partner.”