Public Funding for Aptisens Ltd

Fertiliser and clean water are resources a farmer needs to use wisely, due to firstly, the rising cost and shortage of fertilisers globally and clean water or water purification systems and secondly to limit the environmental damage of over use of fertilisers and discarding used fertilisers into the environment. In the event that insufficient fertiliser is used, there is a detrimental impact on crop yields and quality. A limiting factor in fertiliser management is the lack of affordable and reliable fertiliser sensor systems. Combining the experience and capabilities of the 4 partner organisations we aim to fill that gap: 1\. CleanGrow UK Ltd has over 10 years experience in designing, researching and producing solid state sensors for individual ions in farming and horticulture 2\. Dycotec are world leaders in producing flexible biosensor materials including unique and patented highly conductive and hydrophobic signal transducing inks 3\. Symitech: develop advanced Internet of Things (IoT) sensor systems based on printed / hybrid electronics. The company's foundations lie in highly qualified and experienced staff with over 60 years industrial in areas as diverse as analogue/digital electronics design, AI based data analytics and cloud-based computing and software development. 4\. New Energy Farms, in addition to their outdoor farms, they are one of the largest hydroponic farms in the UK. Our multi-ion analysers will be validated by New Energy Farms for both vertical farming and outdoor use. Combined, these are the exact technologies needed to provide an affordable, point of site real time sensing system for the main nutrient components of fertiliser and ions found in soil and waters. The project goal is to build a prototype next generation ion analyser device based on the experience of developing similar products by CleanGrow, however now implementing the advanced materials technology of Dycotec and the IoT experience of Symitech to create an affordable smart and connected nutrient analyser for the horticulture and soil testing industry. The outcome will have ground breaking developments for the smart use of fertilisers in the indoor, vertical and conventional greenhouse industry. We will also explore the feasibility of an outdoor version for real time soil analysis for field agriculture.

A novel sensor system will be developed for real-time measurement of biomass, water and biocide contamination in sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). Deployment of these systems will ensure SAFs are maintained in optimum condition to ensure efficient fuel use, improved predictive maintenance to avoid engine damage and eliminate fuel dumping.

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