Osprey Pir Limited Public Funding

WILDFIRE: Enhanced PIR sensors for remote wildfire detection and prevention

Wildfires cause catastrophic damage worldwide, accounting for 20% of global carbon emissions. The problem, exacerbated by climate change, is deteriorating. Unusually severe fires in USA, Australia, Spain etc, have claimed hundreds of lives, causing damage worth US$Bn's. Wildfires are breaking out in countries unaccustomed to the problem. Northern European countries experienced a 200x increase in area burned in 2018\. Even the UK is being badly affected (e.g. Winter Hill -- 2018). We propose a new solution for early detection of the most predictable fires: those occurring due to power line failure - more damaging than most because they often occur in high winds. In California over 6 years, 1,500 wildfires started in the power line corridors of one utility company, some of the most devastating on record. In Spain, 3,185 fires were started by power lines between 1985-2010\. Power line operators worldwide now face severe financial liabilities (US$Bns), creating a large market (£M100's) for reliable and effective detection systems. Utility companies have assessed sensors (based on visible/thermal imagers) but have not adopted any at scale because they are too expensive to rollout, require human monitoring and only detect fires once they have grown to an unstoppable size. Companies need technologies that can detect fires in the first minutes after ignition, while they still occupy <1 acre and when firefighters have a chance of extinguishing the fire before it causes extensive damage. This is challenging. Many wildfires occur in remote areas far from electricity and telecommunications infrastructure, so low power consumption, reliability and power/comms-autonomy are key. The sensing system we propose will use low cost, world-leading pyroelectric infra-red (PIR) detectors (Pyreos) with low cost, highly-efficient non-imaging radiation-collectors (Tethir). PIR's are widely used in fire/flame detection systems for the oil-and-gas sector. Tethir's optics will give a usable detection range (1-2km) with existing detector performances and much further with the development of better detectors. The project will develop a saleable market-entry product and we predict sales of £M10's to power companies over the first 5 years after prototype demonstration, with further sales as we extend the detection capability to other wildfire causes (e.g. arson). The combination of cutting edge technologies with two world-leading UK experts in PIRs and wildfires at Imperial and Kings College London is key to the success of this development and brings the UK a significant wealth-creation opportunity while helping to solve a serious world-wide problem.

Advanced characterization of thin-film PZT for enhanced manufacturability and performance of pyroelectric Infrared detectors

The "Advanced characterization of thin-film PZT for enhanced manufacturability and performance of pyroelectric Infrared detectors" project is an initiative which combines the skills and expertise of Pyreos Ltd, the world's only thin-film pyroelectric supplier and NPL, the national measurement standards laboratory for the United Kingdom, to advance the state-of-the-art of the manufacturing and characterization of thin-film pyroelectric detectors. This is a growing area of academic research and given its uniqueness and importance, it is an area of interest for UK national laboratories to participate in.[1] Techniques developed on the project are likely to be widely applicable in the field of functional thin-film (especially ferroelectric) oxides for MEMS and IoT applications. [1] Applied Surface Science Volume 421B, 557-564 (2017), J Appl. Phys 118 195706 (2015), Acta Physica Sinica65(12) 127201 (2016).

Advanced manufacturable sputtering of high performance pyroelectric thin films

The project is a collaboration between Pyreos Ltd, an Edinburgh-based SME who is a world leader in developing thin film pyroelectric infrared sensors, Korvus Technology an Oxford-based SME who manufactures highly customizable advanced modular sputtering (PVD) equipment and Imperial College, with world leading expertise in thin film deposition control, characterization and analysis as well as pyroelectric and ferroelectric oxides. The purpose of the project is to advance the state-of-the-art of depositing thin film pyroelectric oxides as well as piezoelectric and ferroelectric oxides generally, in order to obtain thin films with enhanced performance characteristics as well as substantially improved uniformity, repeatability and stability for volume manufacturing compared to what is available today. By developing and adding new process control and monitoring capabilities to a prototype sputter tool first and a production tool later, will enable the growth of thin film oxides for pyroeletric and other ferroelectric applications to be better understood. As a result, it is expected that the factors affecting the deposition can be controlled in order to produce pyroelectric thin films with significantly improved repeatability and uniformity for higher volumer manufacturing. Further, enhancements to the fundamental peformance chracteristics of the pyroelectric/ferroelectric film will be explored and developed based on altering the microstructure and composition of the films. This project is vital for maintaining a strong UK presence in the growing area of MEMS sensors for a high tech based economy.