DITZINGEN/WALDKIRCH (dpa-AFX) – The mechanical engineering company Trumpf and the sensor manufacturer Sick are working together on the development of industrial quantum sensors and want to bring the first products onto the market in this high-tech area by 2022. Representatives of Sick and the Trumpf subsidiary Q.ant said they signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday. The aim is to make quantum technology – a relatively young branch of physics – usable for use in mechanical and plant engineering as well as in the electrical, pharmaceutical and automotive industries.
With the help of laser light, such sensors should be able to carry out measurements with a level of precision that has so far either not been possible technically or only been possible with immense effort and huge equipment. In addition, the new devices should also be able to determine the speed and direction of particles in detail. Trumpf and Sick want to build such sensors as a “small, handy” industrial mass product – one of these sensors should then be no larger than a shoebox.
Sick CEO Robert Bauer said at a digital press conference: “The quantum sensor will be able to measure particles that are a fifth of a micrometer in size. That is 200 times smaller than a human hair.” Quantum technology is pushing technical boundaries. “Where specific signals were previously no longer measurable, quantum effects can be used to make additional details perceptible from the signal noise.”
Trumpf and Sick see themselves as world leaders in the development of industrial quantum sensors, even if there are competitors. Bauer said they wanted to approach the first pilot customers next year and subject the new devices to a reality check. The quantum sensor should be ready for the market by 2022. “Competition will ultimately be decided by how robust and market-oriented the product actually is.” The companies did not provide any precise information about the planned price of such a sensor.
