JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #92 - October/November 2014 - 11

spin-off

RWTH promotes entrepreneurship:
Apodius is born!

Alexander Leutner and Jonathan Roberz work as researchers
at RWTH Aachen University, but they are also entrepreneurs:
they are the managing directors of Apodius, a spin-off company established in Aachen in the winter of 2012.

A

podius's creation is a good example of the RWTH Aachen in
action, a cluster of excellence in
the composites sector recognised outside
of German borders.
The product developed by Apodius - the
Apodius Vision System - is an optical
inspection system designed to ensure the
high quality of fibre composite structures. Automakers, aerospace companies,
and suppliers are already taking a strong
interest in this innovative product, which
makes it possible to automate quality assurance in the production process

A spin-off company
The development of the optical inspection system started with the innovation

interview

network FALCON Inline Inspection
of Fibre-Reinforced Plastics. Under the
direction of Professor Robert Schmitt,
Chair of Production Metrology and
Quality Management at the RWTH Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), the plans for
Apodius were developed into a concrete
venture concept. As part of the FALCON project, which received funding
from the Federal Ministry of Education
and Research, a team of students and
doctoral candidates including Leutner
and Roberz, together with partners
from industry and research, developed
measuring instrument prototypes for
composite fibres.
The WZL's traditionally close contacts
with industry paid off once more: the
project's partners became the first customers of the spin-off company. To be
JEC Composites Magazine: Can you
describe your innovation?

Alexander Leutner : Fibre com-

Alexander Leutner
CEO
Apodius - Machine Vision Systems

posites are the lightweight materials of
the future - due to their excellent material characteristics, they are increasingly
being used in the construction of motor
vehicles and aircraft. Compared to steel
and other materials, they are very light in
weight and highly pliable. In the production process of three-dimensional parts,
however, forming the part may result in

The managing directors of Apodius Alexander
Leutner (left) and Jonathan Roberz (right)
with the Apodius Vision System. Photo: Peter
Winandy

tension-induced fibre fractures.
The Apodius Vision System is a new
solution for production control and integrated quality assurance utilizing cameras
in the production environment. This
optical inspection system assures process
capability in the early stages focusing the
textile preforming processes. The system
measures in-plane effects, for example
fibre orientation, geometry and defects of
technical textiles within the cycle time of
their layer-wise production. In sum-

No92 October - November 2014 /

jec composites magazine 11
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #92 - October/November 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #92 - October/November 2014
