Project description Smart Factories: Energy-aware, agile manufacturing and customisationHigh Brilliance Diode Lasers for Industrial Applications Show the project objective Hide the project objective The BRIDLE project seeks to harness the power and efficiency of diode lasers to develop an affordable direct diode laser source for industrial applications requiring the cutting and welding of sheet metal. Specifically, BRIDLE's diode laser will have a power >2kW from a 100um diameter (NA <= 0.15) optical fibre and efficiency >40%. (This is ~2.5x more powerful, 10x brighter and 1.7x more efficient than the best spectral beam combined diode laser and ~30x times brighter than conventional diode lasers.) BRIDLE will focus on technologies suitable for manufacturability and cost scaling. Along with the increased power and brilliance, this will enable direct diode lasers to penetrate the metal processing market.BRIDLE's approach is modular, scalable and forward compatible. It begins with high brilliance mini-bars, whose emitters use intracavity filters to achieve 2-3x higher brilliance (~7W @ 0.8-1.5mm.mrad) than the best broad-area emitters (~7W @ 2.7mm.mrad). Fine and coarse spectral beam combining will further increase the brilliance by 5x and 3x – increasing the total brilliance by 30-40x. Advanced coherent beam combining techniques will also be pursued to develop phase-coupled mini-bars with a nearly diffraction limited output power of 30W, allowing a further >4x improvement in spatial and spectral brilliance.BRIDLE's approach is chosen to be compatible with manufacturability and cost scaling requirements. The cost and complexity of the optical system are reduced by integrating optics inside the mini-bars (e.g. mode filters, DBR gratings for fine wavelength-spacing). Efficient, extremely low vertical divergence structures will lead to low-cost smile-insensitive assembly and low-loss optical coupling. The chosen packaging and beam combining techniques allow simple fabrication and good thermal management.BRIDLE's laser system will be validated for sheet metal cutting. The constituent sub-modules will target additional applications and markets.The objectives of the BRIDLE project are of central importance to the photonics and manufacturing industries in Europe. BRIDLE technologies will enable the European diode laser and laser systems industries to maintain a leading global position. The industrial impact will extend across a wide range of industrial sectors, with European applications of this technology in the automotive, aerospace, manufacturing and materials processing sectors –giving European manufacturers new advantages in an increasingly dynamic and competitive economic climate.Through the exciting new technologies developed in this project, the European laser diode industry will be able to introduce new direct diode lasers into the materials processing markets at a lower cost and with significantly improved performance. European industry and society will be the first to benefit. The BRIDLE project will play a direct and important role in reinforcing economic growth, competitiveness, employment and sustainability. Fields of science social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementemploymentnatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physics Programme(s) FP7-ICT - Specific Programme "Cooperation": Information and communication technologies Topic(s) FoF-ICT-2011.7.1 - Smart Factories: Energy-aware, agile manufacturing and customisation Call for proposal FP7-2012-NMP-ICT-FoF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme CP - Collaborative project (generic) Coordinator Dilas Diodenlaser GmbH Address Galileo galilei strasse 10 55129 Mainz Germany See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Thomas Brand (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window EU contribution No data Participants (7) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Bystronic Laser AG Switzerland EU contribution € 72 000,00 Address Industriestrasse 21 3362 Niederoenz See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Oliver Buehler (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV Germany EU contribution € 817 285,00 Address Hansastrasse 27c 80686 Munchen See on map Region Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Walter Krause (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data FORSCHUNGSVERBUND BERLIN EV Germany EU contribution € 651 330,00 Address Rudower chaussee 17 12489 Berlin See on map Region Berlin Berlin Berlin Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Friederike Schmidt-Tremmel (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data MODULIGHT OYJ Finland EU contribution € 366 870,00 Address Hermiankatu 22 33720 Tampere See on map Region Manner-Suomi Länsi-Suomi Pirkanmaa Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Petteri Uusimaa (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Other funding No data CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS France EU contribution € 331 754,00 Address Rue michel ange 3 75794 Paris See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Michèle SAUMON (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM United Kingdom EU contribution € 431 499,00 Address University park NG7 2RD Nottingham See on map Region East Midlands (England) Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Nottingham Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Paul Cartledge (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data UNIVERSITE PARIS-SUD France EU contribution € 100 245,00 Address Rue georges clemenceau 15 91405 Orsay cedex See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Nicolas LECOMPTE (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data