Ilmenau (dpa/th) – The Technical University (TU) Ilmenau will receive 1.7 million euros for its participation in a joint project to develop a new imaging method. The project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research with a total of 9.1 million euros, will start in September, as the TU announced on Monday. According to the TU, the project links two research institutions with eleven small and medium-sized Thuringian industrial companies. The results of the research should primarily benefit such companies.

Different economic sectors such as production and quality control, medicine and health, mobility, agriculture and forestry and recycling were named as possible areas of application for the new technology. For example, retailers can be offered a single-variety take-back system: robots recognize and differentiate between different types of plastic in order to be able to sort bottles and containers accordingly. In the recycling of recyclables, the new way of recognizing objects and substances makes it possible to develop an analysis device for building rubble recycling.

In medicine, the technology promises completely new diagnostic methods. For example, a miniaturized vitality and activity sensor is being planned that will make it possible to measure a patient’s heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature without contact.