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Space ‘eye’ for textiles 
An artificial eye developed for Earth observation is now being employed to recognise colour variations in dyed fabrics: a critical element of textile production. This could significantly reduce the 160 million metres of dyed fabrics discarded annually in Europe with high environmental costs. "Today most of Europe's more than 40,000 textile companies rely on human quality control. Specialised personnel monitor fabrics as they are produced, but this is an expensive and technically not a very reliable method," says Stefano Carosio, a Project Manager at Italian company D'Appolonia, part of ESA's Technology Transfer Programme's network.
Space technology developed for Earth observation has now come to the rescue, in the form of a spectrographic system developed by Finnish company SPECIM. Originally this was applied to remote sensing for checking the effects of agrochemicals used by farmers, to increase efficiency and reduce ecological damage. This system also proved capable of recognizing colour variation in textiles.
In collaboration with D'Appolonia and a group of local fabric dyeing companies in northern Italy, the Italian University of Como built a prototype of an optical system capable of accurately comparing the colours in textiles. It works by checking a line across the material and measuring the spectrum of several areas along this line. This scans the fabric as it moves along the production chain even at high speeds. To reduce any complex maintenance the system is designed to be mechanically fairly simple with no complicated scanning mechanisms: it is the fabric that moves under the fixed eye of the scanner.
"The system created a lot of interest among Italian textile manufacturers at a demonstration in Como organised by the Italian Textile and Silk Association in December 2000", says Stefano Carosio. "It was clear that such a system could cut costs and improve competitiveness for European textile companies." Backed by ESA's Technology Transfer Programme, the project now receives financial support from the European Commission under its CRAFT initiative.
As prime contractor the Italian company IRIS DP headed a consortium of five European companies to develop the first system. Called Coltex, this was presented for the first time at the 2003 Techtextile Fair in Frankfurt. "We received so many requests from companies for the machine that we were sure that producing such a machine would be good business and solve a major problem for Europe’s textile industry," says Stefano Carosio. The first industrial machine was ready by the end of 2003. In 2004 five machines were sold to textile companies in Italy. An additional five machines are now scheduled for production in 2005, three for Italian companies and two for non-Italian textile manufacturers.
A Coltex machine has also been installed at the showroom of CITEVE, the Technological Centre for the textile and garment industries of Portugal, in Vila Nova de Famalicão in the Costa Verde region, where many Portuguese textile companies are situated.
Using the space ‘eye’ for textile manufacture has improved the quality of textile production and lowered costs, as the amount of yearly waste is significantly lower. The 160 million metres of dyed fabrics discarded yearly in Europe correspond to a loss of €800 million and 8000 tonnes of dyeing agents and solvents that have to be ‘cleaned’, using costly procedures, to prevent environmental pollution.
"This new system allows textile manufacturers to control production much better. They can detect colour irregularities immediately, right during production, and take the necessary corrective action to avoid sending out faulty fabrics," says Denis Cardella, IRIS DP Project Manager for the Coltex machine.
"Our Coltex machine raises the quality product assurance and specifies more precisely the colour differences in a roll. Knowing this, cloth manufacturers find it easier to optimise the use of material and discard less."
Pierre Brisson, Head of ESA's Technology Transfer and Promotion Office, says, "we are delighted that technology developed for space is being applied to reduce waste and increase quality in the textile industry. This will make the European textile industry more competitive: a must if we want to save jobs in an industrial sector that is under threat in Europe".
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