Kuuler is a creative team of young engineers from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The group has come up with a low-cost way of cooling. The team won the Polish stage of the James Dyson Award competition. The project is a response to the growing problem of frequent hot weather. Already 30% of people struggle with extreme heat, and by the end of the century this figure will rise to 66%. Demand for air conditioning will increase by 400% over the next 25 years, which will only exacerbate the problem of global warming.
The Polish winner of the national stage of the James Dyson Award, Kuuler is a technology that uses the natural phenomenon of heat radiation through an atmospheric window to cool the panel surface. When the panel is connected to a cooling unit, it relieves the air conditioning of power consumption, providing clean, passive cooling.
Kuuler is the project of this year’s winners of the national stage of the James Dyson Award competition. The invention is intended to help reduce cooling costs in the face of fast-moving climate change – the greatest challenge of our time. The invention was inspired by a scientific article on thermal radiation. The team members decided to join forces to replicate the experiment mentioned there. After the successful results, they decided to develop the idea further.
Kuuler is a novel passive radiation cooling technology. The mission of its originators is to significantly reduce cooling costs through an innovative system suitable for both industrial applications and individual consumers.
It is gratifying to see young engineers using cutting-edge technology to create innovative inventions that address the pressing needs of the modern world. Their creativity, while using effective and science-based solutions, is proof that the future of engineering is in good hands. The winners of the national stage of this year’s James Dyson Award competition have not only demonstrated their technical skills, but also their ability to think ahead, which is crucial in the fast-paced world of technology. ‘I am convinced that Kuuler can make a real contribution to reducing the socially perceived effects of rising global temperatures,’ says Andrzej Pakuła, Dyson brand engineer.
Invention
Kuuler’s technology is based on the reflection of sunlight in both the visible and infrared spectrum in the range of approximately 7-10 um. The effectiveness of the invention is based on the use of a special paint covering the panels, created using BaSO4 molecules of the appropriate size. This allows infrared to ‘pass’ through the air without heating it, resulting in increased heat dissipation. This in turn keeps the paint surface cooler than the ambient temperature. The panels covered with it can be hooked up to most air-conditioning systems on the market.
The winners of the national stage of the James Dyson Award competition received the sum of PLN 25 200 to develop and support the next steps in commercialising the invention. The engineers from Poland form a team of four:
Piotr Bomba, M.Sc. – in the Kuuler team, he acts as the leader of the R&D work, is responsible for the overall planning of the work and its implementation, as well as for analysing various applications of the technology.
Michał Kukulski, M .Sc. – engineer, chief plant designer, responsible for component procurement as well as the design of the first MVP and MPV 2.0.
Dr Marta Michalska-Domańska – heads the research team at the Institute of Optoelectronics of the Military University of Technology in Warsaw. In the Kuuler team, she is responsible for stabilising the ink manufacturing process and working on its efficiency, as well as for ink test scenarios.
Agnieszka Biskup-Żbikowska, M.Sc . – is responsible for raising funding and liaising with partners. She is co-responsible for creating the company’s overall development strategy.
Marta, who is responsible for the effectiveness of nanoparticles in the project, emphasises: –The news that
won the national stage of the James Dyson Award competition had a motivating effect on us! Deep-tech start-ups do not have it easy and we are very pleased that the market is starting to recognise our value. The support of companies with a strong brand like Dyson is invaluable for startups whose road to commercialisation is expensive, long
andbumpy.
Dr Maciej Kawecki, juror of the national stage of the James Dyson Award competition notes: -The primary purpose of all technologies created on Earth should, in my opinion, be to solve a specific human need or the well-being of the planet. It is the need that should create the innovation, not the innovation the need. Undoubtedly, this criterion is met by the winning Kuuler project, which uses innovative radiation cooling technology. The aim of the project is to reduce cooling costs through an innovative system for industrial applications as well as for individual consumers. More and more places on Earth today are affected by rising temperatures, prolonged droughts and a reduction in precipitation, which has an impact on the living comfort of millions of people on Earth. At the same time, a huge number of these areas lack the infrastructure to create extensive refrigeration systems, which reach very high installation costs all the time. The creation of a low-cost technology that uses visible and infrared light reflection to reduce ambient temperatures could be an important step in solving this problem.
Ahead of the team members, the R work will focus on stabilising the paint production process and increasing its efficiency. They also face a pilot with a commercial partner in the near future. Once this is completed and the results are in, the team will be able to return to discussions with investors, for whom the pilot is an important starting point for further arrangements.
In this year’s James Dyson Award, the response from inventors was very rich and thematically diverse. The project, which gregariously seduced a group of experts from various fields, responds to the pressing need to cool buildings in the face of the developing climate crisis. Also noteworthy is the inventors’ recognition of the great need for new solutions in the area of medical services and tools. Particularly pleasing is the fact that there is widespread interest in medical rehabilitation, not only that carried out in hospitals, but above all that carried out in outpatient settings. –emphasises professor Dagmara Mirowska-Guzel, MD, PhD, Head of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Warsaw, Rector of the Warsaw Medical University, President of the Warsaw Scientific Society, juror of the national stage of the James Dyson Award competition.
Kuuler will move on to the next stage of the James Dyson Award Competition, which will see the international shortlist of the top 20 entries selected by Dyson engineers announced on 16 October. The global winners, meanwhile, will be announced on 13 November and selected by Sir James Dyson himself.
Awarded projects:
ReVitalize. Project authors – Kacper Zajdel, Jakub Karwacki
The problem
The inspiration for developing a system to support medical rehabilitation came from a conversation with a physiotherapist running her own practice, who pointed out the daily difficulties in working with patients. These problems included difficulty maintaining correct posture, monotony of exercises and insufficient patient engagement. To address these and other identified problems, a system was developed that increases the accessibility of the rehabilitators, improves efficiency and can reduce rehabilitation time, as well as making rehabilitation more attractive through movement games using biofeedback.
Solution
Sensors attached to the limbs being rehabilitated collect data from an accelerometer and gyroscope, which are wirelessly transmitted to a phone, tablet or computer. There, the data is converted into voice messages or in-game character movements that help the patient perform the exercises correctly. The information from each session is saved in a patient profile, which the rehabilitation therapist can directly access, making it possible to monitor the progress of rehabilitation. The sensors are stored in a modular case (two sensors per module), which is given to the patient for home use or placed on a docking station in the rehabilitation clinic for recharging and automatic diagnostics. The advantage of the system is that it is modular and scalable, which makes it easy to adapt to the needs of the rehabilitation practice and reduces implementation and further development costs. The rehabilitation practitioner can manage the system and the course of the entire rehabilitation process through a comprehensive platform that provides not only the right tools, but also a certain autonomy.
Safer-visiON. Project authors – Katarzyna Wcisło, Michał Pogorzelec, Igor Urbanik, Jakub Sznajder, Paulina Gajoch
Problem
In the course of their studies, the team met a blind student and learnt about the difficulties blind people face on a daily basis. In response to these challenges, they decided to develop a solution that would support them in their routine activities, making everyday life easier, safer and more comfortable. It was observed that some of the most basic activities, such as attending an event or using public transport, are more difficult for blind people to access. The aim became to make them more accessible.
The solution
Safer-visiON are state-of-the-art glasses that help blind and partially sighted people in everyday life. They are equipped with a camera, speaker, button and battery, and their design is robust, ergonomic, compact and lightweight. The glasses come with a mobile app for easy set-up and navigation. The glasses offer functions such as spatial orientation assistance, obstacle warning, assistance with crossing the street, using public transport and text reading. With advanced object recognition technology, the glasses can warn of obstacles such as low-hanging branches or bicycles. Notifications are relayed via a subtle loudspeaker and the battery lasts for approximately eight hours for everyday comfort.
James Dyson Award
The James Dyson Award competition is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of designers. Twenty-nine markets are participating in this year’s competition, which has so far supported more than 400 real-world problem-solving inventions with more than £1 million in funding. The initiative is run by the The James Dyson Foundation, the James Dyson Foundation for charity.
First, the entries are judged at national level by an independent jury and one of Dyson’s engineers. In each participating country, one winning design and two commended designs are selected. From the national winners, a team of Dyson engineers selects 20 entries to go through to the final round. Sir James Dyson personally reviews these 20 entries and awards the international prizes.
source: press materials
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