Second prize De Vernufteling for my invention Prefab High Strength Concrete Overlaying

June 1, 2010 I received second prize in the contest "De Vernufteling" (The Inventor) of  technology magazine "De Ingenieur" (The Engineer). This is a contest for innovative projects of engineering firms and is held yearly. This year I entered my invention prefab hogesterktebeton overlaging (Prefab High Strength Concrete Overlaying) (http://www.prefabhsboverlaging.nl/ in Dutch)

The four finalists on stage

From the jury report:
"Angenent bedacht een methode om stalen bruggen veel sneller van een nieuwe rijlaag te voorzien. Tekenend voor de kwaliteit ervan is dat hij ermee de innovatieprijsvraag van Rijkswaterstaat won. De methode van Angenent zorgt voor minder verkeersoverlast, wat gezien de enorme renovatie-opgave van 200 stalen brugdekken in ons land van groot maatschappelijk belang is. De wervelstroom meetmethode moet zich op grote schaal toegepast in de praktijk nog bewijzen, terwijl de meting essentieel is voor de fabricage van de dekplaten. Angenent bevordert met zijn innovatie de introductie van het fabrieksmatig werken in de wegenbouw, wat het project veelbelovend maakt."

Translated: Angenent invented a method to fit steel bridges with a new top layer in a very short time span. Evidence of the quality of his solution is that he won the innovation contest of Rijkswaterstaat with this invention. Angenent's method reduces traffic jams, which is of importance to the community, considering that some 200 bridges have to be renovated in our country. The eddy current measuring system will yet have to be proven on a large scale in real live, as measuring correctly is essential for producing the deck plates.
With his invention Angenent enhances the introduction of factory based production in road construction. This makes his project promising for the future.

Click for the one minute video that I had made by HAASVIDEO for this contest.

The four finalist projects

That is me being interviewed

Redesigning an air filter: blending in

At www.redesignme.com/ a challenge was placed to come up with a new shape for an air cleaner for barns. This concerns barns in which animals are reared, like chickens or pigs. The air cleaner is basically a rectangular box like a sea freight container and not very appealing to the eye. I made two redesigns of which this is one.

My redesign:

Blend in the unit by using the same form language as the buildings surrounding it.

• Cover the outer wall of the unit with the same (sheeting) material
• Paint the unit the same color
• Fit the unit with a roof with the same angle
• Finish the unit with the same trim

Redesigning an air filter: hexagonal design

At www.redesignme.com/ a challenge was placed to come up with a new shape for an air cleaner for barns. This concerns barns in which animals are reared, like chickens or pigs. The air cleaner is basically a rectangular box like a sea freight container and not very appealing to the eye. I made two redesigns of which this is one.

My redesign:

Build the air cleaner unit in the form of an elongated hexagonal and place it on top of two adjacent barns.

If the foundations are strong enough, the unit could be placed on the wall between the barns, otherwise a foundation must be poured inside the barn and the unit be placed on columns.

Most barns have the same shape. A rectangle with a triangle on top. Roof slope approximately 30 degrees. The unit fits in between the roofs and because it has a “roof” of itself, blends in, in the building complex.

The unit can be placed on a single barn too, then it needs a shed below it, to cover up the empty space.







This placement has the added benefit that the unit is centrally placed, thus reducing the cost of ducting inside the barn.

Ducting diagram

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How to kill a rat

Muskrat

In The Netherlands live a lot of muskrats. Muskrats are unwanted because they dig holes in dikes and consume a lot of crop.Therefore the Dutch governments spends on a yearly basis some 35 million euro to kill muskrats.

Most muskrats are caught using a drowning trap. The rat swims into the trap, cannot get out and drowns. Because the are good under water swimmers, this drowning can take 10 minutes. In terms of animal cruelty not a very good method. So the Muskrat extermination organisation posted a challenge to invent a new trap that kills the rat instantly.

I responded with several idea's. One of these idea's was interesting enough for them to discuss in detail. So we met at my place and talked about the invention. The outcome is that they will propose an experiment to get some proof of concept.

Because I can get a patent on this system, I cannot post it in detail here. But I will keep you informed of the progress.

SBIR: Plug and play building system

The Dutch Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a tender system where you can send in a proposal for research. One of the subjects was "Climate adaptation and water".

Plug & play hot water radiator in
central heating system

The aim was to find technical solutions for problems with rising water tables and rivers overflowing due to climate change.

My proposal was to change the building system form rigid to dynamic.

This can be done by making building element that connect with "plug & play" connectors. On the left you see an example of a central heating system with plug & play radiators.

When you make a complete building with this technology, you can take it apart with ease when land has to be given back to the water.

Connector of heater

In this case I was thinking a bit too much out of the box, because my proposal did not make it.

You can download the proposal (pdf) here (in Dutch).

Or visit my dynamic home homepage

Exploring possibilities for rubber tiles

At http://www.redesignme.com/ a challenge was placed to think of new ways to use rubber tiles. These tiles are used for playgrounds and as a tactile surface for the blind. I supposed a Plug & Play horizontal roof tile system.

A tiling system for insulating and covering horizontal roofs that is very easy to install and thus can be fitted as DIY system by laymen. This system is 100% detachable and reusable and can be refitted in another building after detachment. Elements that are at the end of their lifetime can be send back to the factory to be recycled into new tiles. This system is therefore cradle to cradle.

  

The system consists of sandwich tile elements consisting of three layers:

1. rubber for water protection and interlock
2. polyurethane foam for insulation
3. concrete for adding weight

The tiles could have the standard 30 x 30 cm dimension, but for the purpose of roofing, tiles with a bigger dimension will probably be more cost effective (f.i. 60 x 60 cm).

The tiles are laid on the prepared roof, which must have a small drainage slope. Tiles are not glued or riveted, they are held by gravity (concrete base) and interlock.

Several tile elements are required to form a roof:

• standard tiles to cover areas
• perimeter tiles with heightened edge to build perimeter
• drainpipe tiles to connect to rainwater drains
• custom tiles made to order to cover irregular shaped roofs

The essential element in this system is the seal between the tiles. This seal must be 100% watertight and stay that way for 50 years or more. Additional to that, the interface must be able to be opened and closed several times with ease to be fully “plug & play”. Furthermore the seal must cope with shrinking and expansion of the tiles and under laying roof without causing leaks.

I think I have invented such seal, but I cannot post about it here as I might want to patent it later on.

A new challenge found: Reinventing the bike path

At http://www.indekiemgescoord.nl/ the cement and concrete industry asks for designs to enhance the bike paths in the Netherlands. Reward isa a bike worth 1.500 euro and a voucher of 3.500 euro for research. I am going to think about it and who knows an idea might pop up.

Reinventing the door handle

At http://www.redesignme.com/ a challenge is placed to make a new design for a door handle. The are looking for a new form of of the handle itself, but I could not resist to send in a completely new(?) design for the mechanism.

My proposed locking solution is an electronic lock embedded in the door, consisting of a bolt driven by an electromagnet, a rechargeable battery, solar cell, RFID antenna and electronics.

This lock works in combination with a door handle that contains a sensor. This sensor can be a variety of sensor types, like a micro switch, a capacitive sensor or an infra red sensor.

The door handle and lock are connect by wire or remote control.

As a key the lock can use an RFID device. This key could have the form of a chip card or key ring. As an alternative the key could be a remote controller.

This lock and handle assembly has several properties uncommon to normal lock mechanisms:

• The form of the handle can be more freely chosen, as it does not serve as a lever
• It is not necessary to rotate the door handle, touching the handle can open the lock
• It is not necessary to touch the door handle as the sensor can sense the proximity of a hand
• At the push side of the door no handle at all is necessary. In fact not even the sensor has to be in sight, as it could sense through the wood surface of the door. But this would probably confuse users, so at least a push plate should be on the door to indicate the function. 
• The door handle can be placed anywhere on the door, not just at the place where the lock is attached.
• Multiple locks can be combined with one door handle.
• The lock can be operated with a remote control, like a car remote control. 
• The lock can be operated by a remote sensing device like a passive infra red sensor.
• The lock can contain LED indicators that indicate locked or open state and battery state.
• The user can keep the RFID key in his pocket as the RFID can read the tag from a distance.