3D printing of IoT monitoring solutions from NonOilen
European startup foldAI creates IoT monitoring solutions for forests and other natural ecosystems, with the goal of supporting biodiversity, ecosystem conservation and climate change remediation efforts.
“At its core, foldAI is about creating advanced technology at the service of nature restoration and conservation; Nature is the goal, and technology is the means. From this perspective, when designing our IoT forest monitoring solution, minimizing the environmental impact of our devices was essential. The housings were a tough one to figure out! We needed something that would withstand exposure to the elements for a long time, that was easy to prototype with, but also non-toxic, compatible with circular economy principles, and possibly even compostable. NonOilen and Fillamentum were an amazing find,” explains Dr. Giovanni Carmantini, Co-Founder of foldAI.
Fillamentum NonOilen is 100 % biodegradable without releasing microparticles which would be harmful to the environment. This material is stable and doesn’t degrade during processing or usage. NonOilen can be printed as easilly as PLA, while also being tougher. Comparison of all Fillamentum biodegradable filaments can be found here. ” The material fit all of our requirements without compromises, and under a tight timeframe Fillamentum was able to print most of our housings while also supporting us with deeper insights into the material, both during housing design and our in-house printing,” adds Dr. Carmantini. Fillamentum. See more about NonOilen in Fillamentum learning videos here.
In September 2021, foldAI deployed the biggest multisensory forest monitoring network in Europe to date, with almost two hundred IoT devices placed in forests around the German city of Arnsberg. Each device is equipped with a multitude of sensors, to gather information about its surrounding environment, and extract important environmental indices which are then made available in real-time in foldAI’s online platform.
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