The idea
What it's about
There are billions of bolted connections around the world whose digitalisation can make machines, systems and infrastructure components safer, more reliable and more digital. The force-measuring washers from Altosens enable the measurement of preload forces and axial forces. This means that condition monitoring functions can be retrofitted to existing machines and systems.
The Altosens monitoring system consists of force-measuring washers for recording bolt forces and a unit for processing the measured forces. The core functions are the continuous documentation and analysis of bolt forces and notification of changes that indicate faults in the bolted connection or in neighbouring systems.
In wind turbines, the system prevents unplanned failures, reduces the time and effort required to inspect bolted connections and therefore increases the availability and cost-effectiveness of the turbines.
The team
Who is behind it
Altosens was founded in 2022 by Uwe Steinkamp, Sebastian Rieß and Jan Hansmann as a spin-off of Fraunhofer LBF. Together, the three engineers have more than 40 years of professional experience in the automotive industry and applied research. Prof Dr Jürgen Franke has also been part of the Altosens team since 2023 and complements the team with his expertise in business administration and marketing.
The Seedhouse has given us a lot of support since our foundation. In addition to the infrastructure, the events and the resulting network of other start-ups, companies and universities have also helped us. Many thanks for that!
Uwe Steinkamp
Founder & Managing Director
Success story
Pilot projects
Since our time in the Seedhouse, we have acquired several pilot customers from various industries. One highlight is the equipping of several wind turbines with our system for monitoring bolted joints.
Of course, we were also delighted to win the Lower Saxony Innovation Award 2023 in the "Business" category.
Find out more
more info about Altosens
Find out how Altosens increases the availability of machines, systems and infrastructure.