AUREL

The challenge

Industrial curing often depends on static or manually tuned heating profiles. These can require substantial energy and long cycle times, while producing inconsistent quality. AUREL addresses these limits with a data-driven digital twin that models the coupled thermal and kinetic behaviour of the curing process.

Adaptive curing system

The digital twin is linked to an RL controller trained to reduce curing time and energy use while preserving material quality. During operation, the controller interprets sensor feedback and adjusts the distribution of IR power in real time, supporting uniform curing even when process conditions vary.

Technical work plan

1. Develop and calibrate the digital-twin simulation environment.
2. Design RL algorithms and validate them with hardware in the loop.
3. Integrate the system and demonstrate it under industrial-like pilot conditions.
4. Validate the business case and prepare for investor engagement.

In parallel, business readiness is planned to advance from BRL 2 to BRL 4, supported by market analysis, an ROI model, and an investment case for scaling.

Expected impact

The project aims to improve the reliability of composite manufacturing and strengthen Greece’s innovation ecosystem through EIC Pre-Accelerator support and industrial partnerships across the composites and coatings value chain. By project end, AUREL targets an investment-ready adaptive curing platform for potential EIC Accelerator or private-sector scale-up.

EIC Pre-Accelerator funding

AUREL is funded under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe WIDERA EIC Pre-Accelerator – Widening call, which supports the development of the project’s adaptive curing technology and its path toward investment readiness.