Fiber optic sensors serve as the "nerve endings" of smart city construction, enabling infrastructure such as underground utility tunnels and bridges to "speak." Recently, Yao Penghui and his technical team have been advancing smart monitoring of the operational status of natural gas pipelines in the Xiongan New Area.
Yao Penghui is the head of the Fiber Optic Sensing Laboratory at the Hebei Center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei National Technology Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as "Guochuang Hebei Center"). He has led his team to achieve multiple key breakthroughs in the field of cutting-edge fiber optic sensing. Since the Innovation Port of Guochuang Hebei Center officially began operations on June 30 this year, the Fiber Optic Sensing Laboratory has already empowered the industrialization projects of multiple resident enterprises.
Huayichangneng (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. is an enterprise focused on new-type power systems and fiber optic sensing monitoring. Previously, the company had been struggling to find research talent in the field of fiber optic sensing monitoring. After settling into the Innovation Port, the company and the Fiber Optic Sensing Laboratory embarked on a two-way journey.
"The laboratory has elevated our company's R&D capabilities to a new level. We can now focus all our energy on the commercialization of technological achievements and more effectively engage in market applications," said Gao Yang, Chairman of Huayichangneng. Currently, the company is leveraging optical polarization analysis and distributed fiber optic sensing technology to advance the industrialization of projects such as wind turbine blade bending deformation monitoring and health assessment, as well as cable fault location detection, providing smart monitoring solutions for the safe operation of energy infrastructure.
Seizing the opportunity of the expansion of the Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) International Technology Innovation Center and leveraging Shijiazhuang's role as an important pivot point, the Hebei Academy of Sciences and the Shijiazhuang High-tech Zone jointly built the Innovation Port of Guochuang Hebei Center. "The Innovation Port is positioned as a comprehensive innovation complex with all essential elements, building a new model of industry-academia-research collaboration. Relying on four major R&D platforms—fiber optic sensing, industrial intelligence, smart manufacturing, and embodied intelligence—it aims to cultivate four major innovation ecosystems: robotics, AI+, new materials, and industry-education integration," introduced Hao Cunming, head of the Innovation Port. As of now, the Innovation Port has signed and landed more than 30 enterprises and projects, with Beijing-Tianjin projects accounting for over 60%. The Innovation Port is unleashing the aggregation effect of innovative development, effectively promoting better integration of Beijing-Tianjin scientific innovation projects with the province's industrial application scenarios.
Recognizing Shijiazhuang's opportunity to accelerate the cultivation of a hundred-billion-yuan biomedical industry cluster, Beijing Li'an Jiuzhou Technology Co., Ltd. brought its rehabilitation robot project to settle in the Innovation Port. "The rehabilitation robot project originated from the R&D team of Beihang University. The product has already been promoted and applied in the rehabilitation departments of provincial-level tertiary hospitals in Shijiazhuang. Backend data shows that each machine is used more than 500 times per month on average," introduced Sun Guangyao, General Manager of Li'an Jiuzhou.
The rehabilitation robots developed and manufactured by Li'an Jiuzhou target hemiplegic patients in need of rehabilitation training. Integrating technologies such as age-friendly intelligent interaction, flexible transmission, and health big data monitoring, the robots provide intelligent rehabilitation and life solutions for patients through passive movement, active movement, and assisted movement training. The project has obtained a Class II medical device registration certificate. Currently, the company's R&D is in Beijing, while its production base and sales center are in Shijiazhuang. "We have built a production base of over a thousand square meters in Shijiazhuang, forming three production lines for medical rehabilitation, elderly walking assistance, and home rehabilitation, with an annual capacity of 7,000 units. All product components come from Shijiazhuang," said Sun Guangyao. Since settling into the Innovation Port, the company's sales revenue has been climbing steadily, with products sold to Hebei, Henan, the three northeastern provinces, and other regions. The company has also jointly undertaken key science and technology projects with the Hebei Academy of Sciences and the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University.
"Combining industry types with functional needs, the Innovation Port has created a vertical and specialized industrial space system, building a full-chain industrial ecosystem covering R&D, pilot-scale transformation, and industrialization implementation," said Hao Cunming. It brings together technology, talent, and application scenarios. There are not only the Fiber Optic Sensing Laboratory and Embodied Intelligence R&D Center focused on technology research, but also the Hebei Pilot-Scale Public Service Center and the Hebei Electromechanical Integration Pilot-Scale Base, as well as enterprises with clear industrial positioning. Everything is within reach of each other, and technological commercialization can be achieved without leaving the building.
Recently, a quadruped inspection robot dog jointly developed by resident enterprise Hebei Guochuang Embodied Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd. and Huayichangneng entered the testing phase. "Guochuang Embodied Intelligence is responsible for algorithm design, while Huayichangneng provides application scenarios and technical requirements. The product can replace humans in entering high-risk scenarios, accurately identifying abnormal temperature and pressure of equipment, and completing inspection work," introduced Li Zhongyi, General Manager of Guochuang Embodied Intelligence. For this robot dog, it took less than two months from the initial idea to producing a prototype.
"The Innovation Port will serve as a sensor for industrial needs, a receiver for innovation resources, and a propeller for achievement commercialization, empowering industrial agglomeration with a full-chain service model and helping enterprises expand markets and application scenarios," said Hao Cunming. Continuous efforts must be made in the commercialization of technological achievements, attracting more high-quality Beijing-Tianjin scientific innovation projects to conduct pilot-scale testing in Hebei and achieve transformation in Hebei, injecting strong new momentum into Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaborative innovation and industrial cooperation.