TechnoAlpin snow guns are equipped with an integrated weather station which detects the optimal conditions for snow and turns them on accordingly. Yet, when facing increasingly warmer winters and shorter time windows for snow-making, precision is never too much. That is why the Bolzano-based company asked a team of students from UniTrento to take a deep look at their products
Snowmaking has become a widespread technology which has grown significantly over the years in precision and technological advancement, and has reached a level of excellence. Today, for example, each snow gun produced by TechnoAlpin is equipped with an integrated weather station that detects the optimal conditions for snow and starts to make snow accordingly. This weather station is the subject of the challenge that TechnoAlpin - a multinational company based in Bolzano, world leader in the production of technical snow-making systems - has launched to students: how can its measurements be even more accurate? How does its positioning affect the accuracy of the collected data? What aspects must be taken into account, and how can we measure them to ensure that the system runs smoothly? The challenge was part of the Industrial Problem Solving with Physics (IPSP) contest, the event organized by UniTrento in collaboration with Confindustria Trento and Polo Meccatronica - Trentino Sviluppo, to give students the opportunity to solve problems submitted by companies.
"Our systems - explains Luisa Cunico of TechnoAlpin - are highly automated and the entire snowmaking technology is based on sensors that communicate data to the management system, which decides, using advanced algorithms, to start snowmaking when the weather conditions are right. However, we wanted to understand how maintain the efficiency of the system over time, because mild winters and the few weeks in which there are the ideal climate conditions for snowmaking make sensor reliability even more crucial".
"The team I supervised took up the challenge - explains Luca Tubiana, professor at the Physics department of UniTrento and tutor of the winning team - in perfect Industrial Problem Solving with Physics (IPSP) style: they approached a concrete problem and put in place measurement and data analysis techniques that are typically used in physics, with team spirit and a problem-solving attitude that has proved highly effective".
The students of the winning team - Federico Bellamoli, Fabio Brugnara, Giorgio Dalmasso, Sophie Bini, Michele Castelluzzo, Ersilia Cozzolino, Riccardo Franchi and Cesare Montesano - working side by side with the representatives and technicians of TechnoAlpin and those of the Department of Physics of UniTrento were able to solve the problem: they examined the fluid dynamics aspects that influence the weather station of snow guns based on their orientation and positioning, and identified with certainty the temperature gradient caused by the functioning of the system compared to measurements in stationary air. In other words, they understood how to use the data recorded by the sensors to make the most of the running time of the systems.
The students, theoretical and experimental physicists for the most part, and some engineers, collaborated to quantify the physical phenomena responsible for temperature variations, proposing reliable estimates for different atmospheric conditions.
The results achieved confirm the value of this type of challenge and the interest it attracts every year. This year, in addition to the two projects proposed by AreaDerma and AnteMotion, three other companies were interested in participating and 76 applications were received from students from all over Italy: 12 students among those involved in the challenge, in fact, came from other universities.
IPSP: teams of young UniTrento students at work to solve real-life problems
Industrial Problem Solving with Physics (IPSP) is a week-long event organized by the Department of Physics, the Doctoral School in Physics and the Directorate of Research Services and Valorization of the University of Trento, in collaboration with Confindustria Trento and Polo Meccatronica - Trentino Sviluppo.
The purpose of the event is to promote the relationship between the world of physics research and the business world.
Young researchers have the opportunity to put to practice their knowledge and skills, while companies experience the unique opportunity to collaborate with talented brains.
Three companies and up to 30 brains (students, graduates, PhD students, doctorate, postdocs and research fellows) are selected to work in a team for a week, led by three senior researchers (the Scientific Committee) to find solutions to technological problems proposed by companies. The Physics Department provides its know-how, resources and facilities.
The 2021 edition of IPSP (IPSP2021) took place at the end of July at the Fabio Ferrari Science and Technology Campus in Povo.