Suolution Project

Project co-financed by the TUSCANY REGIONAL PROGRAM
PR FESR 2021-2027 OP1 OS1 Action 1.1.4 "Research and development for companies also in groupings with research bodies"
Call for proposals no. 1 “Strategic research and development projects”

Footwear Soles with Intelligent Robotic Technology Oriented to New Materials

Partnership:

The project SUOLUTION intends to develop an innovative production line for sneaker soles based on the integration of the molding and gluing phases, which are currently separate production processes. SUOLUTION integrates various innovative technological aspects compared to the international state of the art.

The new injection process will consist of a carousel of open tilting and closed molds for pressure injection (patented HYBRID technology). A new pressure injection process will be studied based on the use of CO2 as a foaming agent supported by new biobased polyols and specific additives that increase its solubility in precursors. The new soles will also be made of recycled TPU and PUF waste to reduce the consumption of raw materials.

The gluing process will be completely automated using robotic systems for the application and drying of glues. In order to further reduce the risks for the safety of operators, specific non-toxic and biobased solvents will be used.

The entire integrated process will be managed by a governance software with a specific application for controlling energy and product consumption capable of calculating the environmental impacts associated with the production of finished soles.

Leader

• Robot System Automation srl (www.rsarobot.it/)

Partner

• Tre Zeta Group SpA (www.trezetagroup.com/)
• TAIP Automation srl (www.taipautomation.com/)
• Roboris srl (www.roboris.it/)
• ETT Impianti srl (www.ettimpiantisrl.com/)
• ISAC srl (https://isacsrl.eu/)

Suppliers

• Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa (www.dcci.unipi.it/)
• ARCHA srl (www.archa.it)

Project implementation period: September 2024 – November 2026
Total budget: € 3,000,000
Co-financing Tuscany Region: € 1,140,000