Today we went and visited Qualisys and SKF here in Gothenburg! This was our view when we were heading to Qualisys this morning and it was a hike! Qualisys was founded in 1989 and was initially started as a hardware company but is now a motion capture and 3D positioning tracking systems for engineering, biomechanics, animation, virtual reality, robotics, and movement sciences. Some different segments that Qualisys works in is golf, running, baseball, and with horses. One of the first things they did when they started the business was a project for ABB Robotics. In the Gothenburg office there is only about 40 employees and they have other locations in the U.S. and an office in Asia.A fun fact about Qualisys is that they do everything in house except for producing the actual cameras. Each year about 2,500 cameras are produced and their different cameras include the MiqusM1, MiqusM3, which is their most popular, MiqusM5, 5+, 6+, and 7+, with the last three being outdoor cameras. The 7+ camera they offer is their best one they sell. Some of their biggest customers are Harvard University, BMW, The Olympics, ABB Robotics, USA Department of Veterans Affairs, and Salming, a Swedish sportswear brand. The company also just launched a new hybrid camera to do both motion capture and be markerless for the videos.The best part of the Qualisys visit was being able to be a part of what they do everyday, motion captured videos. We had one demo with one member from the class running on a treadmill. From this analysis we were able to see what things the participant could improve upon. The other demo we were able to see was three of our class members being able to participate. However, the company was unable to get their computer working to show us the data from the demo.For the second half of the day we visited SKF and learned how they make ball bearings. One thing that I loved about SKF was how focused they are on their environmental impact. Something they have just done to reduce their carbon footprint was buying a company that takes the dirt out of oil to use it again and again to reduce the CO2 emissions, since 40 billion tons of oil can only be used once.Fun fact: the bean is also in Gothenburg! (just kidding it’s just the largest ball bearing in the world)Here was a fun representation in their exhibition room of all the different things ball bearings are in. Some examples were airplanes, monorails, helicopters, elevators, and ferris wheels.
Off to Sweden We Go