'Smart' machines create 100 jobs

The First Minister praised the quality of the new jobs

Up to 100 jobs are being created in north Wales at a firm which makes technology for "intelligent" machines.

DeepStream Technologies makes 3D digital sensors which allow appliances to be operated remotely.

Householders could turn on a washing machine from their office, or a fault on a TV could be diagnosed by an engineer miles away.

The company claims to be the first in the world to make the sensors cheaply enough for mass use.

DeepStream Technologies currently employs 20 people but will eventually will employ 120.

The company, at Parc Menai in Bangor, was offically opened on Friday by First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

"The manufacturing will by and large be done by machines, which means the overwhelming number of staff there will be engaged in engineering," Mr Morgan said.

"This means well paid, high-technology jobs and continuing world-beating production which give them a far better chance of competing with China than conventional manufacturing."

'Intelligent'

Three of the founders and five of the current of the staff were made redundant from the former Delta Switchgear factory in Holyhead, and worked unpaid for 10 months to get the business off the ground.

The company produces the sensors for as little as £1.70 each

Already, the firm has secured contracts within the European electrical industry, including one worth £3.2m.

It received a £1.2m grant from the Welsh Assembly Government in addition to venture capital funding.

The sensors will make all kinds of household and industrial devices "intelligent".

In a washing machine, for example, the sensors will enable the replacement of standard programmes with a range of intelligent, more energy-efficient programmes tailored to each load.

The sensor can determine how much water to use and the machine will be able to alert an engineer before a fault occurs - so the problem could be fixed before a flood.

Householders will also be able to upgrade machines already installed without the need for the manufacturer to visit the customer's home, the company says.

DeepStream is claimed to be the first company in the world to develop the technology to produce sensors for as little as £1.70.