Led by two scholars from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), Prof. George Baciu from Department of Computing and Prof. Hu Jinlian from Institute of Textiles and Clothing(ITC), the project FabricEye - Fabric Structure Analysis and Appearance Evaluation System won the Gold Medal at the 6th International Exhibition of Invention which was held in Suzhou, China. Using high-resolution cameras, FabricEye scans and captures the surface image of fabric samples.
Then it performs an automatic analysis iV grading the fabric on a five-point scale iV in accordance with the international ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and other equivalent standards. The captured images allow the manufacturers to build up their own database for further analysis and production improvement.
The latest model of FabricEye has been enhanced with two new modules ВЎV one for fabric analysis of weave structure and the other the appearance evaluation of knitwear. These procedures are traditionally done by manual inspection. This innovation helps raise the standard for the quality assessment of fabric materials in the textile industry.
To recognise this distinguished achievement, PolyU held a press briefing at House of Innovation on 20 November, 2008. The project investigators together with Dr. Lui Sun-wing, Vice President of PolyU introduced the project to the media. Prof. Baciu and Prof. Hu detailed the project's features and advantages, possible application in the industry. Also speaking in the press briefing was Dr. KC Ho of HKRITA. He gave a full account of how to increase the competitiveness of the industry and foster its development through HKRITA research projects.
The other award winning project is the Advanced Functional Surface Treatment Technology for Textile Materials: Lotus Nano Repellency Technology led by Prof. John Xin, another distinguished academic of ITC, PolyU. It won the Outstanding Product Innovation and Commercialisation Award in the 86th Textile Institute World Conference.
Inspired by water repellency and self-cleaning behaviours of lotus leaves, Lotus Nano fabricates nano-structures, which biomimic those of lotus leaves, on textile fibre surfaces to produce durably water, oil and soil repellent as well as self-cleaning effects. This versatile system is applicable to different kinds of fabrics such as cotton fabric and mixed fabric.
