3 Questions for All About Accuracy: »We Urgently Need to Increase Chip Production in Europe«

With your start-up All About Accuracy, you are developing a new class of sensors that enable extremely precise positioning. In which areas could your technology be used in the future?

All About Accuracy’s sensors guarantee precise positioning in real time, with millimeter accuracy. They are used wherever precision is crucial. For example, in industrial robotics, autonomous transport systems or robotic arms. They also ensure reliable medication transportation in healthcare logistics. In agricultural robotics, they enable precise cooperation between drones and greenhouse robots – even where GPS fails.

To ensure the reliable operation of such systems, they need a positioning system that is as precise and stable as humans can achieve with their senses and experience. Current solutions often rely on laser measurement or cameras that visually record the surroundings. Although these passive systems can handle many tasks, they quickly reach their limits – for example in the presence of unfavorable lighting conditions, reflective surfaces, or extreme environmental influences.

This is exactly where our technology comes in: it complements existing systems and can often replace them completely. Our sensors are based on active radio-based distance measurement. The distance between two transceivers is determined by measuring the time it takes for a signal to travel from the transmitter to the receiver. This time is multiplied by the speed of light to calculate the exact distance. This is how we measure distances with high accuracy – for example, between a drone and a greenhouse robot. If the drone detects weeds, the greenhouse robots can orient themselves precisely to remove them in a targeted manner. Communication via radio is almost instantaneous. Our sensors are maintenance-free, require no calibration and are more cost-effective and energy-efficient than passive systems.

What technology does your AAA-1001 sensor use for its precision, and how did you develop it?

Our sensors are based on Impulse Radio Ultra-Wide Band (IR-UWB) technology. IR-UWB is a radio technology in which extremely short, low-energy pulses are transmitted over a very broad frequency spectrum. These pulses allow the measurement of time differences in the nanosecond range – and therefore also distances with exceptionally high precision.

Most IR-UWB sensors measure distance with an accuracy of 10 to 60 centimeters, our system achieves a precision up to five millimeters. All components – from the chip to the circuit board to the algorithms – were developed by our team and partly in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics (IHP) in Frankfurt (Oder). As a result, we have mastered sensor design at all levels. From the very beginning, we have focused on maximum precision and reliability. We optimize hardware and software specifically for exact distance measurement and consciously accept slightly higher energy consumption for this. As a result, our sensor delivers stable and reliable results even under difficult conditions.

Our team at All About Accuracy came about through a series of happy coincidences. I am an astrophysicist and mechanical engineer and have worked on European space projects such as Ariane 5. I came to positioning technology more by chance: together with a friend, I wanted to develop augmented reality software – and quickly realized that there was no sensor that was precise enough for this.

So, I designed a concept for a suitable chip and looked for partners to implement it. I came across Dr. Denys Martynenko and Dr. Gunter Fischer from the IHP in Frankfurt (Oder). They had already developed a chip that exactly matched my idea. Together we decided to develop this technology further and bring it to market maturity.

We are currently working on a development kit that we will deliver to five pilot customers in June 2025. With this kit, our customers can use the sensor for their robot applications in hospitals or in agriculture and provide us with valuable feedback. This feedback will form the basis for our first product, which will go into serial production from 2026. We also have other designs in the pipeline that are based on ideas from quantum theory. These could be used for satellite communication in space, for example.

Currently, only ten percent of all microchips come from Europe, forcing the innovative sector to increasingly relocate its production outside the EU. This dependence on Asian and American chip factories poses a significant risk in turbulent times. We urgently need to increase chip production in Europe to strengthen our security and technological independence. For us as technology start-up, it is very important that the EU has recognized the importance of independent chip production and is therefore making significant investments in chip manufacturing and start-ups.

With All About Accuracy, you want to make a contribution to European chip development from Brandenburg. Why did you decide to set up in the Potsdam Science Park and what are your plans for the future?

It was very important for us to found the company in Brandenburg because the sensor was developed in this federal state. We want to create jobs here and advance technological development. I have known the Potsdam Science Park for a long time because I studied astrophysics at the University of Potsdam and lived in Golm. Now I live near Potsdam with my family, as does my colleague Denys Martynenko. We have a lot of contacts in the region, which helps us a lot with the start-up. The Potsdam Science Park the perfect place for us because it brings together research and companies in areas such as drug development, agriculture and chemistry. Robotization, and therefore our technology, will become increasingly important for all of these sectors in the future.

The Potsdam Science Park team made us feel very welcome right from the start and helped us to gain a foothold and network in Golm. The regular social events and matchmaking offers are ideal for this and tailored to the needs of start-ups. Another big plus point is that we can rent affordable offices and laboratory space in the GO:IN innovation center and use equipment in research institutes. The Potsdam Science Park therefore offers us good conditions for flexible growth.

In the future, we want to set up our own production facility here and employ around 20 people. Brandenburg has a lot of potential in the field of electronics and semiconductor technology – especially thanks to excellent research institutions such as the IHP in Frankfurt (Oder). We want to help create an ecosystem here that translates innovations from research into marketable products more quickly, creates high-tech jobs and strengthens Europe’s technological sovereignty.

Further information can be found on the All About Accuracy website.

This blog and the projects carried out by Standortmanagement Golm GmbH in the Potsdam Science Park are funded by the European Union and the State of Brandenburg.