The genius of FiveCo behind robots, batteries and cigars
Propelled by Expo.02, the engineers of this Mont-sur-Lausanne SME have more than one trick up their sleeve. And not only in watchmaking and luxury.
You may have crossed paths with Robox at the Expo.02 arteplage in Neuchâtel — one of those autonomous robots that acted as guides, conversing in the language of your choice. You may have seen the luxury watch display stand, exhibited without a glass cover, disappearing in the blink of an eye with a single hand movement that came too close. Or perhaps you have heard of that famous exceptional cigar box, packed with technology, the height of chic, automatically managing humidity and temperature. The genius behind these inventions has one name: FiveCo. With its multidisciplinary approach, this engineering firm founded at EPFL in 2002 is a jack-of-all-trades in innovation.
The company brings to life the breathtaking ideas of clients such as Dietlin, the metalwork craftsman from Romanel-sur-Lausanne, who reinvents and animates high-end watch displays, or Imperiali Geneva, creator of exclusive prestige objects. But although the firm has a reputation for these spectacular products, Antoine Lorotte, director of FiveCo, refutes the image of engineering in the service of the futile and the ultra-luxurious. His made-to-measure technology finds multiple applications in many different fields.
While watchmaking and luxury represent more than a third of turnover — close to 3 million francs — another third is achieved in industry and robotics, the rest in sectors such as metrology, automotive, and medical. "After more than 150 heterogeneous projects, I can justify this diversity in our work," he says. One example: for the endodontics specialist Dentsply Maillefer, in Ballaigues, the engineering firm developed an iPad application to pilot a wireless motor for treating the tissues of the tooth. It also designed the protective case for the iPad in question, meeting strict hygiene conditions.
The director of FiveCo takes pride in this approach from his team, which brings together multiple competencies to create a product: software, electronics (embedded programmes), mechatronics, electrical, energy, design, and image processing. It also developed on one hand the programme controlling the different sequences of the dental operation, as well as the management of the patient's digital data, and on the other hand, for the case, carried out design work and defined the production process.
A method that Steve Jobs would not have disowned — even if he had a reputation for "tyrannising" his engineers so that they found solutions at the service of designers. Antoine Lorotte refers to this in a series of reflections on innovation, the defence of Swiss made and of independence, published for the firm's 15th anniversary.
But let us go back fifteen years, to Expo.02! FiveCo's founders, all engineers from EPFL specialised in microtechnology, were called upon to collaborate on the project for guide robots for navigation and obstacle avoidance systems, as well as the vision system allowing the robot to look people straight in the eyes. These technologies quickly found industrial applications and opened up a new market. This is what prompted the five founders to launch their company. Four of them, all in their forties, are still there today: Antoine Lorotte, Xavier Greppin, Gilles Froidevaux, and Antoine Gardiol.
Nine engineers
Today, the firm employs ten people, nine of whom are engineers who define themselves as "specialists in microcontroller-based systems with embedded intelligence, complex mechanics, and image processing algorithms". FiveCo set up in the En Budron industrial zone in Mont three years ago, after six years at the EPFL Science Park and six others in Renens.
In its new 1,000 m² space with contemporary design, part is dedicated to the assembly workshop and final testing of all products. For small series, the engineers themselves assemble the electronic and mechatronic components that power the watch display stands or the ultra-sophisticated cigar boxes. To give an idea of this genuine havana safe — which preserves them thanks to a complex thermodynamic system capturing the humidity of the air — a few figures: it required 18,000 hours of development and is made up of 3,577 parts with 71 printed circuits and 21 motors. The price of this exceptional piece produced in a limited series: 1 million francs.
Under its own brand, FiveCo has also created a wine cellar management system as well as a modern collection of furniture with secret drawers inspired by noble furnishings. But its future lies in connected watch peripherals and the electric vehicle sector, with the embedded intelligence in which the company has already carved out a path. It has designed a high-performance battery manager that controls the charge not as a block but of each individual cell (672 in total), making it possible to optimise the available charge. It was used on a Nissan hybrid running the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and this technology should find an application in series electric vehicles.
