Lead is a major problem when it ends up in our food and in nature. Even in very small amounts, the metal can cause damage to the nervous system, especially in foetuses and young children. 

It is no wonder that society limits its use in various ways. Lead bullets and lead shot, which are used in hunting, result in 10-16 tonnes of lead ending up in nature every year. A total ban is already being debated. 

Other lead-free bullets do not work optimally 

“For me, the lead issue arose already around 1990, when people started talking about how lead in gaseous form can be harmful, and that those of us who shoot firearms a lot would need to get tested,” says Staffan Leth, whose life has revolved around weapons in various ways. Raised in Djurås between Leksand and Borlänge, hunting and sport shooting have always been central. 

Staffan’s shop, which was started as a hobby in the ’90s, currently has three employees and stocks a wide range of goods. And lead has been an ever-present issue. 

“There have been alternatives, but they have not worked satisfactorily,” says Staffan. “In 2018, I therefore started to develop a lead-free hunting bullet – and it works better than traditional lead-nose bullets.” 

Staffan is used to so-called handloading products, which is when hunters or shooters adapt their ammunition to their firearm. Handloading (or, more accurately, reloading) involves reusing previously fired casings or shells by inserting a new percussion cap, gunpowder, and slug, which is done using a special tool available for each calibre. Developing a completely new bullet required a lot of careful planning and numerous attempts. 

“When I started the development, I had a high ambition: to make the world’s best hunting bullet. In Sweden. Lead-free. And with the same precision as a professional bullet! All with a price that appeals to every Swedish hunter.” 

An ambitious goal, especially since the lead-free alternatives available on the market are often perceived as inferior. 

“The quality has varied. Many hunters have been sceptical and found that they do not expand enough on impact. They also claim that they travel sluggishly through the barrel, which builds gas pressure that results in more powerful recoil.” 

Copper alloy with optimal design 

The bullet Staffan has now developed has a copper alloy and a design that he believes works optimally. 

“It has good expansion and expands up to double the diameter. Another advantage is that the residual weight is 99-100 percent.” 

The latter is an advantage even compared to traditional lead bullets, as it means that the bullet holds together inside the wound and does not spread small fragments that contaminate the meat. A lead-nose bullet fragments considerably, which means that you have to cut away a lot of meat around the entry point to ensure that lead residues do not end up on your plate. 

“Those who use our bullet claim to have 10 percent less waste compared to when they use lead bullets,” says Staffan. “For those who sell game meat and shoot many animals every year, that translates to many additional kilograms of meat that can be eaten, as well as more money.” 

To test his bullet, Staffan used ballistic gelatin, designed to simulate the effects of bullet wounds in animal muscle tissue. He feels confident in his conclusions. 

“But I need to verify my claims, both by having an independent party perform the same shooting tests and by demonstrating how the bullet behaves on impact.” 

He therefore approached RISE, which has a flexible test facility that allows for customisation according to the relevant ballistic requirements. During testing, a high-speed camera recording at 15,000 frames per second was used to evaluate the bullet’s behaviour. You can see an example in the video below. 

Received impartial evidence of the functionality 

“I got impartial evidence that the bullet actually works. They conducted rigorous tests and gave me videos showing the bullet’s behaviour.” 

Staffan has already started selling his lead-free bullet in several countries, and in the autumn of 2022 he also developed his own ammunition. The next step will be for other manufacturers to start using the bullet as a lead-free alternative in their ammunition. 

“Given that the ban is already enforced in some regions, it feels great to have a bullet that I believe is better than traditional lead bullets – and that we have been able to demonstrate this with the help of an impartial operator,” says Staffan. 

Dormakaba’s dKey is a hybrid lock, which means that it can be opened both with a key and via a smartphone. All the technology is contained within the lock housing, which means that it is not noticeable from the outside that this is a lock with a digital function.

In 2020, Stöldskyddsföreningen (Sweden’s theft prevention association, SSF) launched a new norm – SSF 3523 Digital Locking Unit. This sets requirements for digital locks in accordance with the same principles as the norm SSF 3522 Approved Locking Unit, but with the difference that it also describes internet-connected products.

“We believe that it is important to have guidelines, norms and requirements, and when we realised that our Dormakaba dKey meets the requirements for SSF 3523, we chose to certify the product”, explains Anders Sandgren, who is a business developer at Dormakaba and whose areas of responsibility include certification and training.

The locking system has been developed in the Nordic region, and is manufactured by Dormakaba in Eskilstuna. The certification, which was conducted by RISE, is the first in Sweden that is in accordance with the new norm, and Anders Sandgren sees great value in being able to show that the product meets the strict security requirements.

“Cyber-threats are increasing all around the world, and it is important that the digital locking systems and access solutions that are being developed ensure that digital communications cannot be accessed by unauthorised parties”, he says.

New security requirements

For this reason, digitalisation places new demands on developers of locking solutions and security products. This is not just concerned with mastery of software and hardware, but also necessitates a whole new way of thinking about risk – all to ensure that products cannot be hacked.

Provided that security is not compromised, Anders Sandgren has a positive approach to the digital development.

“It raises the level of competence for the entire industry, and provides us with opportunities to build comprehensive solutions in a new way. We can also complement our mechanical products with new technology, which increases the value of our solutions. These digital solutions will take us into the future.”

Ensuring quality

Certification engineer Nima Azarmehr and Ted Strandberg, who is growth area leader for cybersecurity certification at RISE, are two of those who have worked with the certification of Dormakaba’s dKey. They state that, as with any other certification, the purpose of the certification of digital security products and locks is to verify their quality – which, in this case, also requires a high standard of security. The fact that it concerns a digital product presents the person performing the certification with new challenges.

“There is a challenge involved in familiarising yourself with a completely new product that requires advanced testing. These also concern entire systems, with many components, and this increases the complexity”, says Ted Strandberg.

“In addition, this also sets new demands on the trust between the manufacturers and those performing the certification. When a product is concerned with mechanical protection, there are geographical limits. Digital locks, however, can be opened from anywhere in the world. The manufacturer is therefore exposed in a different way, so it is important for them to be able to trust the person performing the certification”, explains Nima Azarmehr.

Tested by ethical hackers

In the same way that the development of digital lock solutions places new demands on the developers, the certification of digital security products and locks also places demands on new specialist competence on the part of the person performing the certification. After an initial verification of the manufacturer’s documentation (concerning, for example, logging in and encryption), the product is then subjected to what is known as penetration testing.

“This means that so-called ‘ethical hackers’ try to gain entry to the system”, explains Ted Strandberg, who also adds that RISE has approved and certified employees who act as ethical hackers.

This is followed by an inspection of the production of the system, in order to verify that the products that are being produced are the same as those that have been tested. The final step is the issuing of certification.

The certification of Dormakaba’s dKey is, as mentioned, the first of its kind in Sweden. It is not, however, the first product that RISE has certified on behalf of Dormakaba.

“We certify many products locally, including lock housings and cylinders, and testing is currently underway for new certifications”, says Anders Sandgren, who adds that the dialogue with RISE, in which he himself has a coordinating role, works well.

Training in both standards and cybersecurity

In addition to the certification of digital security products and locks, RISE also offers external training in cybersecurity – both in general and customised forms. RISE also provides training on the SSF standards 3523 Digital Locking Unit and 1120 IoT Connected Devices, performs various types of tests, and can provide assistance in the interpretation of standards.

“RISE can also participate as a consultant in product development, but we cannot then be classed as an independent third party, which means that we are not permitted to certify the product”, says Nima Azarmehr.

In healthcare today, a computer can read an X-ray just as well as a doctor can – and even better in some cases. But the technology has many potential uses, such as automatic quality inspections or safety monitoring. However, before a computer vision system replaces a person, very high safety requirements must be met. Autonomous vehicles are one example.

"In many cases, the system is very good at making the right decisions quickly and is sometimes better than a human being at driving a car,” says Aleksis Pirinen, Senior Researcher in Machine Learning and Computer Vision. “Yet we still we don’t feel that the technology is mature, even though it could already, to some extent, lead to fewer deaths on the roads.”

Various and high thresholds for use

For some computer vision applications, there are ready-to-use AI models, such as for X-ray images where a computer has learned to distinguish between an intact bone and one with a fracture. But for those seeking to develop something new and specific to their business, a number of steps must be implemented.

“A fundamental point is to have training data that your AI model should train on,” says Pirinen. “For example, if you want the system to recognise agricultural plant diseases, you need pictures of healthy plants as well as diseased plants.”

And once you have your training data, you need to tell the system what it depicts by means of so-called annotations, or information about what each image contains.

For those wanting to implement or develop computer vision technology in their organisation, RISE can be a partner for teaching, collaboration, or research.

“We have many research projects through which we can demonstrate what can be done with the data and to meet the needs of the partner,” says Mogren.

Several ethical aspects

An ethical dilemma related to computer vision is bias, which is sometimes unconsciously built into the system by those who trained it. Among other problems, there have been instances where the system does not read dark-skinned faces as well as it does for light-skinned faces.

“This is of course extremely problematic, you have to work actively to minimise this kind of bias in your models,” says Mogren.

“One way could be ensuring greater diversity among those who develop the models,” says Pirinen.

Another ethical dilemma, often highlighted in the media, is the risk of ‘deepfakes’. Not only can computer vision learn to understand what it sees, but it can also create images.

“With the right skills, very realistic images and videos can be made,” cautions Pirinen. “This is something that will need to be tackled in the future.”

“As with all technology, it can be used for both good and evil,” adds Mogren. Positive uses for images generated by the systems include digital twins, which can be used in research to perform tests in a very realistic simulated environment, and images that show the potential effects of upcoming climate disasters.

“It’s a way to demonstrate how powerful these systems are, and how there are both risks and positive uses.”

Retinal imaging and weed control

Two computer vision applications that RISE helped to develop are retinal imaging as a form of drug testing, and new possibilities for weed control.

“We worked with data and algorithms to find weeds, then another operator developed a robot that seeks and destroys them using a small laser,” says Mogren.

Computer vision is an emerging technology, and we have not yet seen all the application areas for which the technology can be useful.

“Autonomous vehicles and all types of driver assistance systems are also arenas where this technology is incredibly useful. I would say that computer vision has an abundance of benefits. There are extremely wide areas of application that are only limited by our imaginations,” concludes Mogren.