Playa Vista firm Tribogenics has a new technology that it says will be an invaluable tool for manufacturers who need to ensure the metal they’re milling is as advertised – and don’t want to pay a fortune to do so.

In July, Tribogenics introduced Watson, a 6.5-pound handheld device that identifies 459 metal alloys covering 23 elements using what’s called X-ray fluorescence. Watson takes three to nine seconds to identify a metal, depending on how light or heavy it is, with 100 percent accuracy for the lighter metals, according to the manufacturer.

“More and more companies are getting materials coming in from overseas and coming in with erroneous specifications, and sometimes these errors are found by the machine shop,” said Stewart Chalmers, Tribogenics’ head of marketing. “If it’s not the grade (of metal) it’s specified to be, there’s a potential safety issue.”

What’s truly innovative about Watson, Chalmers said, is that the X-rays are generated inside of a small proprietary cartridge called M1, which can be replaced easily and cheaply.

Traditional X-ray analyzers start at about $25,000, while Watson sells for about $10,000. Chalmers said the replacement cartridges cost about $299 and need to be replaced typically every four or so months.

“Because of the M1, we can basically provide a small X-ray source that is exchangeable in the field for one-tenth of the cost,” he said.

Tribogenics’ X-ray cartridge is the brainchild of its co-founder and head scientist, physicist Carlos Camara. He led a team of scientists at UCLA that, through funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the university, discovered how to use static electricity to generate X-ray fluorescence.

Camara and investor Dale Fox co-founded Tribogenics in 2011, and the company has since attracted $20 million from investors including Peter Thiel’s San Francisco-based Founders Fund and Foster City super-angel investor Seraph Group.

– Carol Lawrence