Projects
Our projects come in three varieties
Bespoke Projects
Specific, special engineering projects done for clients who need our skill in developing products, technology and processes for them that embody our principles of making things that are smart, safe and sustainable.
You can find out about these in Engineering.
Industrial Projects
Projects done together with industrial partners to develop products, technology and processes that embody our principles of making things that are smart, safe and sustainable, that they can then use as part of their innovative product portfolio.
These projects are often include academic partnerships and grants for Research & Development.
Internal Projects
Our own internal projects, built around original and innovative Research and Development, often with academic partners and grants or awards, our objective being to bring something of our own to market that embodies are principles of smart, safe and sustainable.
These projects let us diversify into new applications for industry and social wellbeing.
R&D for Smart Tags and Sensors
Our goal is to make RFID tags and sensors very economically, so they can be used in high volume for many mobile assets, from tyres to filters and beyond. We are constantly designing inlays, patches and labels on a wide range of substrates that are thin, light, transparent, rigid and flexible, and that transmit in both UHF and NFC.
Right now we are working with printable technology on materials compatible with tyres and their hot- curing manufacturing process (up to 200psi and 185°C). Additive printing avoids expensive vacuum and high temperature processing, so we are very confident of achieving our goal, which will be a double winner when self-powered by Energy Harvesting.
R&D for Energy Harvesting
We are deeply engaged in R&D for Energy Harvesting as this is key to being able to make and supply self-powered strips of tags and sensors that can go ‘behind the dashboard’. Right now our focus is on tyres for heavy vehicles. In this we are supported by major tyre manufacturers.
Several concurrent projects are independently using piezoelectric and kinetic properties of different materials to generate power and provide data about a tyre’s properties to determine what is the best construct, given each specific tyre’s composition and manufacturing process, as these can vary.
R&D for Printable Electronics
3D and Additive manufacturing
For tags, sensors, transmitters, energy Rapid Reel-to-Reel (R2R)
Quickly configurable
New and more flexible materials
Thin and lightweight
All colors – even transparent
Wearable and mobile
Low cost, even for limited runs
Thanks to our collaboration with the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC), we have identified a universal substrate that has the mechanical properties necessary for embedding RFID and 2D tags into rubber during curing at high temperature and pressure.
Thanks to our research in roll-to-roll manufacturing, Silent Sensors has formulated ‘inks’ that can be printed onto special substrates. This lets us mass-produce RFID tags at a lower price point than traditional techniques. This process also lets us produce the energy harvesting and energy storage materials we are developing with the University of Bath and CPI.