Research & Development
Our activities are built around original Research and Development, both internally conceived and in collaboration with partners from industry and academia. Our R&D is your future product and service.
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.
R&D for Transmission
Radio transmission frequencies are set by international agencies. Our solutions conventionally work in UHF at 2.4GHz and 433MHz, BLE and NFC. Our hubs and routers work in licensed telecom channels. Our R&D is focused on designing and incorporating transmission devices and antennas into printable substrates, including ones that can harvest energy. Very often this is custom R&D for Solution Engineering projects.
R&D for Cloud Computing
Projects
We are actively engaged in both internal and commissioned projects, the purpose of which being to advance knowledge and understanding in developing new ways of producing and installing RFID tags and sensors on rubber, polymer and elastomer based materials.
Patents
A recent prior-art patent search supports Silent Sensors’ “Freedom to Operate”.
Silent Sensors has been registered as a trademark to help commercialise and protect its own innovation.
Measuring Tyre Pressure
Measuring Sensor
Trilobal Manufacturing Process
The Trilobal sensor can be manufactured using different injection moulding techniques to reduce the costs. One of the designs allows the plastic to be produced flat and then folded into shape. Patent applied for in the UK.