Tech Offers

Efficient LoRa WAN protocol for mission critical IoT applications

An improvised LoRaWAN has been developed to enhance data transmission efficiency between LoRa trackers and LoRaWAN gateways addressing the prevalent issue of mid-air data loss due to collisions. This improved protocol enhances the data transmission rate from its current range of 10-30% to 65%. This substantial improvement leads to power savings for IoT end nodes, particularly those powered by batteries, by eliminating the need for data re-transmission. Moreover, the improved protocol also significantly increases gateway capacity, thereby reducing the capital expenditure associated with IT infrastructure.

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Safe and Rechargeable Water-Based Battery

To achieve a net-zero carbon emission goal, energy derived from fossil fuels are replaced with green renewables such as solar, wind, etc. However, these renewable energies are intermittent in nature and therefore requires a reliable energy storage system to store these energies. Today, batteries based on lithium-ion and lead-acid are widely used as the go-to energy storage system. However, there are fire safety concerns for the conventional lithium-ion batteries due to its highly volatile and flammable electrolyte while the acidic electrolyte and carcinogenic lead used in lead-acid posed threat to both human and environmental health. Therefore, there is a need for a new safe and environmentally friendly battery system.This technology offer is a safe and rechargeable water-based battery using a unique green electrolyte formulation (close to neutral pH). Owing to the widened electrochemical stability window and high ionic conductivity of the proposed electrolyte formulation, it enables superior electrochemical performance of the electrode materials used in the batteries, suited towards large-scale energy storage applications.

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Economical and Sustainable Binder for Efficient Stabilisation of Marine Soft Clay

Offshore land reclamation has been an important strategy for Singapore to meet its land needs. However, the ultra-soft soil in the surrounding waters makes land reclamation extremely difficult. Besides, many infrastructure projects (i.e., tunnelling, deep excavation, etc.) are also challenging when encountering soft marine clay due to its poor engineering properties, such as high water content, high compressibility, and low shear strength.Currently, ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is the most common binder used for soft clay stabilisation through deep mixing or jet grouting. However, OPC is not very effective for the stabilisation of marine soft clay with high water content. In addition, the production of OPC leads to negative environmental impacts such as non-renewable resources, high energy consumption, and high carbon emissions.The technology owner has developed a sustainable novel binder, entirely from industrial by-products, that has high stabilisation efficiency for marine soft clay. Using the same binder content, the 28-day strength of the novel binder-stabilised soft clay can be 2–3 times higher than that of the OPC-stabilised clay. In addition, the novel binder has a lower cost and less environmental impact, making it an economical and sustainable alternative to OPC.This technology is available for R&D collaboration, IP licensing, and test-bedding with industrial partners in the construction and infrastructure sectors.

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Universal Robotic Gripping: Variable-Stiffness Gripper Enabled by Jamming Transition

Recent advances in soft robotics revolutionize the way robots interact with the environment, empowering robots to undertake complex tasks using soft and compliant grippers. Compared to traditional rigid structures. Soft grippers have excellent adaptability for a variety of objects and tasks. However, the existing gripper systems faces some challenges, such as handling delicate, wet, and slippery items, the risk of damaging valuable items, and high production cost.Based on pneumatic jamming of 3D-printed fabrics, the technology owner has developed a variable-stiffness soft pneumatic gripper that can apply small forces for pinching and pick-up heavy objects via stiffening. The invented grippers are soft and adaptive to handle delicate items with various shapes and weights, minimising the damaging risk of items during the gripping process. In addition, such gripper with adjustable stiffness could handle heavy and bulky items by increasing its gripping strength. These benefits make the gripper more versatile and adaptable to various applications in agriculture, food processing, packaging, manufacturing, and human-robot interaction (HRI).The technology owner is seeking to do R&D collaboration, IP licensing, and test-bedding with industrial partners intending to integrate variable-stiffness gripper in their applications. 

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