Singapore – A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) is continuing its efforts to help international organisations move their business forward and enabling local SMEs gain their competitive edge through increased productivity. The home-grown innovations showcased at IoT (Internet of Things) Asia 2014 in April and at A*STAR’s SME Day.

Last October, I2R exhibited its ‘ready-to-go’ ICM productivity solutions at its annual flagship event, ICM Horizons. This was in response to the National Productivity Council’s call to boost the productivity and efficiency of Singapore’s local enterprises to drive productivity for labour-constrained SMEs.

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Within a span of six months, more than 57 of I2R’s technology deployments have been implemented by 27 SMEs, with technologies ranging from image recognition, augmented reality to sensor networks.

Feinmetall, a local SME in precision engineering, is now using the image recognition technology ‘Snap2Tell Alive’ mobile application, which streams instructional videos of production equipment to mobile devices, allowing customers to view these easily instead of referring to printed manuals or consulting technicians. This enhances the productivity of Feinmetall as their technicians need not be present at their customers’ premises. At the same time, customers’ equipment downtime is reduced, as they can now bring the equipment back to operation without much delay.

 IoT Asia 2014

The inaugural IoT (Internet of Things) Asia Exhibition and Conference is the first in the region to focus on bringing IoT technology and tranformation to end-businesses, governments and society. It provides a spectrum of enterprise platform solutions for Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to integrate within their product or solution offerings and enables them to gain an edge in information business.

I2R is one of the founding members of IoT Asia 2014.

At the event, I2R  showed three exciting IoT innovations: the Toilet Cleanliness Monitoring System, Taxi Queue Monitoring System and Outdoor Car Park Monitoring System. These three systems have been installed at the Singapore EXPO Convention and Exhibition Centre (Singex) for test bedding as part of a 3-year MOU between I2R and Singex.

a) Toilet Cleanliness Monitoring System

The Toilet Cleanliness Monitoring System is maintenance-free as it applies energy-harvesting technologies to power the sensors that count the number of users going past the toilet’s main door. Cleaning companies can deploy their workers more effectively to clean the toilets according to their ‘cleanliness level’ using this technology.

The system is scalable as it also has the option to include ammonia sensors and ‘on-demand’ requests to alert the cleaners if a particular toilet needs additional attention. This technology is expected to improve the productivity of cleaning companies by up to 20 percent. Usually, public toilets are cleaned at regular intervals, regardless of the number of times the toilet is used. This results in manpower wastage. The system will be installed in 10 toilet cubicles at the Singapore EXPO.

I2R will be working with cleaning companies and commercial building owners to deploy this system, under A*STAR’s Technology Adoption Programme (TAP). The research institute is also working with system integration companies to license this technology and introduce it to the mass market.

 b) Taxi Queue Monitoring System

Most of us have encountered a situation where we have to queue for a long time before boarding a taxi. I2R’s Taxi Queue Monitoring System aims to provide an effective system of measuring the number of people queuing at a taxi stand. Using innovative human detection and tracking technology through images captured by a CCTV, the system is able to analyse and forecast the average waiting time by taking into account the number of people waiting in line.

A Proof-of-Concept System has been set up at the taxi stand near Foyer 1 at Singapore Expo. The information analysed and forecasted will be showcased at IoT Asia 2014.

I2R plans to work with taxi operators and building owners to install the Taxi Queue Monitoring System, which will provide real-time information for taxi companies to deploy their available taxis efficiently and provide convenience to passengers.

 c) Outdoor Car Park Monitoring System

I2R’s Outdoor Car Park Monitoring System is a visual system that enables car park management companies to track outdoor car park lots occupancy in a cost-effective manner.

By using a network of wireless cameras to detect vacated car park lots, this system provides motorists with real-time information on parking lots availability in an outdoor environment. The system also works at night, with the availability of street lights. The Outdoor Car Park Monitoring System differs from the conventional indoor car park monitoring system as it does not require sensors to be installed overhead or embedded underground. This translates to lower system hardware and installation costs.

Car owners can locate empty car park lots more efficiently and within a shorter time, saving petrol and reducing their carbon footprint. A proof-of-concept system has been deployed at Car Park A at Singapore EXPO.

 Dr. Lee Shiang Long, Executive Director of I2R, said, “I2R is adopting a Whole-of-I2R approach in bringing the diverse and relevant range of technology capabilities to boost productivity and efficiency of large organisations and local SMEs. The showcase of our home-grown technologies at premier platforms such as IoT Asia is a great opportunity for companies to share and learn about how innovations can positively impact their businesses and meeting their customers’ needs by boosting productivity and efficiency.”

Ready-To-Go Technologies for SMEs

I2R also showcased its ‘ready-to-go’ innovations at A*STAR’s SME Day.

These ICM technologies that can be readily adopted by SMEs are translated from I2R’s research efforts to readily deployable technologies and platform solutions for easy adoption by SMEs to meet their customers’ needs.

I2R will continue to work directly with government agencies, trade associations and local SMEs to deploy more of these ‘ready-to-go’ technologies for quick and easy deployment and adoption.

 In line with its mission-oriented mandate, A*STAR spearheads research and development in fields that are essential to growing Singapore’s manufacturing sector and catalysing new growth industries. A*STAR supports these economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry.