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Feature

Solutions for an Intelligent City

“Intelligent Cities”, with the focus on the bond between the city and people, has become a buzzword and has been seen as one of the solutions for industry upgrading. ITRI’s IEK indicated that there are more than 250 ongoing large scale projects on intelligent cities around the world and that the global production value of intelligent city-related industries will reach US$750 billion by 2020, with phenomenal application growth and business potential. At COMPUTEX 2017, ITRI showed the convenience an intelligent city can offer.

Intelligent Seawater Desalination System

ITRI applies forward osmosis (FO) technology in seawater desalination, using the mechanism that water molecules in seawater would pass through a semipermeable membrane due to osmosis pressure difference. With the use of intelligent technology, the system can monitor the separation of draw solution and water molecules from higher osmotic pressure, thus enhancing the efficiency of draw solution recovery. Moreover, the separated draw solution can be recycled to the system.

Environmental Gas Sensing Microsystem

ITRI develops a digital multi-gas sensor featuring a miniature chip size (0.9 x 0.9 x 0.4 mm³), ultra-low power consumption (pulsed power < 1 mW), and the ability to identify multiple gases (CO & VOCs) in micromachining technology. Integrated in a wearable wristband or in an indoor air quality monitor, it is able to issue warning messages when the surrounding air pollution exceeds the standard or could be hazardous. Users can thus access air pollution information anytime and anywhere so as to ensure quality of life.

Handheld Pesticide Residue Detector

ITRI introduced the world’s first portable agricultural pesticide detector that employs patented “micro pesticide detection technology for food analysis.” The optical detection technology reveals the unique wavelength absorption pattern of chemical products and provides a foolproof spectral analysis of agricultural pesticides. The detector helps users to determine whether the amount of pesticide residues is within a safe range when they are washing fruits or vegetables, with the lights (red, yellow, and green) on the wireless charger indicating the results. If used in tandem with specialized fruit and vegetable cleansers, the detector can also be used to detect fat-soluble pesticides up to 0.5 ppm detection limit and indicates when cleansing is complete. This technology won a Best Choice Award at COMPUTEX 2017.

Enabling Sensor Technology

ITRI and Brewer Science are working collaboratively on an extensive program that explores new realms of printed sensor performance, developing products with customized form factors and increased connectivity for an expanding application base. Utilizing cutting-edge carbon electronics technology, ITRI and Brewer Science worked together to collect, interpret, and process data that will deliver smart sensor solutions, enabling cities to become cleaner and more energy efficient.