by Natasha Arora | Photo credits: Insight Robotics, TecHKU | 6 August 2015

As part of TecHKU’s innovative tech leaders series, we talked to Rex Sham of Insight Robotics Limited (IRL), a “disruptive” robotics firm based in Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks, about the technologies behind his firefighting robots, big data, and his startup journey.

We might find it hard to appreciate certain technologies that we don’t personally use in everyday life, but technology like that developed by Insight Robotics play a huge role in safeguarding people, infrastructure and environment.

Insight Robotics has been growing ever since it was co-founded by Rex Sham and Kevin Chan in 2009. Their work has been recognised worldwide. In February 2015, the Hong Kong-based startup was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the IBM SmartCamp Global Finals.

The robotics startup relies on three main technologies:

1. Insight Globe

Simply put, Insight Globe is an advanced form of geographic information system as it incorporates structured data and updates itself in real time. This platform enables accurate threat detection on its grid-based map.

2. Wildfire Detection Robots

The wildfire detection robots use “advanced thermal imaging sensors” to detect forest fires within a five-kilometre radius. It can detect a heat source that is as small as two square meters. Moreover, it is connected to Insight Globe thus, precisely locating the source of the fire.

3. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

The unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with a number of sensors and cameras. The long wave infrared sensor can detect changes in temperature, while the visible light camera takes high-resolution images with geo-tagging. Lastly, the crop camera can monitor crop health by detecting photosynthesis activity.

These three technologies are deployed in combination for agricultural surveying and mapping, plantation management, wildfire detection, and pipeline and electrical fault detection.

What has IRL essentially done?
It found loopholes in existing technology and filled the gaps. The basic and older wildfire detection systems provide a warning once the fire is on its way to becoming a full-fledged disaster, and they can take up to two hours to do so!

To IRL, a timely response is the most important factor in countering a forest fire. Their wildfire detection robots aim to detect the fire minutes after it breaks out to minimise losses and destruction, and pin-point its location using Inside Globe.

The UAVs are deployed to conduct aerial surveys of plantations and agricultural land. The data generated on soil fertility, crop status, quality of soil, etc. can be analysed and used by plantation managers and farmers to ensure high yields, prevent pest infestation and prevent disasters from striking. Additionally, the sensors in the UAV can detect “abnormal heat levels” due to pipeline leakages and corrosion and help prevent industrial disasters.

Thus, as Sham explained, “for many years, monitoring large areas of land was a manual, expensive and time-consuming process in emerging and developed markets alike. For the first time ever, entire industries such as forestry and agriculture, are able to use automated technology to gain the insights they need to protect our world’s natural resources and infrastructure quickly, easily and cost-effectively.”

Era of Big Data

UAVs and wildfire detection robots collect data and provide “insights” in real time to enable better decision making on the course of future action. Furthermore, a diverse range of data leads to identification and implementation of a solution that has been customised to suit the exact needs of the problem.

According to Sham, in the future, data will be mainly collect by machines and analysed by computers. He believes that “insights can be automatically generated by fusing different high-quality data sets.” He adds: “Each new dataset collected helps make our technology and the underlying algorithms even more intelligent, therefore resulting in the highest quality and most relevant data possible for our customers.”
He does mention that the role of humans is still essential, “Humans and robots will work together as humans still need to define the data needs and parameters and act on the data.”

Big data has tremendously helped the private and public sector. Now governments can make better decisions and companies can work more efficiently. For Rex, all these benefits come with added concerns: “The big question around big data is: who will own the data? This is why data privacy and security are very important.”

He emphasised the need to be pragmatic and reasonable: “Don’t be afraid to take risks and change direction but also understand your personal limits. Push forward and fast with your venture, but at the same time, know when to stop, reflect and reset.”

Students interested in internship or career opportunities with Insight Robotics can visit their website here.

• About
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Natasha Arora

Social Sciences + journalism student at HKU. Loves to travel and lives on pop music. Major foodie, climate change advocate, and wannabe workaholic.

Latest posts by Natasha Arora (see all)

• How pinpointing value-adding solutions is key to Insight Robotics’s success - August 6, 2015
• New Ultrafast Aluminium-Ion Battery - May 23, 2015

It is 9 a.m., and I’m already late for class. Just as I’m packing my backpack, my phone decides to die. OH NO. Is it just me or does everyone’s phone die when they are about to leave the house? Things get worse when I find that I forgot to charge my power bank too.

Does the technological world have an answer to this problem? Apparently it does.

In April 2015, Stanford University scientists declared that they have invented a prototype of an inexpensive aluminium-ion battery that can charge in just 60 seconds! This new invention can potentially replace the conventional lithium-ion batteries used in smartphones, which take hours to charge.

The rechargeable aluminium battery consists of an aluminium anode and graphite cathode using a “non-flammable ionic liquid electrolyte.” Both the metals are inexpensive, and aluminium is a much cheaper alternative compared to lithium. In fact, the aluminium-ion battery has several features that make it better than lithium-ion or alkaline batteries.

In general, aluminium batteries tend to be a safer alternative to the flammable lithium-ion batteries. A video by the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy depicts that the new aluminium-ion battery prototype did not catch fire even after a hole was drilled through it.

What really differentiates this new prototype from other aluminium batteries is that the new battery was able to stand 7,500 + charging and discharging cycles without loss of capacity. Moreover, the prototype is bendable, making flexible mobile phones a possibility.

The success of the prototype spells good news for environmentalists too. “Aluminum batteries could be used to store renewable energy on the electrical grid,” Hongjie Dai told the Stanford Report. He is a chemistry professor at Stanford who is involved in the research.

It can potentially replace disposable alkaline batteries that are already overflowing landfills, and decrease the health and environmental concerns associated with Li-ion batteries.

However, there is considerable room for improvement at the initial stage. The prototype produces around 2 volts of energy which is half of the energy a lithium battery can produce. “Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density,” said Dai.

He added: “Our battery has everything else you’d dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It’s quite exciting.”

A report from a Q&A website stated that battery-related problems were common complaints among smartphone users. Growth in high-powered smartphones with more complex processors, wider screens and brighter displays will lead to greater demands in advanced sources of power.

The ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery does raise the hopes of both manufacturers and consumers alike.

Imagine if you had plugged in your charger at the beginning of this article and by now your phone would be charged and ready to use! Hopefully this new invention will be able to advance from the prototype stage to mass production.

• About
• Latest Posts

Natasha Arora

Social Sciences + journalism student at HKU. Loves to travel and lives on pop music. Major foodie, climate change advocate, and wannabe workaholic.

Latest posts by Natasha Arora (see all)

• How pinpointing value-adding solutions is key to Insight Robotics’s success - August 6, 2015
• New Ultrafast Aluminium-Ion Battery - May 23, 2015