5 Taiwanese products receive 2019 R&D 100 Awards

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) Five cutting-edge products and technologies developed by institutes affiliated with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) have been announced as winners of the 2019 R&D 100 Awards to be presented at an event in San Francisco on Dec. 5.

The products and technologies were developed by the Industry Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the Institute for Information Industry (III), Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC) and Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) with support from the MOEA's Department of Industrial Technology.

In a statement issued Friday, ITRI said it won two awards for its RAIBA, Reconfigurable and Regulatable Battery Array System, and the bionic knobby magnetic beads manufacturing technology iKNOBEADS.

According to ITRI, both technologies are world leaders and expected to provide solutions for society and industries, while also creating new business opportunities for green energy and precision medicine.

RAIBA is a world-leading technology that uses AI to control the electric discharge load of battery modules and integrate the storage systems of new and old modules. This allows different battery modules to complement each other in the most efficient way possible, reducing energy waste and extending system cycle life, the statement said.

To tackle the global threat of cancer, ITRI developed the world's only bionic knobby magnetic beads manufacturing technology iKNOBEADS. These can strengthen and reactivate T-cells to fight cancer cells, as proven in tests done at National Taiwan University Hospital, according to the statement.

To help the government introduce intelligent agricultural solutions through technological applications and encourage Taiwan's mainly small scale farmers to embrace smart farming, III has developed "Digital Twin Solutions for Smart Farming," which increase production efficiency by 30 percent.

TTRI won an award with its air-jet weaving machine DIFA, which produces distance fabrics of variable heights.

The DIFA is fully automated, uses an improved weaving technique for distance fabrics, and expands the possible applications of distance fabrics. The machine is capable of creating high-precision and diverse products made from spacer fabric composites, it explains.

Meanwhile, MIRDC won its R&D 100 Award with an automated guided vehicle (AGV).

With a wireless intelligent system, so-called AGVs can be controlled simultaneously using wireless intelligent coordinated transport systems, and a number of AGVs can be linked through remote controls to carry out transportation tasks, MIRDC said.

Moreover, the design of omnidirectional wheels that facilitate 360-degree movement makes such AGVs ideal for warehousing, production, manufacturing, and other related industries, it said.

On its website, the R&D 100 Awards describes itself as the most prestigious innovation awards program for the past 56 years, honoring great R&D pioneers and their revolutionary ideas in science and technology.