Thinking ‘outside the box’ is only one aspect of the Irisys approach to R&D. The entire process is underpinned by rigorous, ISO 9001 certified, systems and procedures. Any original idea has to be supported by feasibility studies before a budget is agreed and development begins.
Irisys uses advanced computer simulation and modelling of all aspects of the design process. As well as tried and tested elements such as optical and mechanical design, simulations might include how detection materials respond to heat and vibration, or what could happen at a store’s checkouts if the method of management was changed. Accurate modelling significantly reduces costs and time to market.
The approach has led to a remarkably high product success rate in a sector where, typically, only five per cent of products ever make it to the marketplace.
Software and array design
Irisys outsources final product assembly to companies such as the $2bn revenue Plexus. However, software development and infrared array design and manufacture are kept firmly in-house. “We’ve developed certain technologies, related to conductive epoxies, that no-one else has,” says Galloway. “We intend it to stay that way.”
A key advantage of Irisys infrared thermal imaging is its simplicity. Video technology relies on processing changes in contrast and reflected light, which is expensive to process, (and doesn’t work in darkness). Infrared cameras instead detect only heat. This means very significant cost advantages in the core technology.
While the Irisys strategy for its thermal imaging cameras has always been to offer more features at a lower cost than its competitors, software development for its queue management solutions is a different story.
“In thermal terms, people counting is actually quite mechanical because it measures warm ‘blobs’ moving past a sensor,” explains Galloway. “Queue management for a large supermarket is infinitely more complex, because it combines behavioural science with statistical modelling in a continually adaptive system.
“Irisys is years ahead of our competitors in terms of developing algorithms, because we have spent thousands of hours on queue monitoring and have developed our software based on that experience.”
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