Have you ever enjoyed the comforts of personalised seating? i.e. not just external comforting factors but a seat which controls temperature. The latest invention of Tempronics - Climate Ribbon, a thermoelectric distributed over a soft braided wire that is more efficient than a traditional thermoelectric, and provides fast and intense conductive heat transfer of surfaces such as seating, medical applications and wearables. The CEO of tempronics, Donald Dutton talks about the theory behind Climate Ribbon, the launch of PCS-T200 which is a self-contained personal climate system that easily install on an existing seat, the expected client response for PCS - T200 and more in an exclusive interview with Swati Ketkar.
Q - Personal climate seating technology is a unique and novel concept. What was the idea or inspiration behind developing this technology?
A - Solid state heating and cooling with thermoelectric devices have been around for 50 years with applications typically focused on niche applications in electronics and consumer markets. Initially Tempronics explored how to make thermoelectric devices more efficient by exploiting nanotechnology and advancements in electronics and thermal physics. However, we discovered that new technologies provided only marginal improvements, and that the real issue was concentrating the thermal energy in a very small space. This led to the invention of the Climate Ribbon, a thermoelectric distributed over a soft braided wire that is more efficient than a traditional thermoelectric, and provides fast and intense conductive heat transfer of surfaces such as seating, medical applications and wearables.
Q - Can you explain, very briefly the working of this technology?
A -The Tempronics patented Climate Ribbon is our core technology, a simple and elegant solid state device distributed across a soft braided wire ribbon. The Climate RibbonTM is installed in a Climate Insert, a foam substrate that is easily integrated in seating and medical applications. One or more Climate Inserts is combined with a control unit and user interface to establish a personal climate system.
When powered, the personal climate system provides a fast and intense cooling or heating experience for the user. The system can be controlled manually, or may be controlled automatically based on environmental or user biometric sensors to optimize performance and/or conserve energy.
The Tempronics Climate Ribbon technology has been introduced across a broad range of markets including automotive, commercial work trucks, military aircraft, furniture and medical applications. The technology is extremely robust, meeting the most severe environmental and durability specification.
Q - How is the PCS -T200 useful for the aerospace industry? Can you illustrate with an example.
A - We introduced the PCS-T200 at EAA's AirVenture in Oshkosh this summer and received great feedback. The PCS-T200 is a self-contained personal climate system that easily install on an existing seat. The PCS-T200 can be readily attached to a seat, plugged into a standard 12VDC power plug, and is ready to provide fast and intense cooling and heating capability to the user. In addition to the PCS, Tempronics works with seating and OEM partners across markets to seamlessly integrate the Tempronics technology into the broader seat/ interior/ vehicle climate system to achieve optimal comfort and energy performance.
The aviation market provides some interesting opportunities for the Tempronics technology. Since we introduced the PCS-T200 at AirVenture, we are seeing significant demand from general aviation and small aircraft pilots who require thermal relief in both hot and cold environments. With a system weight of approximately 5 lbs, and energy draw of less than 100 watts, the system is an extremely cost effective alternative to HVAC systems.
In addition to the PCS-T200, there is interest across vehicle, aircraft and seating OEM's to integrate the Tempronics climate systems technology into seats and to improve thermal comfort, reduce fatigue, and improve sleep quality on long flights.
Q - With the production launch scheduled this month, how do you expect will be the market response for PCS-T200?
A - The market response for the PCS-T200 and integrated seat solutions has been extremely positive. As discussed earlier, the feedback from AirVenture was great. We had several pre-production units available for evaluation by both individual pilots and industry stakeholders. Literally everyone that demonstrated the product was impressed with the rapid and intense cooling capability of the unit and not only the improve comfort, but the impact on improving safety and focus of the aviator during extreme temperature (hot or cold) situations.
Q - Currently designed only for extreme temperatures, in future can the PCS-T200 be used under normal climate conditions?
A - While the PCS-T200 provides significant thermal relief in extreme environments, it currently has both a high and low setting that can tailor the thermal improvement for the occupant. Our current development roadmap includes providing even more adjustments to the user.
Q - In your vast experience of 30 years, can you tell us about your most challenging situation so far and how did you tackle it?
A - A significant part of my career has been spent developing and fielding life-saving products for aerospace and defense markets. In some cases, we were challenged to complete product development and rapidly ramp-up our production capability to provide urgent, life-saving products to our service men and women. It was during these times that I learned the real power of teamwork to solve challenging problems. When the team is aligned and inspired with a simple impactful vision, you can typically achieve great outcomes.
We are in a similar position with our work at Tempronics. Our personal climate technology has significant potential to address improvements in climate management in vehicles, homes and offices that not only improve comfort, but also to improve safety and well-being. All while reducing overall system energy levels. We are extremely excited with the introduction of products into the aviation markets as a key element of our journey.