Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The accelerating global trends of electrification across industries, the proliferation of IoT devices, and the push towards smart factories are driving unprecedented demand for advanced power management and predictive maintenance solutions. Companies face intense pressure to maximize asset uptime and energy efficiency while navigating skilled labor shortages. This technology provides a critical enabler for these trends, allowing for precise, non-intrusive current monitoring in increasingly compact and complex systems, offering a significant competitive edge through enhanced reliability and reduced operational costs.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Enables easy installation in narrow gaps by wrapping around current paths, overcoming limitations of rigid Rogowski sensors.

02

Achieves high-precision current measurement by encircling the target with a flexible coil, significantly enhancing predictive maintenance accuracy for inverters.

03

Reduces installation labor by up to 30% compared to conventional sensors, enabling rapid deployment without specialized tools or extensive disassembly.

Market Opportunity
Industrial Machinery & Factory Automation
$3.5B globally (AI est.)
The advancement of smart factories accelerates the increase and densification of inverter-controlled equipment. This drives a growing need for high-precision current monitoring in confined spaces for predictive maintenance.
Tier 1 industrial equipment manufacturers Factory automation solution providers Robotics companies
EV/HEV & Battery Management
$20B globally (AI est.)
The expansion of the EV/HEV market and the densification of battery packs demand more precise current monitoring within individual cells and modules, increasing the need for flexible sensors.
Automotive OEMs Battery pack manufacturers EV charging infrastructure providers
Data Centers & Communication Infrastructure
$2B globally (AI est.)
To address the high density of server racks and increased power consumption, efficient power monitoring in the narrow spaces of power distribution boards and PDUs is essential.
Data center operators Network equipment manufacturers Power distribution unit (PDU) suppliers
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects a Rogowski current sensor formed on a flexible printed circuit board, including its main body, measurement section, and base end, along with its mounting method. With 19 claims and having overcome a single office action through precise amendments, it represents a robust and difficult-to-invalidate intellectual property, covering a broad scope of embodiments.

Competitive White Space

This patent primarily covers the flexible Rogowski sensor design and installation. White space exists in developing advanced data analytics platforms for predictive maintenance, integrating the sensor with specific IoT communication protocols, or exploring novel materials for extreme environment applications.

Economic Impact
~$20K/year estimated loss avoidance and cost reduction per facility (AI est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

Assuming an average of 5 unexpected inverter-related downtimes per year, each causing ~$3,500 (AI est.) in production loss. High-precision predictive maintenance could reduce downtimes to 2 per year, avoiding ~$10K (AI est.) in losses annually. Additionally, reducing 30% of 200 annual hours for sensor installation/maintenance (60 hours) at ~$20/hour (AI est.) saves ~$1,000 (AI est.) in labor costs. Factoring in broader monitoring and risk reduction, the total economic impact could reach ~$20K (AI est.) annually.

Speed to Market
6× faster than in-house development
This technology, which forms Rogowski coils on a flexible printed circuit board, combines existing technology application with novel innovation, indicating a high level of technical feasibility. Research and development at a university institution are already advanced, with the concept well-established. Furthermore, the existence of prior licensing suggests that the technology has passed a certain validation phase and is close to practical application. Adopting companies could skip fundamental research and principle verification, starting directly with integration testing into existing inverters or electrical circuits, potentially shortening development time by 2-3 years compared to in-house development, enabling earlier market entry and revenue generation.
Competitive Positioning

X: Installation Flexibility & Space Efficiency
Y: Measurement Accuracy & Predictive Maintenance

Business Models & Applications
🤝 Licensing Model
License this technology to inverter manufacturers and industrial machinery companies, promoting integration into existing products. Royalty income serves as the primary revenue stream.
📦 Sensor Module Supply Model
Develop and manufacture flexible current sensor modules based on this technology, offering them as a component supplier. This enables rapid entry into specific niche markets.
📊 Predictive Maintenance Solution
Offer this sensor combined with data analysis as a predictive maintenance solution for factories and plants. This supports improved equipment uptime and cost reduction.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
🏥 医療・ヘルスケア
Wearable Bio-Current Monitoring
Leveraging its flexible properties, this technology could be repurposed for wearable bio-current monitoring, such as electrocardiograms (ECG) or electromyograms (EMG). It has the potential to reduce patient discomfort by 50% for continuous monitoring, contributing to early anomaly detection.
🚀 航空宇宙・ドローン
Lightweight, Space-Saving Power Monitoring for Aircraft
Applicable for power system monitoring in the confined spaces of aircraft and drones. This lightweight and flexible sensor could reduce sensor weight by ~30%, enhancing aircraft design freedom and contributing to highly reliable power management systems.
💡 スマートホーム・IoT家電
Smart Home Power Monitoring Systems
Integrates into smart meters or IoT appliances to precisely measure individual device current consumption. This could visualize household power usage, support energy saving efforts, and improve overall energy efficiency by 10-15% through anomaly detection.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 18-Month Deployment
Technical Suitability Verification & Design
Duration: 4 months
Evaluate technical suitability for the licensee's existing inverter systems and target equipment, then design optimal sensor placement and specifications. Confirm basic performance through a Proof of Concept (PoC).
Prototype Development & Evaluation
Duration: 8 months
Develop a prototype of the flexible current sensor based on the design and conduct detailed performance evaluations in a real-world environment. Verify data acquisition, signal processing, and integration with predictive maintenance algorithms.
Implementation & Production Readiness
Duration: 6 months
Incorporate evaluation feedback and make final adjustments for commercialization. Establish manufacturing processes and formulate an implementation plan for the production environment, preparing for mass production.
Technical Feasibility
This technology features Rogowski coils formed on a strip-shaped flexible printed circuit board, making its integration into existing electrical circuits and inverter systems extremely straightforward. Installation only requires wrapping it around the target current path, minimizing the burden of large-scale equipment modifications or new housing designs. The patent claims clearly define the specific configuration of the sensor body, measurement section, and base end, suggesting low technical implementation hurdles. Additionally, prior licensing indicates that practical verification is already well underway, further reducing adoption barriers.
Success Scenario
If an adopting company applies this technology to inverter monitoring on a production line, it could enable current anomaly detection in narrow spaces previously impossible with existing equipment, potentially reducing unexpected downtime by 20% annually. This could improve manufacturing line operating rates from 80% to 85%, increasing annual production by 1.06 times without additional investment. High-precision predictive maintenance is also expected to reduce maintenance costs by 15% annually and alleviate the burden on skilled workers.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2023-508992
REGISTRATION NO.
7479742
FILING DATE
2022/03/10
GRANT DATE
2024/04/26
EXPIRATION DATE
2042/03/10
PATENT HOLDER
国立大学法人九州工業大学
Examination History
2023年08月30日
特許協力条約第３４条補正の写し提出書
2023年08月30日
条約３４条補正（職権）
2023年10月10日
国際予備審査報告（英語）
2023年12月25日
早期審査に関する事情説明書
2023年12月25日
出願審査請求書
2024年02月20日
早期審査に関する通知書
2024年02月27日
拒絶理由通知書
2024年02月29日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2024年02月29日
意見書
2024年04月02日
特許査定