Figaro’s products enable safety and security, and are also used in applications where health and comfort are important. Figaro continues its Research and Development to ensure that its products are always one-step ahead of customer needs.
R&D system
A system cutting across the entire organization
Figaro’s Research and Development system does not parallel the conventional compartmentalized organization, but is instead characterized by flexibility, spanning the entire company. Creative ideas and requests for advice to specialized departments are a daily occurrence, as is the free exchange of ideas on product development across division boundaries. This introduction of opinions and knowledge in the early stages of product development is linked to the creation of high-quality products.
Research and development field
Deepening of technology
The types of gas sensors developed and manufactured by Figaro can generally be classified into:
- * MOS type sensors - sensitivity to multiple gases and cost-effective
- * Electrochemical sensors – easy to use, requiring no power supply, excellent durability
- * Catalytic combustion sensors - good sensitivity, no influence from temperature and humidity. Development work is ongoing to improve performance, reduce power consumption, and miniaturize these existing sensor types.
Development of applied products
Beginning with its most recent alcohol checker, Figaro is developing a range of applied products based on its existing gas sensor technologies. As a part of the effort to develop products targeted at new fields, work is proceeding on commercialization of a simple and convenient portable gas chromatograph.
New fields
Gas sensors developed by Figaro are not limited to security devices such as gas alarms, but also include an ever-increasing variety of applications in a wide range of industrial fields. Beginning with air quality sensors linked to the air cleaning functions of automobile air-conditioners, development is proceeding apace with applications which will prove useful in the measurement of pollutants in indoor environments, monitoring of the sick-house syndrome, analysis of gas components generated by living organisms, and related health management.
Joint research and development
Figaro Engineering also cooperates with other companies in exploring new fields of application for gas sensors and joint development efforts. Figaro is able to respond to requirements for mass production and large-scale supply, and looks to develop win-win relationships with other parties in such arrangements.