Tekrasport founder, John Hanley, an engineer with over 30 years’ experience, is a 3-time Ironman triathlete and active open water swimmer. After an injury forced John into retirement from rugby, he threw himself into new challenges – swimming and triathlons on Ireland’s West Coast beside some of Europe’s finest unspoilt beaches.
As a competitor, race organiser and parent, John realised that swim safety devices were limiting people’s performance in the open water and used his engineering background to design a new type of device, one that would help first timers overcome anxiety and push experienced swimmers to improve. Wanting to improve upon the standard tow floats seen in various open water swimming locations, Tekrapod, the first open-water safety device, designed specifically for open- water swimmers was developed.
From this, John extended his range, with one of his most recent innovations being the unique Tekralite, a 100% waterproof, wireless, rechargeable, LED strobe light for maximum visibility when swimming in low light conditions. With a strong focus on safety matched with a passion for personal achievement and pushing boundaries, TekraSport has become a serious industry competitor.
Tekrasport Ltd approached the WiSAR Technology Gateway to benchmark the performance of the Tekralite design and to investigate improvements to the end user experience of the innovative product. Using an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher, Tekrasport, in collaboration with WiSAR researchers undertook a performance investigation leading to the development of new firmware for the product related to movement sensor technology for the device.
The partnership with WiSAR Lab, enabled Tekrasport to increase the functionality and improve the power consumption of their innovative Tekralite, the only 100% waterproof rechargeable light on the market. By working with WiSAR researchers, Tekrasport Ltd were able to improve the end-user experience and the battery life of their innovative light, for multi-purpose use in many recreational sporting activities including running, cycling and kayaking.
These improvements to the Tekralite have increased the devices potential to be a game changer in the recreational sport industry.
WiSAR Partnership
WiSAR Technology Gateway, based in ATU Donegal provides solutions to Irish industry for the Internet of Things (IoT) using expertise in wireless, embedded systems and power electronics. WiSAR is home to an extensive team of researchers and engineers working on a wide range of collaborative RD&I industry projects and is equipped with a state-of-the-art test bench, connectivity devices, industrial sensors, antennae and digital controllers, for the design of prototypes and the optimisation of industrial processes. This expertise enables WiSAR to work with many product design companies to produce advanced near-to-market prototypes.