To revolutionise athletic apparel, RHEON Labs and the University of Leeds are partnering on a ground-breaking project. We will optimize and scale innovative RHEON Fibres, bringing dynamic support to sports bras. This collaboration merges RL's industry leadership with academic expertise, commercialising a novel fibre redefining the standards of performance wear.

This project is a collaboration between Rheon Labs and UWE Bristol's Computer Science and Creative Technologies School. ARI - Augmented Rheon Intelligence, will be the first AI driven design tool for dynamic body control garments. Rheon Labs' design focuses on leveraging the strain-rate-sensitive (SRS) properties of their RHEON(tm) polymer material and enhancing user experience using generative design methods. Currently, RHEON(tm) is used in two different formats: injection moulded components and extruded film. Injection moulded components are manufactured using advanced geometries, created using computational design methods and are applied in life-saving impact protection, e.g., helmets and body armour. In body control applications, RHEON(tm) film is laser-cut into functional patterns and heat pressed onto textile to provide dynamic muscle and soft-tissue support in sporting garments, such as leggings, bras and tops. Rheon Labs has already partnered with Adidas to create Techfit and Adizero ranges of muscle support garments that enhance athletic performance by restricting unwanted muscle movement and providing feeling of support. The feasibility study will focus on the development of AI techniques that can enhance Rheon's design development productivity by predicting performance of candidate designs as well as searching and optimising solutions. The technique will focus on film design patterns and their impact on compression garments, aiming to generate more creative and efficient solutions thereby delivering better products and reducing waste in manufacturing (by optimising film offcuts). This initiative aims to establish Rheon's AI capabilities and enhance overall business productivity across wider applications and markets. By implementing cutting-edge AI technologies, Rheon intends to optimise its business processes and leverage AI-driven solutions to drive operational efficiency, streamline design workflows, and enhance productivity. This project will serve as a catalyst for Rheon's growth, positioning the company as a technology-driven organisation at the forefront of AI innovation within its industry.

This project focuses an innovative approach to address a critical challenge in RHEON Labs' reactivewear manufacturing process. The focus is on the analysis and characterisation of sporadic gas bubble formations that disrupt the surface of RHEON film patterns during the heat lamination process. This project aims to employ advanced surface analysis techniques to understand the complexities of surface morphology and interfaces during lamination. The uniqueness of this approach lies in cutting-edge methods, such as contact angle analysis, morphological investigation, XPS chemical analysis, and zeta potential measurements, as well as custom-made analytical methods, such as optical microscopy with heated chambers and custom heat-lamination processes that allow for an in-operando analysis. Collaborating with Dr. Ahu Parry's research group at the Royce Institute adds an innovation focus, leveraging their expertise in polymer chemistry and material science. By addressing this manufacturing challenge, RHEON Labs aims to enhance its competitiveness, productivity, and sustained growth in the reactivewear market. The project anticipates delivering valuable insights into the root cause of gas bubble formation, informing future R&D trials and potential modifications in parameters or materials. This collaborative effort aligns seamlessly with RHEON's core technology---a highly strain-rate-sensitive polymer composition---and is poised to contribute to advancements in reactivewear manufacturing precision.

Re-Rheon 3D aims to address the reuse and upcycling of polymer waste generated during injection moulding, while creating the world's first strain-rate sensitive material for 3d printing. This is a collaborative initiative between Rheon Labs Ltd and the Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence and will focus on the development of a circular process for 3d printable Rheon. At the core of RHEON(tm) technology is a reactive polymer that intelligently strengthens when subjected to force. The technology can control energy of any amplitude or frequency - from small vibrations to life-threatening single impacts. Thus, the main use of Rheon parts is in helmets and other life-saving applications. Our parts are manufactured using traditional injection moulding, and thus create polymer waste in the process. While injection moulding is the method of choice for mass manufacturing simple geometries, we currently cannot reuse injection moulding waste and sprues in our production facilities in the UK. Thus, we cannot manufacture some of the customers complex and lightweight geometries. Currently about 5% of our material ends up as waste in the injection moulding process, due to sprues used for production parts, or parts that don't comply with the specs. This accounts for 2500 Kg and about £30,000 per year, and is predicted to grow to 6250 Kg and £75,000 in 2022\. Thus, it is crucial to develop a process to re-incorporate this material waste into useful end-user parts, creating an environmental and economic benefit. In addition, we currently face customer requirements around lightweight parts with complex geometries, especially in the helmet industry, which we cannot meet using injection moulding. This project aims to address on the one hand the reuse of Rheon waste created in our manufacturing facilities, and on the other hand enable us to meet customer requirements for bespoke lightweight structures and advanced geometries.

Imagine a new generation of stretch textile that didn't just behave like a spring but could also actively dampen and/or control energy. Imagine the radical impact that this could have on the market. This could be as radical a change in the market as the initial introduction of stretch fibre with the launch of Lycra(tm). Rheon Labs is a fast-growing materials technology company based in Battersea, London, and was recently named as one of the top UK tech startups of 2021\. For more information see www.rheonlabs.com. Rheon Labs has developed RHEON(tm) technology, a reactive polymer that dynamically stiffens when subjected to force. The technology can control energy of any amplitude or frequency -- from small vibrations to forces at ballistic-speeds -- and therefore has a wide range of applications. The Innovate UK Smart Grant backed project aims to develop a hyper viscoelastic fibre from RHEON(tm) which displays high strain-rate sensitive properties. Creating a fibre with unique strain-rate sensitive properties will be a world first. It will enable the creation of a 'breakthrough-generation' of stretch textiles that can actively absorb energy during movement. For close-fitting activewear and sports bras, the ability to actively control muscle mass or soft tissue movement during exercise will be a game-changing advancement. It will allow brands to engineer garments that relax during everyday use but actively stiffens during exercise for improved support and performance. Creating a fibre with unique strain-rate sensitive characteristics could be as radical a change in the market as the initial introduction of stretch fibre with the launch of Lycra(tm). The textiles would have a multitude of beneficial properties and would provide significantly less compression in the garment than conventional materials, substantially improving user comfort. We believe comfort, support and performance in all garments could be improved if energy were being controlled more effectively. RHEON(tm) fibre provides the opportunity to revolutionise the active sportswear garment industry and deliver the next generation of stretch textiles to an industry where innovation in fibre technology has been lacking in recent years.

The traditional football shin pad has remained unchanged for over a decade. Essentially a stiff, one-size-fits-all, solid moulded item backed by commodity foam, existing products are stiff and uncomfortable. However, they must be used for every match as stipulated by FIFA and the FA. Even leading brands who pride themselves on 'innovation' use the same approach with a traditional stiff load spreader for these protectors, which subsequently ends in a poor product offering - something we believe can be tackled with real innovation. Armourgel will disrupt the stagnant soccer shin pad market by introducing the next generation flexible, breathable, fully integrated shin pad, using novel smart materials directly moulded to textile designed for the user from the ground up with unmatched impact performance. Directly moulding protective material onto 3D knitted socks or tubes in an automated process will give soft and flexible protection which moves with the musculature of the body. For the first time manufacturing and assembly are completed in the same single process, removing stiching. The project output is a feasibility study of this methodology in a shin guard - proving the user needs can be met with the material and that all the product value can be added in a single process.