Flexible film enables in-car multi-touch sensor

6th March 2015

Canatu

Barney Scott

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Datasheet

Canatu, Schuster and Display Solution have showcased a pioneering 3D encapsulated touch sensor for the automotive industry. The partnership is delivering the first ever button-free 3D shaped multi-touch panel for automotive, bringing hotly anticipated touch applications to dashboards and paneling. The demonstrator provides an example of multi-functional display with 5 finger touch realised in IML technology.

The integration of touch applications to dashboards and other paneling in cars has long been desired by automotive designers, but suitable technology was not available. Canatu’s Carbon NanoBud (CNB) In-Mold Film, with its unique stretch properties, provides a clear path to the eventual replacement of mechanical controls with 3D touch sensors. The touch application was made using an existing mass/manufacturing tool and industry standard processes.

Specifically designed for automobile centre consoles and dashboards, household machines, wearables, industrial UIs, commercial applications and consumer devices, CNB In-Mold Films can be easily formed into shape. The film is first patterned to the required touch functionality, then formed, then back-moulded by injection moulding, resulting in a 3D shape with multitouch functionality.

With a bending radius of 1mm, CNB In-Mold Films can bring touch to almost any surface imaginable. No other film on the market can be stretched 120% and moulded without losing its conductivity.

Schuster Group has a long history in manufacturing customised paneling for the automotive industry, and is keen to utilise Canatu’s proprietary CNB In-Mold Film in its next-gen product design.