WASP on show at Southern Manufacturing

Based on sound engineering principles, WASP has been busy introducing new products with specific applications within the defence and aviation industries, but which also have applications in automotive, medical, kiosk and public access situations.

In a market where touchscreen integration is driven more by price than performance, WASP, the UK's only touchscreen manufacturer, is continuing to offer design engineers the rare opportunity to have their designs manufactured and tested in the UK and then made available, if necessary, for mass production offshore. WASP is also able to offer small production runs for prototyping, all made in an ISO9001:2008 environment.

Capacitive switches developed for the aviation industry have many applications on the ground as well as they are easily adapted for use in almost every situation where non-mechanical switching is required.

A conventional printed graphic overlay, protected by clear acrylic or polycarbonate is used together with a circuit design which operates a switch using the user's natural body capacitance. The switch panel uses a proprietary capacitive sensor IC to detect the operation from the user.

The IC's project sense fields (from conductive sensors) up through dielectric, translucent material which can be up to10mm thick. The use of such materials means that the switch is easily cleaned and impervious to accidental liquid ingression.

A complete lack of moving parts means that mechanical failure is eliminated and sense fields can be predicted through dielectric material enabling vandal resistant panels to be easily produced. The operational sensitivity of the switch can be easily adjusted to overcome various environmental conditions.

Having designed and made rotary switches for more than 30 years, WASP are one of the few manufacturers in the world who contiunue to provide a tried and tested technology which still has 21st century applications. For military, aviation and industrial use, WASP's membrane switches are renowned for their reliability - that's why they've been in use by British Army in their communications systems for two decades.