Always One Idea Ahead: Reliable Touch Controls for Vehicles
The automotive industry is one of the most important drivers of innovation on the market. What do we have in common with it? The highest demands on stability, durability, and safe functionality. That’s why our touch sensor technology for the automotive industry is based on high-performance PolyTC® sensor foils. In addition to excellent signal quality and interference resistance, they also offer high performance reliability. This makes them particularly suitable for use in durable technical products such as touch control panels for the center console, navigation systems, etc. These are preferred for innovative Human-Machine Interface systems like HMI panels for automotive.
Advanced Interpretation of Operating Elements:
Dare to lead the way! Our highly flexible touch sensor foils open up completely new design paths for you. Thanks to their high transparency, customizable format, and good deformability, you can turn components into real eye-catchers. Let go of the old and make ‘thinking out of the box’ the guiding principle of your new HMI designs for the interiors sector. With PolyIC, your imagination knows no bounds.
- Touch buttons for window winders or general controls
- Touch sliders for interior lighting or climate control
- Touch wheels for volume control
- Navigation and radio touch screen
The components in a car are diverse. Each panel, board, and console has its own distinctive geometry. PolyIC relies on flexibility in order to meet this wealth of variants in all its forms – be it 2D or 2.5D or 3D. Our secret: A thin and flexible plastic substrate (PET) that serves as a carrier of electrical conductors (metal mesh). This gives us a highly adaptable touch sensor, which – thanks to our system expertise – can also be integrated into complex dashboard, center console or doorway components on request, including an integrated tail.
We regularly present how inspiring the flexibility of our touch sensor technology is in new partner projects with our parent company LEONHARD KURZ. In our latest concept of a pioneering aperture for a car roof control unit, we show our customers that even difficult component geometries are no obstacle for our PolyIC sensor foils. With its sophisticated design and pronounced central recess, the conceptual aperture presented us with a technical challenge.
The solution: The component was manufactured using the KURZ IMD Varioform process and equipped with a preformed PolyTC sensor during injection. To integrate our touch sensor, we developed a specially preformed 3D insert for this application in order to optimally position the sensor. Only thanks to its special deformability were we able to adapt our touch sensor precisely to the geometry of the concept panel, integrate it precisely, and maintain its functionality.
Transparency as a Design Feature in Cars
Designers should be able to determine the look and feel of their products themselves. However, the properties of electronic components often make it difficult to implement creative ideas, one to one. Backlit touch control panels in the car come into their own with our PolyIC touch sensors because we place our conductive metal-mesh structures on a highly transparent PET substrate. This is how the functional components remain what they should be: Supporting actors in your breathtaking automotive design piece.
