Canatu at Folien + Fahrzeug / Plastic Films in Mobility
This year, Canatu had the pleasure of presenting the most advanced transparent film heater for ADAS at the Folien + Fahrzeug / Plastic Films in Mobility Conference 2023 held from April 26th-27th, 2023 in Würzburg, Germany. The event attracted 170 visitors uniting forerunner companies within the automotive industry covering all aspects of film technology —from advanced materials and film production to associated printing, forming and in-molding technologies and other integration processes.
During the event attendees had an exciting opportunity to better understand why Canatu film heater is a key enabling technology for ADAS. During the presentation, Mari Makkonen, VP of Marketing and Communication at Canatu, gave a company overview and covered manufacturing updates, the film heater product line, material properties and the key benefits for LiDAR, heater performance, comparison to traditional wire heaters, latest tech developments, and vehicle integration. Finally, she introduced a production-ready polycarbonate LiDAR cover lens with an integrated film heater, jointly realized with Covestro.
Key benefits for LiDAR
- Transparent and wire-free
- Even and power-efficient heating
- Design freedom for complex geometries
- Easy integration by film insert molding
Download the presentation
Missed the event? Download the presentation to learn more about LiDAR deicing, latest developments and more!
Download the presentation
Canatu and Covestro collaborate for LiDAR deicing
At the Plastic Films in Mobility, Canatu and Covestro showcased a production-ready polycarbonate LiDAR sensor cover with heating functionality that is highly performant, versatile, and ready for scale-up.
Key highlights of the joint solution:
- Offers best in class transmittance at near infrared (IR) light, heating performance, and processing ability. Canatu foil heaters are wire-free at LiDAR field of view, offering even heating without any optical distortion or laser beam deflection.
- The Canatu film heater is fabricated on Covestro Makrofol® polycarbonate (PC) film, which offers LiDAR transparency, inherent 3D formability and design freedom with clear and tinted variants.
- The 3D formed film heater was integrated into the front module component by film insert molding using Covestro Makrolon® AG polycarbonate resin, ideally suited for high-precision lens molding. It is available in a variety of colors, allowing for diverse visual appearances including matte or glossy décor and a fade-out effect, with no impact to LiDAR transmission.
- Properties can be further optimized by adding anti-reflective (AR) and hard coating (HC) on the front or back surfaces.
- The final molded part is strong, lightweight, LiDAR transparent and completely wire-free, ensuring reliable LiDAR sensor ranging and all-weather autonomous driving.
For more information, please see our joint case study and contact the company representatives.
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About Canatu
Canatu is a carbon nanomaterial developer creating the most advanced carbon nanotubes for industry-transforming products. The Canatu carbon nanotube (CNT) technology has been created with a unique process that ensures the required versatility and reliability for highly engineered solutions. Canatu partners with forerunner companies, together transforming products for better tomorrows with nano carbon. The company’s focus is in the automotive and semiconductor industries with the portfolio’s core spanning from ADAS heaters to 3D touch sensors and to EUV membranes. The experts at Canatu think big and create impacts on the tiniest scale – nano solutions for massive impact. Canatu’s headquarters are in Finland with sales offices also in the US, Japan and Taiwan.
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