Denso Banks on Heated Sensors For Ice-Able Autonomous Tech

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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13th December 2018

A new licensing agreement signed by electronics giant Denso is claiming to advance the chances of driverless vehicles coping in ice and snow conditions.

Finland’s touchscreen and 3D film manufacturer Canatu has announced the non-exclusive agreement to construct sensor heaters for use in autonomous cars, jointly manufacturing in Finland and Japan. Being able to keep mission critical autonomous sensors warm and operational even in extreme cold weather conditions could advance the technology currently struggling to operate in adverse weather conditions.

TU-Automotive observed this during the NAIAS 2018 in Detroit where planned autonomous vehicle demonstrations had to be abandoned before the show staged in January owing to temperatures plunging to -17C. Neither of the parties have disclosed the value of the licensing agreement.

Hirotsugu Takeuchi, executive director, of the Denso corporation, said: “We believe this technology is very important in the cars of the future and it supports our vision of the future’s mobility. We have done calculations with the material and we trust the unique technology can be used in several product areas of future driving.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_