Helix Technologies, which is developing ceramic-based helix antennae that could be used for autonomous vehicles, has secured another £650,000 from private investors. The antennae could also be used for drones, IoT and machine-to-machine communications.
The company says using a dielectric ceramic core gives the antennae unsurpassed gain/efficiency per unit of volume and more effective and predictable behaviour in a wide range of challenging user scenarios.
The company believes that the driverless car segment, both GNSS and V2X DSRC applications, represents the most immediate and compelling need and business opportunity for its helix antenna technology.
“We are grateful for the support of our investors, which allows us to develop innovative solutions for this exciting growth market,” said John Yates, managing director of Helix Technologies.
“The first self-driving cars are widely forecast to be on the market between 2019 and 2021. Any navigation and communications equipment used on board will have to fulfil the highest possible standards on safety, integrity and accuracy.”
The company expects to have prototypes of its V2X DSRC antenna available by the second quarter of 2018 and its Nextgen GNSS antenna by the third quarter of 2018.