“Touchscreens based on the AX112 can support features such as pre-select, zoom-on-approach, dial-on-display and integrated haptic feedback without the need for additional hardware,” said the company. It “also supports the operation of touchscreens with variable thickness, and curved 3D surfaces in plastic up to 15mm thick”.
The company’s aXiom family touch controllers was designed from the start to combine high sensitivity and high resistance to external electrical noise.
“Every other touchscreen controller used in mass-production vehicles today is a repurposed consumer device,” claimed Touchnetix MD Chris Ard, “only the AX112 was built from the ground up for automotive and industrial use.”
According to the company, AEC-Q100 qualified AX112 is scheduled to be available for ramping up production of display modules from early 2022. Other ICs from its range: AX54, AX80 and AX198, are sampling now and will be in the AEC-Q100 qualification pipeline during 2022.
Applications are foreseen in the central information display in passenger cars and other types of vehicles.
The touch chip product page is here – sadly the company does not make its data sheets public.
Officially headquartered in Norway, but also with a head office in the UK, and offices in Germany, Korea, Taiwan and the USA, TouchNetix is a fabless chip company which designs and sells ICs and finished touchscreen modules. Its R&D programmes have been supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020-EIC program, Innovate UK and Innovation Norway.
The company has its roots in Quantum Research, the Hampshire UK touch controller IC maker whose products were initially programmed and re-badged Microchip PICs, then programmed and re-badged Atmel ATtinys.
It was bought by Atmel, which is now owned by Microchip, where the QTouch brand can still be seen.
Touchnetix was founded by four members of the Atmel touch management team in 2010 to create specialist touch chips for harsh industrial and medical EMI environments.