PixelCam and HoloCam: Automated Quality Control for High Volume Holographic Optical Element Manufacture. Enabling the Next Generation of Automotive Head-up Displays.

汽车制造商对平视显示器(HUD)技术感到非常兴奋，并正在寻找经济高效的解决方案，使司机和乘客能够在不造成分心的情况下查看关键信息(速度、方向和危险识别)。这种方法对司机很有吸引力，并提供了一些好处，包括作为新的移动即服务商业模式的一部分，提高了安全性、车辆的实用性和自动驾驶车辆的增强功能。安全是HUD的一个关键好处，司机分心是导致80%的交通事故的原因。大陆航空和苹果等组织认为，视距显示器和HUD对于保持司机的参与度和信心至关重要。它们支持自动驾驶汽车的引入，并为司机和乘客提供新的用户体验。因此，主要的原始设备制造商正在寻求低成本的显示技术，使用紧凑的外形提供前瞻性和AR体验。由于几个技术问题，具有竞争力的平显技术无法满足这一需求。这些问题包括宽视角的图像质量不一致，无法适应不同的挡风玻璃几何形状，以及笨重的投影单元。这导致了昂贵、劣质的HUD系统不适合大众市场应用。Ceres是全息照相领域的世界领先者，并开发了解决这些问题和规模化生产的技术。我们使用先进的光致聚合物薄膜来生产低成本、多功能的全息光学元件(HOE)。它们可以很容易地层压到挡风玻璃上，并与值得信赖的供应商提供的“经过测试”的紧凑型投影单元结合在一起，为大众市场应用生产全彩色、宽视场(高达20°x8°)的HUD。CERES还与包括汽车原始设备制造商和挡风玻璃夹层公司在内的主要行业利益相关者建立了牢固的关系。然而，我们目前的人工锄头测试过程是劳动密集型和不切实际的。为了迎接这一市场机遇，该项目将开发质量控制系统，能够在不影响大批量制造能力的情况下，快速分析每一个生产出来的HOE。这些系统必须分析主模板(由CERES数字印刷)和每个挡风玻璃的复制品。这在技术上要求很高，也是这个项目的主要关注点。一旦这项工作完成，我们令人兴奋的机会将完全释放。总而言之，该项目将使CERES在2028年之前在汽车市场实现可观的销售。在多个收入来源中，我们预计我们的技术将在更广泛的供应链上释放超过20亿GB的额外收入，提供安全效益，支持英国出口，并创造新的熟练就业机会。

Car manufacturers are very excited about Head-up Display (HUD) technology and are searching for cost-effective solutions that enable drivers and passengers to view critical information (speed, directions and hazard identification) without causing distractions. This approach is attractive to drivers and delivers benefits which include improved safety, greater vehicle utility and enhanced functionality for self-driving vehicles as part of new mobility business models, such as Mobility-as-a-Service.Safety is a key benefit of HUDs, with driver distraction a contributing factor in 80% of all traffic accidents. Organisations such as Continental and Apple see line-of-sight displays and HUDs as crucial to maintaining driver engagement and confidence. They support the introduction of self-driving cars and enable new user experiences for both drivers and passengers.Major OEMs are therefore seeking low-cost display technology that delivers a view-ahead and AR experience using a compact form factor. Competitive HUD technologies cannot meet this need due to several technical problems. These include inconsistent image quality across a wide viewing angle, inability to accommodate different windscreen geometries, and bulky projection units. This results in costly, inferior HUD systems which are unsuitable for mass-market applications.Ceres are a world leader in holography and have developed the technology to solve these problems and manufacture at scale. We use an advanced photopolymer film to produce low cost, versatile holographic optical elements (HOEs). These can be easily laminated into windscreens and coupled to 'tried and tested' compact projection units from trusted suppliers to produce a full colour, wide Field-of-view (up to 20°x8°) HUD for mass-market applications. Ceres also have strong relationships with key industry stakeholders, including automotive OEMs and windscreen interlayer companies. However, our current manual HOE test process is labour-intensive and impractical. To meet this market opportunity, this project will develop quality control systems which can analyse every HOE produced quickly, without compromising high-volume manufacturing capacity. These systems must analyse both master templates (digitally printed by Ceres) and the replicas for each windscreen. This is technically demanding and the primary focus of this project. Once this work is complete, our exciting opportunity will be fully unlocked.In summary, this project will enable Ceres to achieve significant sales into automotive markets by 2028\. Across multiple revenue streams, we anticipate that our technology will unlock over £2bn of additional revenue across the wider supply chain, deliver safety benefits, support UK exports and create new skilled job opportunities.