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Actronika Designs Touch-Sensitive Haptic Technology Systems for Interactive Consumer Products
Technology Category
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Automotive
- Consumer Goods
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Predictive Maintenance
- Remote Collaboration
- Digital Twin
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
The Challenge
Haptic technology pioneer Actronika integrates its touch-sensitive screen processors into other companies’ hardware, including automobiles, phones, video games, and other consumer products. Working with multiple partners using multiple CAD systems, the Actronika engineering team was spending a considerable amount of time importing, exporting, and managing CAD files. The company was seeking a cloud-native product development platform that would eliminate the hassles of data management and speed up communication with manufacturing partners.
About The Customer
Based in Paris, France, Actronika is an R&D company that develops patented haptic processing units (HPUs) that connect to actuators and tiny vibrotactile motors inside other companies’ products to create 'endless possibilities of high definition sensations.' Actronika was launched in 2016, based on the research of Vincent Hayward, Professor of Tactile Perception and Technologies at Sorbonne University. The company focuses on enriching the relationship between humans and machines by adding the sense of touch. Actronika’s three main focuses are the automotive, mobile, and gaming industries. They are a partner of Novares, a global plastic component supplier to OEMs and Tier-1 companies in the automotive industry.
The Solution
To streamline communication between their design team and their external partners, Actronika chose PTC’s Onshape, the only SaaS product development platform that combines CAD, data management, real-time collaboration tools, and business analytics. Onshape’s Sharing feature allows Actronika to instantly share CAD models with manufacturing partners to review in real time. The platform’s built-in version control eliminates the risk of engineers working on the wrong version of a design. Onshape’s portability allows easier access for the company’s Linux-using software team to participate in design reviews. Additionally, Onshape’s real-time data management ensures that whenever an engineer makes a change or edit to their 3D CAD model, everyone on the design team instantly sees it. A comprehensive Edit History also records who made what changes and when, allowing the team to return to any prior state of the design at any time.
Operational Impact
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