There is no doubt that photonics is revolutionizing the world and it has a profound impact on a diverse range of applications such as automotive.
The automotive industry has a big importance because the production of cars worldwide is expected to double in 20 years, from 56.4 million cars manufactured in 2000 to 104.5 million forecasts to be produced in 2019. Also, 82 million cars were made in 2013, with 25% of these made in China. The European share of car production has decreased slightly in the past years.
The automotive market has a strong strategy towards the development of autonomous vehicles. This goal of increasing automation in cars is driving the development of new technologies in all fields: robotics, electronics, communication, software and photonic
Currently, the automotive industry has some challenges to achieve such as welding ferritic and austenitic steel to 1 mm. The main objective is avoiding a fragile weldseam prone to crack due to sprinback effect and/or posterior deformation. Then, one of the application scenarios of Custodian are Laser Beam Welding of austenitic steel for exhaust systems in automotive.
If the photonics help to solve these problems, the automotive industry will be able to produce thinner walls lead to 25% of weight reduction in exhaust system
