CENTI, Portugal
This project introduces a highly innovative printed loudspeaker system integration that reimagines how audio can be integrated in real life applications. The reduced dimensions and lightweight architecture make this solution highly valued in mobility-oriented applications, including automotive systems.
By using advanced printing techniques, such as dispenser printing of conductive coils and screen-printing of dielectric layers, the loudspeaker concept transcends the conventional designs by its simplicity and light design. The system is ultra-thin, lightweight, and compatible with complex geometries and materials such as Polypropylene (PP), PET and Polyimide. Unlike conventional loudspeakers, the printed design allows the acoustic system to be seamlessly embedded into a thin headrest, enabling new levels of design freedom, reduced component volume, and improved integration with seat structures. The printed coils maintain precise geometric control, ensuring stable electrical performance, while the customizable membrane architecture provides promising acoustic output with reduced distortion. The project pushed the sustanability boundaries by applying a monomaterial solution with a PP frame, also printed, supporting the PP coil membrane assuring an easy end of life recycling. This solution demonstrates how printed electronics can transform traditional loudspeaker concepts, enabling a novel class of conformable, low-profile audio solutions tailored to automotive interiors. This technological shift opens the door to new user-centred sound experiences and more efficient, space-saving interior designs.
Benefits of the project
- Enhanced User Experience: By integrating the sound source directly into the headrest, the system delivers a more immersive and localized audio experience, improving clarity and comfort for the listener. Its low-profile design also eliminates vibrations and reduces distortion, contributing to superior sound quality without adding mass or compromising ergonomics.
- Technological Differentiation: Leveraging cutting-edge printing technologies for the fabrication of conductive coils and dielectric layers, the system offers a scalable and cost-efficient alternative to traditional loudspeakers. The printed structure enables precise geometry control and supports conformability to complex surfaces—key advantages for OEMs seeking innovative in-seat audio solutions.
- Design Freedom and Integration: The thin and flexible printed architecture allows effortless embedding into headrest foams, fabrics, and internal structures. This enables new possibilities for minimalist design, weight reduction, and compactness, while freeing space normally occupied by mechanical speakers. It also supports integration into multiple seat models with minimal redesign, increasing its market applicability.
- Sustainability: The usage of low-density and easily recyclable polymers—such as polypropylene—into a fully monomaterial solution takes design for recycling to the next level. This approach not only ensures simplified end-of-life treatment but also delivers a low-carbon footprint across production, usage, and disposal stages, resulting in a significant improvement in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
Target Industry
- Automotive
Organic & Printed Components
- Conductive path
- Interconnection
- Printed dielectric / insulator
- Printed Coil