Arralis announces H2020 Funding of €1.12 Million

Limerick based company Arralis announces European Commission H2020 Funding of €1.12 Million
The European Commission has awarded funding of €1.12 Million through the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2 Program to Arralis, who specialise in leading-edge, high definition radar and ultra-fast data communications in the Aerospace and Satellite sectors.
In response to the announcement Horizon 2020 Program Manager, Marie Bourke, said ‘The Arralis team are really excited to continue this cutting edge development through the critical stage of commercialisation’.
Arralis designs and manufactures high frequency semiconductor chips, modules and antennas up to and beyond 110GHz. Under this program Arralis will commercialise ground-breaking radar technology, a 94GHz Phase Shifting Radar (PSR94) front end, which is to be sold primarily to millimetre wave radar systems manufacturers in the aerospace sector. It will be the world’s first electronically scanned radar front end at 94GHz.
Current technology using mechanically scanning beams at high frequency are physically large, have large power requirements and offer reduced reliability due to the many moving parts. The PSR94 RF front end includes an electronically scanning antenna with no moving parts which is much smaller, has wider scanning angles, is bi-directional, is much cheaper to manufacture and has low power consumption.
The PSR94 will enable Arralis customers to have a light and highly accurate radar that can be implemented into a wide range of applications. Space applications such as un-manned space probes, space debris avoidance and also weather radar and earth observation satellites require high reliability which is a key feature of the PSR94. In the aviation sector landing helicopters in very poor visibility, such as dusty conditions (brownouts), causes GPS systems and infra-red devices to be inaccurate. The PSR94 has the capability to produce high resolution imagery in these difficult conditions. In airports, the PSR94 can be used to identify runway debris which may be a potential danger to aircrafts.
Speaking on the announcement Arralis COO, Eamonn Boland said “We see this as a further endorsement of our engineering team to develop novel technology which is also highly desirable commercially”.
The background Arralis 94GHz MMICs technology has been developed through a supply contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) supported by Enterprise Ireland.
 
(Left to right), Horizon 2020 Program Manager, Marie Bourke and Arralis Chief Operations Officer, Eamonn Boland