Calyo lands £1.25M UK grant to build all-weather ultrasound for driverless cars
What's the deal? CalyoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, alongside BenedexDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Cranfield University, has secured £1.25 million in grant funding from the UK GovernmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to develop DRIVEN BY SOUND+, an 18-month project building an all-weather perception system for automated vehicles. The money comes through the CAM Pathfinder Demonstrate competition, backed by ZenzicDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Innovate UKDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
What's the endgame? At the centre is Calyo Pulse, which uses ultrasound to build detailed 3D information about a vehicle's immediate surroundings. Unlike standard parking sensors, it provides volumetric near-range perception designed to complement cameras, LiDAR, and radar.
Why now? The project builds on the earlier DRIVEN BY SOUND programme, which proved the sensing platform worked on-vehicle. DRIVEN BY SOUND+ moves that work towards an integrated, commercially deployable system, combining Pulse with Calyo's PxAI edge compute platform and multi-sensor fusion.
The focus is reliable perception in rain, fog, spray, glare, and low light — conditions where optical sensing degrades. Benedex will link that perception to vehicle control, supporting responses and minimum-risk manoeuvres.
"Reliable autonomy needs diversity in how a vehicle senses the world," said Dr Mihai Caleap, founder and chief executive officer of Calyo and project lead. "Ultrasound gives us an independent source of near-range information, particularly in difficult environmental conditions."
Cranfield University will handle integration, simulation, data collection, and on-road validation using a drive-by-wire research vehicle. The consortium aims to validate the subsystem at TRL 6-7 by project end, supported by on-road evidence and safety artefacts.
What could go wrong? The technology remains at a demonstrator stage. Vehicle manufacturers must still evaluate and adopt it, and the project targets a validated subsystem — not a commercial product — by its conclusion.
The signal: The round sits in the 92nd percentile for grant funding among UK robotics deals over the trailing 48 months, drawn from a sample of 88. That scale of public backing reflects continued government interest in adding sensor redundancy to autonomous driving, where no single approach yet handles every condition.
Read more: Zenzic
Image credit: siraf72
