Bristol-based sensory technology firm Fusion Processing has moved to larger premises to continue its growth after winning three major new contracts in the past two months.
The firm, which specialises in developing sensors and control systems for driverless cars and detectors for vehicle safety systems, is part of a UK consortium behind a £30m deal to supply 200 driverless cars to South Korea. 
Within weeks of this deal, Fusion Processing was contracted to provide its CycleEye product to Mercedes Benz refuse vehicles in Ireland.
CycleEye, which has already been supplied to First Bus in Bristol, uses radar and a low light camera to detect vulnerable road users close to large vehicles and warns the driver with a spoken alert.
In its third contract win, Fusion Processing is supplying CycleEye to a major European truck company.
Now the firm has relocated from Bristol’s Engine Shed innovation hub to larger premises at Future Space, the city’s new tech and science centre on UWE’s Frenchay campus.
The move will enable it to expand its 10-strong team in line with its growing order book.Fusion Processing was founded in 2012 with the aim of using radar and machine vision expertise with processor technology to enhance automotive and transport systems.
It has developed industry leading products for three separate growing markets – cycling and pedestrian safety, traffic analysis and sensors and control systems for autonomous vehicles.
Fusion Processing CEO Jim Hutchinson said: “We’ve secured some fantastic new contracts this year and the company is growing in line with its target market segments.
“We needed a new base which would allow us to keep developing our products from the ground up for a wider pool of clients and Future Space provided the ideal solution.”
Future Space director Elaine McKechnie said: “Fusion Processing is doing some amazing work which could soon revolutionise many aspects of our transport system so we’re really pleased they have chosen Future Space as a base from which to grow.
“At Future Space tech and science focused companies can benefit not only from the flexible workspace but also from a network of other fascinating and fast-growing high-tech companies and a raft of professional support services.”
As well as CycleEye, the company also produces CAVstar, which provides a complete sensor and control system that enables autonomous operation by vehicles, and TrafficTrak, a product that uses radar to analyse traffic flows and provides traffic control centres with modal data, such as number of cyclists, cars and large vehicles passing a given location, and can detect stopped vehicles. The product is used at several locations across the UK.
Future Space is part of the University Enterprise Zone led by UWE Bristol and is run by Oxford Innovation and co-located with the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, at the heart of UWE’s Frenchay Campus. It connects entrepreneurs and tech innovators with scientists, researchers and graduate talent – to spark collaboration, innovation and growth.
