Antenna company Ignion is hoping for a big boost in sales as Spain prepares for new legislation that will scrap the red triangle hazard warning device for cars and replace it with a flashing beacon that attaches to the top of vehicles.

Each of these V16 beacons contains two antennas, one for NB-IoT and one for GNSS. These have been in use since July 2021 but will come mandatory in Spain from January 2026, and their use could spread widely across the European Union.

Bruno Cunha, head of sales at Ignion, said at last week’s Hardware Pioneers Max show in London that the Spain roll out alone could lead to 30 million antenna sales for Ignion.

The V16 is an orange flashing light that replaces triangles as a means of signalling that a stationary vehicle is on the road. As this can be attached by magnet by a driver or passenger through the window by hand, it means nobody needs to leave the vehicle to set up the hazard warning, making it much safer that the red triangle.

“Instead of putting the triangle out, you put this on top of your car and it flashes,” said Cunha. “It has GNSS and cellular technology that sends a message to the road authorities in Spain. You don’t need to leave the car, just open the window and stick it on the roof.”

He said that 85% of them are using Ignion technology. The ramp up is expected to start in September to be ready for them becoming mandatory in 18 months’ time.

“Spain will then pitch the idea to the EU, saying this is the way to go,” said Cunha. “We expect this to expand to Europe within the next ten years. This is a huge project.”

The V16 device has NB-IoT and GNSS connectivity, the form factor is small and round, and there are a lot of metal parts including the reflector and the powerful magnet used to keep it positioned on the roof of the car. So much metal makes it difficult to design the device so the radios work acceptably.

However, multiple radios in a small form factor device were instantly modelled in Ignion’s Antenna Intelligence Cloud, and a design was realised with the firm’s Virtual Antenna technology. This ensured the V16 manufacturers that the broadcast of the positioning signal met the certification requirements of their diverse carriers.

Battery life is essential. In a perfect world, the beacon would sit in the glovebox forever, but when an emergency occurs, it needs to be switched on and ready for action. Battery life is optimised both by using low-power NB-IoT and by ensuring optimised antenna performance through the integration of Virtual Antenna components.

More of how this works can be found at ignion.io/blog/safer-journey-awaits-igniting-road-safety-with-virtual-antenna-technology. And the information about the beacon and Spain’s plans is available here www.dgt.es/export/sites/web-DGT/.galleries/downloads/muevete-con-seguridad/tecnologia-e-innovacion/certificados-v16/230602_SENAL-V-16_v10-EN.pdf.