2009/4/29
Innovation, safety and entertainment stood out as the three most remarkable elements in the 2009 Taipei International Automobile Electronics Show (AutoTronics Taipei), which was held along with the Taipei International Auto Parts and Accessories Show (Taipei AMPA) on April 14-17 in Taipei.
Despite the economic climate, 1,000 manufacturers displayed their latest products at 2,600 separate booths in the combined show, including foreign automakers from South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and China.
Innovation is the Cream of this Year's AutoTronics Taipei
The best way to measure innovation in this year's AutoTronics Taipei is to take a look at the products that won the show's innovation awards. This year's award winning products bring innovative answers to age-old questions and display genius in creativity and safety. There are five winning products in the auto electronics category. Due to limited space, only three of the five products will be briefly described in the following. They are the blind spot erase system Easy Look from S-MS International, the parking assist ASIC from iMagic Tek, and the low-pressure LED warning valve cap from Cowealth.
Most vehicle drivers, while changing lanes without quickly swiveling their heads to look in the direction of the rear right or rear left, have had the frightening experience of being shocked by the blast of a horn from a vehicle hidden in a blind spot.
'BlindSpot' erasing technology is designed as a digital microcomputer system creating a larger field of vision to aid in reducing collision and the resulting injury. When S-MS International's EasyLook senses the vehicle beginning to change direction within the programmed parameters, such as making turns, changing lanes, parking roadside, or reversing, 'EasyLook' is activated and this system controls exterior mirrors and makes them turn down or move outward to erase blind spots.
For those who need help with parking, iMagic Tek has up its sleeves a parking assist ASIC. With steering wheel sensor and through the computing of a digital signal processor and image processing technology, the ASIC outputs real-time images of the vehicle width extension lines, the distance lines, and the predicted trajectory to back the car on the screen fo guide the driver. The system has a stunning accuracy rate of 99.5% to assist in easier and safer parking. iMagic Tek says the parking assist ASIC has what it takes to compete with world automakers' similar products and can provide customized service according to the needs of aftermarket, automakers or ODM.
As tire pressure cannot be overlooked in driving safety, Cowealth introduces the low-pressure LED warning valve cap, which will become lighted when the tire pressure is below the preset values, which are available at 8%, 15%, and 30% of the tire pressure. The LED lighting alarm indication with replaceable battery can last for 10 days and is suitable for bikes, motorbikes, cars and trucks.
Safety is Paramount and Plenty of Gadgets are Ready to Help
Car safety products, more specifically driving safety products, Telematics systems, car security equipment, and car testing systems, made up a big part of this year's Autotronics Taipei exhibiton.
For car-trip recording, satellite positioning, and navigation, Wintecronics is credited with the creation of SNAVL (Sky Net Automatic Vehicle Locator) that combine such technologies as anti-theft, GSM, GPS, GPRS, GIS, world-wide web, and server. Systems and Technology's satellite car tracking system INTELLITRAC A1 has a built-in 3D sensor that can help users stay on top of the car's status, whether it is being hit, being towed or being static. With a user-friendly software interface that allows users to upload info, this product helps analyze driver behavior, enhance fuel mileage, plan routes, calculate ground covered, manage car fleets, you name it.
Vision Automobile electronics Industrial's land deviation warning system helps drivers not to deviate from their lanes to cause accidents. The system will warn the driver via audible sound if the vehicle diverts across the lane mark on the road.
Along this line of driving safety products, the driver status monitor system from the Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (TARC) is a mentionable gadget. The system utilizes image tracking to detect the swing of the driver's head and integrates a microprocessor to analyze the signals, including driver status, driver breath alchol concentration (BAC) and gear position of the vehicle. Dangerous drving and drunk drving has been detected and recognized. The system features the technology of the analysis of driver vision, the estimation of attention degree, and the warning mode of LED lighting and buzzer sound. When the warning appears, the driver is advised to find a nearest and safe spot to park the vehicle right away and take a nap before hitting the road again.
Among other products of active/passive safety/security products are Long In Tech's car trip recorder; Just Top's LED side lamp for trucks, which shed light on the blind spots on the flanks of large trucks, reducing the odds of brushes with other vehicles or even pedestrians; Yue Fu Technology's tire pressure monitor system, wchih combines advanced microchip and RF technology to monitor loss of tire pressure, King Tronic RF's keyless system, which applies to car/motorbike ownership and household access management and warns the driver in the cab; Mintron's 14BIT dual-channel 1:100,000 super-wide dynamic camera, which is great with dynamic tracking; and lastly Taiwan Agilent's high-power device measuring/testing service program, which is vital to automotive product makers.
Another parking assist system exhibited which is worth mentioning is the sensor-less parking guiding system from the TARC. The image-based system comprises of a control, a camera and a monitor. With the parking images derived from the camera and the developed digital image processing algorithm, the backward parking trajectory can be generated for driver assistance. This sensor-less system, which avoids the requirement of the steering wheel sensor, processes great flexibility in installment.
Enhanced Entertainment and Communication System Increase Comfort and Pleasure of Long Car Trips
Another dominant element in the auto electronics show is the integrated entertainment and communication systems that mostly combine audio, visual, communication, GPS, car computer and mobile Internet to keep people inside the vehicles entertained and stay connected, especially when trips are long and there are kids on board.
Among this line of products exhibited in this year's show are Bright Vision Technologies' super-slim entertainment audio/video unit; Giantec's touch-control in-car computer; E-lead's 2 DIN touch-control multimedia audio playback system; Funtoro's All-in-One System that features GPS, mobile TV, gaming, media player and aux in (external A/V input) to 'enrich the life-style in vehicle' as its slogan claims; and Daiwoo Electronics' auto video system.
The AutoTronics Taipei, in conjunction with Taipei AMPA, which provided a single platform for buying both auto parts and auto electronic products at one stop, wrapped up its four day exhibition with an upbeat keynote going into the future. Shen Guorong, chairman of leading transimission manfacturer Hota Industrial, stresses that 'the US government will rescue the big three autoakers, and force them to develop fuel efficient cars, hybrids, and other new models. We should see a gradual upturn in the second quarter, and as companies seek to reduce costs, Asia's parts suppliers will benefit.' With many auto makers and OEMs suffering, Taiwanese aftermcompanies will see opportunities.
Photo: E-LEAD Electronic's car multimedia and communication products attract the interest of many potential foreign buyers. |
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