Interactivity big part of Digital Car

Early attendees receive interactive training at the start of SAE's Digital Car Conference.

In a clever nod to high-tech communications, people attending the Digital Car Conference technology sessions channeled instant comments to presenters via a Web link.

"It's a pretty neat setup," said Tom Creech, an electrical engineer with General Motors Corp., as he scanned the 250 laptop computers adorning rows of tables in a dedicated area within Cobo Center's Michigan Hall.

With a mouse click and a few keyboard taps, audience members conveyed non-verbal comments during a presenter's speech. "There is interactive polling, and questions can be asked of the presenters in real time," said Bob Leon, President of Colortone Staging & Rentals, which provided the Compaq computers. "At the same time, we're streaming this to the Web (via digitalcar.org), so there are people all over the country who are in the same loop."

Regarded as the first interactive "webstream" of this magnitude and context, the high-tech, two-way communication format was intended "to show we're on the cutting edge," said Greg Muha, Exhibition Sales Manager for SAE International, who added, "It creates the e-factor: energy, enthusiasm, and excitement."

August Burgett, Chief of the Advanced Safety Systems Research Division for the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, tailored his presentation to match the theme participants said they preferred among three choices—in this case, assessing crash prevention technologies that affect driving performance.

"I would like to see this interactive aspect again for large groups," said Richard Darienzo, a mechanical engineer in the sales and marketing group of Peugeot Citroën Engines in New Jersey.

Digital Car technical session attendees also were encouraged to complete a five-point survey that included telematics-related queries respective to the average price increase per vehicle people will accept based on the improved benefits of navigation, communications, and entertainment—as well as an opinion as to whether automakers, service providers, or consumer electronics suppliers should be responsible for addressing/determining customers' telematics requirements.

This year's Digital Car Conference and Exhibition—collocated with the SAE 2002 World Congress—was presented by SAE in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association. Sponsors of the Digital Car show were Accenture, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Philips, and Microsoft Windows CE for Automotive.

- Kami Buchholz

NEC senses passengers

The SeatSentry occupant-sensing system from NEC uses sensor mats installed in the seat cushion to detect an infant's mass in a rear-facing seat and to suppress the passenger airbag.

NEC Technologies Inc., an affiliate of NEC Corp., demonstrated at the SAE 2002 World Congress a technology it has developed to accurately predict the size and position of a seat occupant. The SeatSentry occupant-sensing system can detect whether it is an adult, a child in a safety seat, a seated child, or an out-of-position child (by NHTSA guidelines) in the front seat. According to Phillip Rittmueller, Vice President, NEC Technologies, Automotive Electronics Division, the technology now makes it unnecessary to disable the airbag on the passenger side.

"The National Safe Kids Campaign reported (last month) that nearly half of the children riding on the road today don't wear safety belts or use the wrong child seat," said Rittmueller. "That means more kids are riding in the front seat and now more kids are at risk. The safest place for children is still in the back seat of the car. However, we need smart technologies to protect everyone, (especially) when they can't protect themselves."

Using electric-field sensing, the system detects the relative mass and relative position of an occupant through the use of a series of flexible sensor mats embedded in the seat. The sensor mats are connected to an electronic control unit (ECU) at the base of the seat. If the mass is mostly at the front of the seat, as with an infant in a rear-facing infant seat, it will not deploy. The system detects adults as small as 51 kg (112 lb) to allow the passenger airbag to safely deploy. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab originally developed electric-field sensing through the application of mathematics and physics to music. The goal of the researchers was to investigate the interaction between people and inanimate objects.

NEC developed its technology from the MIT research and got 3M to incorporate it into the seat. "We've worked with all the major seat manufacturers and all the foam manufacturers in North America and have successfully integrated this technology into (many) different seats," said Donn Schumaker, Business Unit Manager, 3M Electrical Products Division. "Because the sensor mat is made from the same foam material as the seat, the SeatSentry is virtually undetectable by the occupant."

NEC co-developed with JAE the case that houses the electronics in the ECU as well as the connection interface that goes to the sensor mat assembly in the seat and the vehicle harness.

The NHTSA FMVSS-208 mandates that by MY 2004, 35% of new cars must be equipped with occupant-sensing systems that meet injury criteria or suppress the airbag. By MY 2006, all new cars must have this capability. According to NEC, the SeatSentry system meets all of the NHTSA proposed tests for static suppression, including testing with the available child seats specified in the regulations. The major OEMs in Detroit are scheduled to introduce the system in their vehicles "in the coming years," claims NEC. A version of the system for side airbags can currently be found in all Honda vehicles with side airbags.

- Jean L. Broge