ETRI-ITS Korea Inaugurated the e-Call Forum
ETRI and ITS Korea (Intelligent Transport Society of Korea) inaugurated the e-Call Forum and held a commemorative seminar at EL Tower, Seoul on August 31st, 2016. In the event of a traffic accident, the sensors of the e-Call system such as smartphones automatically perceive the accident and immediately transmit the accident information to the control center to facilitate rescue responses.
The sensors embedded in smartphones, navigation systems, and car black boxes are designed to automatically perceive and report any accident that occurs in a remote place or at night as well as any casualties or the nature of injuries such as an unconscious driver. Receiving the report, the control center will determine whether the incident is an actual traffic accident and immediately call emergency or other rescue authorities. This allows rapid responses to rescue people and deal with the consequences of traffic accidents. When this system is fully established, ETRI expects that it will be able to reduce the death rate from traffic accidents by two to three percent, saving about 100 to 150 lives each year.
The forum’s foundation ceremony was attended by institutions participating in the systems’ research and development, as well as interested parties and experts from the automobiles, telecommunications, and insurance industries, road management authorities, device manufacturers, and governmental agencies.
The ceremony was followed by a seminar to discuss the current status of the e-Call system in Korea and to identify the challenges to surmount in the near future. The venue also served as an opportunity to gather consensus of interested parties in the private sectors and study measures to ensure mutual cooperation and commercialization of the e-Call system.
“I believe that the e-Call forum will lay a foundation for developing a vehicle ICT-based emergency rescue technology to reduce casualties through fast response to traffic accidents” commented Dr. Hyung-jun Kim, head of the Protocol Engineering Center, who also chaired the e-Call Forum Preparatory Committee. “The forum will also provide a basis to expand services nationwide.”
ETRI to Conduct Vehicle Quality Assessment with Terahertz Waves
By using terahertz waves, which can penetrate various materials such as plastics and fibers but not metals, ETRI successfully developed a technology for commercial products to promote differentiated quality assessment and safety control in the process of automobile manufacturing.
ETRI researchers explained that they produced a micro-sized scanner of 10 by 10 centimeters that houses a semiconductor laser device, another device creating terahertz waves from the semiconductor, a device to detect the waves returning from the object, and a circuit board to adjust the devices. The key to commercializing the terahertz technology has been realizing a micro-sized, low-cost system. With all of the involved technologies independently developed for materials, devices, modules, and systems, the research team emphasized that the core terahertz module technology was developed by purely domestic technology.
ETRI stated that the scanner will be used for a number of nondestructive inspection purposes to ensure differentiated quality and safety control in vehicle manufacturing.
The recently developed system employs technology to project terahertz waves to the target and examine the condition of vehicle parts in a nondestructive manner, the researchers explained. To this end, two laser rays with different wavelengths are required, and making those laser rays from a single semiconductor chip is the core element of the independently developed technology. Whereas similar scanners made abroad tend to be much larger in size and as expensive as several hundred million won, ETRI’s technology is anticipated to be used for distributing much smaller and less expensive scanners.
The research team plans to study the uniformity and components of paints applied upon the surface of vehicles or vessels and further develop various technologies such as imaging technology for medical diagnosis using terahertz waves and terahertz wireless telecommunication technology following the 5G technology.
This latest technology is scheduled to be transferred to IO Solution, a manufacturer of optical modules, for USD 417,000 as an initial payment. The company is expecting to produce a prototype of a portal nondestructive measuring system early in 2017 to use terahertz waves and detect faults in real time.
On August 27, ETRI signed a business agreement with Hyundai Motors, and both parties are currently discussing specific measures for commercialization.
“We developed inexpensive core parts that are small enough to be readily used in the field and that have multiple functions including spectrography, imaging, and communications. This technology will enable industries to broadly apply terahertz technology.” explained Dr. Kyung-hyun Park, head of Terahertz Basic Research Section of ETRI.
