ARTC Wins Gold, Silver Prizes at 39th Inventions Geneva

Taiwan's Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC) once again proved its outstanding development and innovation capability at the 39th edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (Inventions Geneva), held on April 6-10 in Geneva, Switzerland, taking both gold and silver prizes.

ARTC won out over 750 other exhibitors from 45 nations, winning prizes for its active automotive safety systems including a vehicle rollover warning system and an image-type obstacle detection system.

Officials of ARTC pointed out that both the award winners are advanced intelligent safety systems that help make driving easier and safer. The first can detect possible vehicle-rolling risks and pre-warn the driver, while the second uses a reverse camera to detect different obstacles and display them on an onboard monitor so the driver can avoid possible collisions.

Liao Chiu-chin, ARTC's vice president, pointed out that the center has devoted itself to the development and innovation of automotive-related technologies and applications in recent years, and that its achievements have been frequently recognized by the granting of major international invention awards. Award-winning items and technologies, Liao stressed, are transferred to domestic private companies for commercialization, creating more business opportunities for the local automotive industry and helping upgrade the level of R&D in Taiwan.

Vehicle Rollover Warning System
ARTC claims that its vehicle rollover warning device is a very advanced system with better functions and cost advantages compared with most similar products currently available in the market.

Most vehicle makers now adopting safety systems to help keep vehicles from going out of control, slipping, or rolling over, ARTC explained. Its own system uses image-recognition technology to warn driver quickly if there is a risk of rolling over. The system contains image sensors, a gyroscope, wheel-speed sensors, and other control units, making it able to detect a curve in the lane 50 meters ahead of the moving vehicle.

When the vehicle is moving forward, the system automatically computes all the indexes to predict rollover risk, and warns the driver when the speed approaches dangerous levels. If a car is going 80 kilometers per hour, for example, the system can warn of a possible rollover 2.25 seconds in advance. The system can be adopted on all kinds of vehicles.

Image-Type Obstacle Reverse Detection System
Most new cars now offer reverse sensors and reverse image systems to help ease parking. In most cases, however, these two systems work independently.

ARTC's new system, by contrast, uses image-recognition technology to detect obstacles and transmit reverse images from a single camera. This allows different obstacles to be detected at the same time and displayed, along with the distances involved, on the in-car monitor. The system warns the driver when his vehicle is approaching obstacles.

Inventions Geneva
A thousand inventions were on show at this year's 39th Inventions Geneva, confirming its position as the world's premier specialized meeting place for inventions.

Many exhibitors reported that they did good business and made useful contacts during the exhibition, which attracted investors and companies from throughout the world. This year the exhibition was dominated by a large number of inventions in the areas of ecology, environment, and security. It also attracted an increasing number of young inventors, and several inventors under the age of 25 were award winners.

Jean-Luc Vincent, founding president of the exhibition, declared, “We can say that we have enjoyed complete success. The exhibition is stronger each year: all the sectors concerned confirmed this. Far from the problems caused by the eruption of Iceland's volcano, Eifjaokull, last year, we are already preparing a memorable event for our 40th anniversary."