4. IMPORTANCE

In developed countries now electronic contents per vehicle are ranging from US$ 500 to 2000 (Rs. 15,000 to 60,000) in premium car models. The total annual business volume of automotive electronics is around Rs. 60,000 crore all over the world as against about Rs. 100 crore in India.

5. CURRENT STATUS OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE WORLD

Electronics has been well accepted as standard feature by global leaders in automobile industry.

One standard feature is for exhaust emission control. This particular advantage has helped in bringing legislative provisions to achieve near zero emissions. The unique selling point for on-board electronics continues to be for driving comfort & safety. The salient features are:

Electronic engine management system : It controls and monitors fuel injection & ignition, engine speed.

Safety : The anti lock braking system avoids skidding of vehicles on slopes and avoids locking of wheels while braking.

Entertainment : Radios & setero cassette players, CD’s, TV’s have found place in luxury cars. Being a non- functional feature it has not been much discussed in this report.

Communication : Mobile cellular telephones & receivers for traffic broadcasts are widely used in cars and taxis.

Security : Electronic car security locks, remote controlled locks and central door locking system improves security.

Besides on-board electronics, the other related areas relevant to the subject are as follows:

Traffic Surveillance & Control : It can be achieved through traffic control satellites. Bar coded signs, magnetic car number plates, traffic signals etc.

Diagnostics : Garage equipments; computer controlled engine analysers have simplified fault detection and rectification. Other equipments are computerized wheel balancer, wheel aligner, digital engine analyzer, gas analysers etc.

Besides four wheelers, almost all two wheelers have electronics features like flashers, regulators and ignition.

Even though the global automobile leaders have accepted electronics, several concerns are in the process of adopting them. United States accounts for 1/3 of the global business of automotive electronics i.e. around Rs. 22,000 crore per year.

The technology trends in the world indicate incorporation of the state of the art car with most advanced features by the year 2000. It will have exciting features of cellular network communication, choice of on-board display, reformattable driver information, voice recognition, select displays like speed on front electro-, automatic transmission, fully electronic control, zone adjust

In short, by the beginning of 21st century, a car that drives itself may become a reality.                                              Back