Fig.7 Toyota's next generation concept SUV Lexus "LF-Xh"	Fig.8 Mechanism of Lexus hibrid

EV cars with doors rotating 360 degrees

Fig.9 Nissan's city commuter vehicle "Pivo 2"	Fig.10 Pivo 2

Nissan has launched environmentfriendly electric city commuter vehicle called Pivo 2 (Fig.9, 10). The distinct design of the vehicle is very attractive, and it also adopts many state-
of-art electronics technologies. Pivo 2 can accommodate 3 people with the doors designed in a manner different from that of the other cars. The doors arranged in the front cabin
can be rotated freely around 360 degrees thus facilitating entry through any side. This original Pivo, launched at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, did not incorporate the advanced features of the Pivo 2. Pivo 2 uses by-wire technology
in the braking, steering and drive train systems. Each of the four wheels is powered by an electric disc type 3D motor. A lithium ion battery is installed at the floor of the vehicle. A face-recognition robotic agent is set on the dashboard which analyzes the condition of the driver in addition to passing information regarding the status of the vehicle to the driver. Pedals, steering wheel and LCD are also installed
in the front door through which the driver enters.

Special features of EV cars:

Fig.11 High speed battery charger plug of Mitsubishi's "iMiEV"	Fig.12 Mitsubishi's plug in hybrid car iMiEV	Fig.13 Mitsubishi's sports model of i-MiEV "i-MiEV Sport"

Mitsubishi had exhibited lightweight EV cars, namely i-MiEV, at the previous Tokyo Motor Show. In 2007, Mitsubishi formed collaboration with electric power companies and research institutes for the purpose of research and development of their car model (Fig.11, 12). The current model of i-MiEV has a special feature wherein the battery is quickly charged. It takes 30 minutes to charge nearly 80% of the battery. The household power source can be used to charge the battery fully within duration of 14 hours and the car can cover a distance of 160km with a fully-charged battery. The sports model of i-MiEV called the i-MiEV SPORT was also exhibited (Fig.13). It features 3 in-wheel motors -- one each at the right and left side of
the front portion and the third one in the rear. Each motor is controlled by an electronic controller E-4W system optimizing each motor power. This model also includes an E-AYC (electric- active yaw control), ABS and ASC. The i-MiEV SPORT has an energy recycling system. It is equipped with solar panels on the roof and wind generation fan as well as regenerating brake.

Environment-friendly hybrid cars

Fig.14 Honda's gel body vehicle "Puyo"	Fig.15 Honda's hybrid light weight sport car "CR-Z"	Fig.16 Honda's hybrid racing machine "Civic hybrid racer"

Honda has launched fuel cell concept car named Puyo (Fig.14). The total length of the car is 2800mm. The car is named by feeling "puyo puyo" when it is touched. The vehicle features a gel body, which renders it very soft and shiny, and gives it an attractive appearance. CR-Z is a light-weight sports car, which is also environment-friendly. (Fig.15) It was discussed as a hot topic due to the dynamic design and reintroduction of the special features of the model CR-X 80. Although the details of the power unit have not been disclosed, efficient performance and
high torque indicates a powerful hybrid system. The all new Civic hybrid was exhibited along with the Civic hybrid racer, which was launched in 2007. (Fig.16). The Civic hybrid model is environment-friendly and is useful for motor sports activities.

Battery component that doubles the running distance

Fig.17 Subaru's EV concept car "G4e CONCEPT"	Fig.18 Next generation lithium ion battery installed on G4e CONCEPT

The Subaru division of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. unveiled its next generation compact EV concept car the "G4e CONCEPT" (Fig.17, 18). It can accommodate 5 persons. The size of G4e is same as that of regular cars and has a running distance of 200km. The major reason is development of new lithium-ion battery which the vanadium positive electrode is used.
It achieves double energy density compared with present same weight lithium-ion battery. This battery is installed under the car.

Fig.19 Mazda's dual fuel hybrid car "Primacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid"

Fig.20 Suzuki's single-seat transport pod "PIXY"	Fig.21 Suzuki's minicar unit of PIXY "SSC"	Fig.22 Marin concept car of SSC mounting two PIXIs

Suzuki Motor Corporation unveiled its PIXY + SSC next-generation vehicle, which integrates PIXY, a low-speed, single-seat transport pod, and the SSC (Suzuki Sharing Coach), for sustainable mobility. The PIXY+SSC can accommodate a single passenger and is driven by motor (Fig.20). The maximum speed of the PIXY + SSC is 6 km/hr. It has a collision avoidance sensor, a super wide angle rear view camera and soft body for pedestrians. The SSC is a mobile unit that can drive by PIXY mounting on SSC (Fig.21). It moves by fuel cell and in-wheel mocept

Fig.23 Suzuki's motorcycle installing FC "Cross Cage"

Suzuki also announced the new motorcycle named "Cross Cage", adopting Intelligent Energy's fuel cell (Fig.23). The engine capacity is
125cc and has a 350psi pressure tank from which hydrogen is supplied. The total running distance of the Cross Cage is 200 km. It is proposed
to be tested in foreign countries too.

Fig.24 Daimler's Mercedes Benz brand diesel hybrid car "S300 BLUETEC HYBRID"

Fig.25 Audi's 4WD hybrid car "Metro Project Quattro"	Fig.26 Metro Project Quattro installes 41PS motor under the luggage spce

Audi launched the Metro Project Quattro in the sub concept segment (Fig.25, 26) for design study. This model is characterized by its compact design and has 3 doors and 4 seats with a sporty inside. This car is equipped with a TFSI engine, rear motor and a plug-in hybrid system. This model has a gasoline engine as a power source. Only the rear tires are driven when the motor alone is operating and all 4 tires are driven when both the engine and the motor are operating. The mileage is 16% less when compared with gasoline engines, with CO₂ emission of 112g/km and, a total running distance is more than 100km.

Fig.27 BMW's "Hydrogen 7"

Fig.28 Volvo's recharge concept car

Swedish automobile maker Volvo exhibited Recharge Concept (Fig.28) which uses an in-wheel motor (Fig.28). The engine and motor are installed with an external charger,

namely, plug-in hybrid, but it does not have direct run mode for the engine. The motor will run using a common battery but when the charge is low in the battery, the engine stars and generates electrical power for driving motors. It is possible to charge in a household and a total running distance of 100km can be achieved when the battery is fully charged. The mileage is 80% less when compared with vehicles of the same class and the CO2 emission is reduced by 66% compared with other present hybrid cars.

Fig.29 Citroen's diesel hybrid car "C-CACTUS"

Citroen exhibited the diesel engine + hybrid concept named C-Cactus (Fig.29). having a low mileage of 29.4 km/l. But the architecture of CCactus is simple. This model provides a wide range of basic functions and the maximum amount of recycled materials are used.

Advent of a green diesel generation

Fig.30 Nissan's diesel car "Intima"	Fig.31 Honda's next generation diesel engine "i-DTEC"
Fig.32 Mitsubishi's clean diesel car "Concept-ZT"	Fig.33 Mitsubishi's diesel SUV "Concept-CX"

Green diesel technology was a topic of attraction during the Tokyo Motor Show which had a very positive response. Nissan has been launching automobiles with the interior and exterior designed based on modern living concept so far. Currently, Nissan has developed the sedan concept Intima (Fig.30) with an artistic exterior and interior styling. This model has a V6 engine, which is highly refined. Mazda is launching the next generation automobile that has diesel engine incorporated with common rail injection technology. Mazda launched the next generation light weight diesel engine incorporating high pressure common rail system with piezo fuel injectors, two-sage turbo charger. It realizes high speed rotation. The emission of exhaust gases is low and the mileage is 10% higher when compared with other models in the market. The company continues to develop ways to increase the mileage. Honda exhibited next generation clean diesel engine "i-DTEC". It is developed based on "i-CTDi engine" launched in 2003 (Fig.31). Mitsubishi Motors showed the concept car named "Concept-ZT" with two diesel engines (Fig. 32). It was the first publication in the world. This model has a 2.2-liter common rail diesel engine "4N14" with piezo injectors which includes a VD/VG turbo charger. This concept car mounted "Twin Clutch SST" transmission that is mounted on "Lancer Evolution X" too. Concept -CX has common rail+ solenoid injector with a green diesel engine installed. This is a compact SUV concept (Fig.33). that is environment-friendly and has high performance.

Fusion of gasoline and diesel engine

Fig.34 Mercedes Benz concept diesel hybrid car "F700"	Fig.35 Alfa Romeo's 2.4 liter common rail diesel turbo engine"Alfa Spider 2.4JTDM QTronic"	Fig.36 Peugeot's diesel racing car "907HDiFAP"

German company Daimler introduced the Mercedes-Benz concept model "F700" as a word premier (Fig.34). The future-oriented design and the combination of the merits of gasoline and diesel engines in the "DIESOTTO" engine grabbed the attention of visitors. Combination features incorporated in DIESOTTO such as controlled auto ignition, direct fuel injection and turbo charger makes high engine power and high torque and good gas mileage. The CO₂ emission is minimal at 127g/km and the mileage is 18.8km/l. Alfa Romeo Automobiles, which is the famous automobile brand that introduced its sports car in Japan, displayed the "Alfa GT1.9 JTDM Q2 Distinctive" with 1.9-liter common rail diesel engine, and the "Alfa GT2.4JTDM Q Tronic" with 2.4-liter engine (Fig. 35). It is currently unclear to sell in japan. French car maker Peugot exhibited a car named 907HDi FAP (fig.36), which got second prise of a 24-hour race of Le mans. Similarly, the Audi's R10 TDI which was the winner of the race of Le mans also had a diesel engine and it created a revolution in the motor sports world.

Three power sources

Fig.37 Toyota's "iQ CONCEPT"

Fig.38 Mazda's concept sport car "Taiki"

Volkswargen has launched a compact- size car named Space Up!. The length of this car is 1630mm and width is 3680mm. Although these dimensions correspond to a compact car, cabin space corresponds to one class larger car. The power unit fixed to rear side of the car includes gasoline and diesel engines and a battery.
Other details regarding the power unit have not been disclosed.
Toyota's IQ Concept has excellent features such as reduced emission of CO₂ gases and highly-efficient packaging (Fig.37). Total length of the car is 3m. This compact model can accommodate
3 adults and a child. It also has elegant interiors. Mazda's Nagare, which illustrates nature's flow in its shape, is an innovative design theme. Mazda's Taiki, (fig.38), which is the 4th generation model of the Nagare, was exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show. This car was launched with the concept of less air friction during running and a new design, but it also serves as a sports car. The power unit is directed from a rotary engine system called next -generation "RENESIS".

 

 

 

 

 

Sensors and communication
systems for future cars

Fig.39 Pioneer's IEEE1934 system for autombile

Pioneer corporation used the interface bus IEEE1394 for communication with a HD screen (fig.39). The screen can be viewed from the rear seat and this facility is known as rear seat entertainment. IBEX Technology, Texas Instruments and Yazaki corporation are developing together the method of communication for a full HD image. It involves transmitting 1 GB full HD image after compressing the image at the rate of 50Mbps using IBEX Technology. TI developed the IEEE 1394 interface with support from Yazaki, which provided the cable and connectors. The image delay time at receiver is 8ms. This system can use both optical and copper cable.

Fig.40 Panasonic's small size multi recorder for automobile

Panasonic exhibited the drive recorder which can record movie
data captured by inside or outside cameras. Recording medium is SD
cards. There are three outside cameras and one in the cabin. It can also record GPS data, time, speed and some information comes from a shock detector coincidentally. This system can record maximum 12 hours long 4 chanel movie data in a 2GB SD card by 30 frames/s rate.

Fig.41 Panasonic's rear view monitor system (Reference exhibit)

Fig.42 Sanyo's wireless camera system for automobile

A small-sized rear view monitor system, which has a monitor and a
camera installed together, was also exhibited (Fig.41). The system was proposed to be sold at low cost. But it was sold at 39,900 yen in December 2007. The 1-seg TV tuner inside model will be launched in 2008.

Sanyo Electric Ltd. proposed the idea of wireless It is currently unclear to sell in japan. This wireless automobile camera system can transmit data under 50ms low delay time by high speed JPEG processing from camera to monitor TV. The wiring installation
cost is not required due to use of 802.11a/g wireless LAN to keep 30 frame per second data rate. It is also big merit (Fig.42).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Various types of the latest sensors

Fig.43 Bosh's CO2 sensor for air conditioner for automobile	Fig.44 Omron's driver monitor sensor

Automobile uses many sensors such as an acceleration sensor for air bag, gyro sensor for GPS navigation system, microwave detector for radar. And several other type of sensors for special application could be found in this show. For example, the Bosch CO2 sensor, (fig.43), measures
the amount of carbon dioxide inside the car and then draws in cold air from the external surroundings and refreshes the interior of the car, according to the temperature of the interior. This sensor's performance is based on the constraint of mileage. It
is realized by the spectrum detecting MEMS device. Yazaki's hydrogen gas sensor will become an inevitable safety device for the fuel cell vehicles. It also uses MEMS technology and realizes 0.53
seconds high speed response time. OMRON exhibited contactless door handle sensors for a passive entry system as a reference product. This sensor will sense any entry through door handles. This sensor helps in opening the door when it detects a hand, which is about to touch the door to open it. This sensor reduces the effort of the person opening the door to just pulling the door though. The common method of opening doors involves both the actions of pushing and pulling.
Omron has also exhibited the driver monitor sensor. (fig.44)This sensor is not a simple sensor that detects the driver's condition by face recognition. This sensor also detects whether the driver has fallen asleep and sounds an alarm in case the driver has fallen asleep. This sensor can also detect the viewing position or face direction and subsequently manipulates other devices without the aid of the driver's hand. Such a system is called a "hands free interface."

Fig.45 Denso's health monitor system	Fig.46 Denso's demonstration of sensing system using millimeter radar

Denso Corporation exhibited basic technologies for a sensor. The health monitor sensor can detect driver's health condition like body temperature, which is used in Toyota's a health-themed concept car "RiN" (Fig. 45).

Fig.47 Denso's mock up display of micro purism production process and scanner module

The demonstration of a sensing system that uses camera, millimeter wave radar, etc., was also held, (fig.46). The millimeter wave radar provides information regarding the obstacle position and the camera provides the image of the obstacle. The presence of the obstacle is confirmed by the image data from a camera. Thus many functions are introduced. Technology exhibits for MEMS in
Denso's booth were also attractive. Denso showed a prism for "Micro laser Scanner" which is size of 1/100 of conventional mechanical laser scanner as a reference in addition to acceleration sensors (Fig.47). The manufacturing process is as follows.
1. Forming many trenches of high aspect ratio on the silicon substrate
2. Etching silicon substrate in the degree of remaining of prism shape
3. Thermal oxidizing of silicon substrate

As a result of this process, silicon glass (SiO2) is built up on the surface of trenches, and it becomes prism. Denso's engineer said, "Both etching and thermal oxidizing will be completed
in a single process". Denso will continuously develop sensor products including laser diode and laser detectors, and will apply them to safety systems for next generation automobiles.

Fig.48 Daihatsu's OPCS using laser radar

Fig.49 Mitsubishi Electric's millimeter wave radar module

Daihatsu Motor Ltd. exhibited the omni-directional pre-crash safety support system (OPCS) that uses laser radar for detecting obstacles 360 degrees around the vehicle (Fig.48). The laser sensor developed by Ibeo Automobile Sensor is can detect obstacles at horizontal direction of 240 degrees. They are set at the left front and right rear portion of the car. Hence, the presence of obstacles at any position can be noted and recognized. Daihatsu said that the laser radar is cost efficient with a detection range of 0-100m and has a high direction resolving
function, which is similar to the characteristics of a milli-meter
wave radar. The adjustment of the laser radar with respect to changes in climatic conditions is to be analyzed. Mitsubishi Electric exhibited the FM Pulse Doppler form of milli-meter wave radar module (Fig.49). The number of radar beams has been 3 or 4 so far. But now that the number has increased to 8, the accuracy has increased. The distance range is 1- 200m and angle range is 8 degrees. This product was being developed as a reference product and we get the impression that the time to market is approaching.

(Ken Fujimoto, Tomoki Ootsubo, Sang-Soo Pac)