China Automotive Sensor Technology and Application Trend in

The global sensor market is showing rapid growth. Information company INTECHNOCONSULTING market report shows that in 2008 the global sensor market capacity of 50.6 billion US dollars, the global sensor market is expected in 2010 up to 60 billion US dollars. Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and Canada have become the fastest growing sensor markets, while the United States, Germany and Japan are still the largest ones in the sensor market. Worldwide, the fastest-growing sensor market is still the automotive market.

"There is no Hyundai without sensor technology" has become the industry consensus, which means that the more developed automotive electronics , the higher the degree of automation, the greater the dependence on the sensor. In this regard, industry experts believe that the future of new automotive applications will spawn a new car sensor with it. The biggest feature of the sensor is the continuous introduction of new technologies to develop new features, the future development trend of automotive sensor technology is miniaturization, multi-functional and intelligent.

World automotive sensor development trend

Statistics show that about a dozen sensors are installed on an ordinary family car, and the number of sensors on a luxury sedan can reach as many as 200. According to market research firm StrategyAnalytics predicts that by 2012 vehicle sensor sales of 15.8 billion US dollars.

Automotive sensors can be roughly divided into three categories: power systems, safety management systems and body comfort system sensors. One of the largest power system sensor market share, reflecting the most advanced automotive sensor technology. For example, the angle error of the accelerator pedal position sensor must be within 0.4%; the throttle position sensor needs to be extremely reliable and should work at -50 degrees to 150 degrees.

In the power system, active sensors lead the development trend. Cam and crankshaft sensors are key to powertrain systems because they are closely related to the "heart" engine of a car. Active cam sensors and crankshaft sensors provide more protection for the powertrain and will therefore lead the way in the future. It is estimated that 58.2 million active crankshaft sensors will be put into operation in 2009, while the passive sensors will be reduced to 21.5 million.

In safety management systems, the pressure sensor enables side airbag control. Automotive safety management systems are also widely used in the field of sensors. Side of the car airbag control acceleration sensor and pressure sensor two options. Authoritative figures show that pressure sensors are almost three times faster at detecting side impacts than accelerometers and less likely to malfunction when compared to accelerometers.

In the body comfort system, the door, transmission, passive safety make the car more intelligent. In the door module, the DC motor position sensor is used for the door handle and the window control, and the distributed door module structure is adopted and is connected through the LIN bus. The transmission can accommodate different transmission position requirements and save costs by using 2-axis or 3-axis angular / linear sensors. The specific sensor selection depends on the function and design requirements of the vehicle's gearbox. Passive safety devices include seat load detection, seat belt opening / closing monitoring, seat position adjustment detection (to ensure effective protection of the airbag system), and so on. The details of these control requirements for automotive sensors are also considerable.

Acceleration, vibration, and speed sensors are the three main sensors used in motor sports measurements, and have shown steady and robust growth. Currently, there are more than 30 large-scale enterprises in the world producing these three sensors, of which the top 5 companies account for 31.3% of the market. For example, Endevco accounted for 13.6%, WilcoxaResearch accounted for 9.1%, Motorola 4.2%, IMI 3.0%, AnalogDevices 1.4%.

Western developed country emissions regulations on the increasingly stringent emission requirements to promote the automotive oxygen sensor development and production. At present, the practical automotive oxygen sensor has a germanium oxide sensor, titanium dioxide oxygen sensor and so on.

It is worth mentioning that, miniaturized sensors using micro- mechanical processing techniques micron sensitive element, the signal conditioning, the data processing means are integrated on a single chip package. Because of its small size, low price, easy integration, etc., can improve the system test accuracy, for example, micro-pressure sensor and micro-temperature sensor integrated together, while measuring the pressure and temperature, can eliminate the pressure measurement chip Temperature effects. There are many miniature sensors available, such as pressure sensors, accelerometers, silicon accelerometers for collision avoidance, and more.

Embedded in the car tire miniature pressure sensor can maintain proper inflation, to avoid over or under inflation, which can save fuel 10%. The versatile feature allows the sensor to detect 2 or more characteristic parameters simultaneously.

Intelligent sensors equipped with a dedicated computer, its rapid development will improve the safety of the car to an unprecedented height. With the development of microelectronics and micromachining technology, sensors are moving towards miniaturization, multi-function and intelligent.

Chinese car sensor technology is very worrying

StrategyAnalytics predicts that from 2004 to 2009, global automotive sensors will show a growth rate of about 9%.

The Chinese market is even more fertile ground for the development of automotive sensors. In recent years, China's sensor market has continued to grow. According to the latest survey data from CCW Research, the annual compound growth rate of China's automobile sensor market sales will exceed 35% from 2007 to 2010. China's market is expected in 2009 sales will reach 1.05 billion US dollars, an increase of 40.5%; China is expected in 2010 market sales will exceed 1.32 billion US dollars, an increase of 35.2% year on year.

China has jumped to the world's second-largest car market. According to the data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, as early as 2007, China's automobile production and sales volume both exceeded 8.8 million units, up 22.02% from the same period of last year and became the second only to the United States Second largest car consumer.

In 2008, China's automotive sensor market reached 5.7 billion US dollars, the Chinese automotive sensor market is expected to reach 10 billion yuan in 2010, up to 15 million in 2015. The trend of automotive electronics ECU is more and more concentrated, more and more sensors. China EFI system sensor applications accounted for more than 70% of the system, ABS (anti-dead-lock braking system) sensor costs about 50 yuan, the domestic output of 1 million units, the output value of 50 million yuan; airbag sensors account for the system cost More than 70%, the airbag sensor price is about 2,000 yuan, the demand for 1 million sets / year, the sensor output value up to 2 billion yuan.

Industry experts are optimistic about the development of automotive sensors in China. They think that car