A*STAR pumping $17.5 million into research projects for the industry
Neo Chai Chin Today Online 29 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE - Drive a lighter car and save on fuel, or recharge the batteries of your electric vehicle using wireless technology when you park it.
To make these and other ideas a reality, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is pumping $17.5 million into 10 research projects tackling challenges in the automotive industry.
With electric vehicles to hit Singapore's roads as early as next year, the project to charge such vehicles wirelessly will cut hassle for drivers by eliminating the need to drive to charging stations.
Using near-field radio frequency communications, cars would be fitted with a receiving coil and parking lots would feature a transmitting coil. The signals transmitted and received generate an electromagnetic field, enabling the cars to be charged.
Another project aims to make future cars lighter and stronger, using a higher strength plastic material made of nanofiller to replace glass fibres used widely in cars today. Plans are also afoot to develop an all-round sensor system for cars, which would help drivers avoid collisions as well as park their vehicles.
The projects are part of A*STAR's Capabilities for Automotive Research consortium, which saw eight new members including ST Kinetics and GP Batteries joining its three founding members, Bosch, Infineon Technologies and Dou Yee. Neo Chai Chin
Drive to develop 'next gen' vehicles gets a booster
Straits Times 29 Oct 10;
A GOVERNMENT initiative to develop technology for 'next-generation' vehicles received a boost yesterday, with eight new companies coming on board its international consortium.
The move scales up the Government's effort to turn Singapore into a research and development (R&D) centre for new technologies in the automotive sector.
The Capabilities for Automotive Research (A*CAR) consortium was formed in 2008 with three members working on two projects. Backed by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the expanded consortium will now work on eight new projects.
Firms that joined yesterday include Japanese automaker Toyota; GP Batteries, China's largest consumer battery maker; and ST Kinetics, a home-grown defence and speciality vehicles manufacturer.
These firms have agreed to offer their expertise and some financial resources. However, A*Star will still provide the bulk of financial support for research. To date, the agency and its private partners have committed $17.5 million to the initiative to develop advanced automotive technologies.
The car of the future has to be increasingly intelligent and connected, A*Star chairman Lim Chuan Poh told reporters yesterday. The consortium's work aims to 'solve these increasingly complex and multi-disciplinary problems as well as to testbed some of these solutions', he said.
His view was shared by new members of the consortium. 'By working with others, we can build these systems better and faster,' said Mr Yasuhiro Kakihara, president of Toyota Tsucho, the Japanese firm's new-business development arm.
One of the projects is a collaboration with Toyota to develop a wireless method to charge electric cars.
Another project aims to develop a 360-degree sensory and steering system that helps drivers avoid collisions, change lanes, and park in tight spots.
LIN YANG
