Siemens Opto shows IR/LED vehicle collision technology

Electronic News, Nov 28, 1994

CUPERTINO, CALIF. - Siemens Components Opto-electronics division here has developed technology for vehicle collision warning systems that uses infrared (IR) sensor and light-emitting diode (LED) technology to alert motorists to blind spots.

Presented at the recent Intelligent Transportation Society of America seminar in San Francisco, the SideMinder - which includes an IR transmitter, receiver and detection circuit - detects and alerts drivers of blind-spot objects before they change lanes. When the vehicle's turn signal is activated, an IR sensor module located in a vehicle's tail-light assemblies monitors the blind spots on both sides of the vehicle at a distance of 15 feet. Infrared beams emitted by the module reflect off objects in the blind spot.

The LED array located in the vehicle's passenger- and driver-side mirrors is activated when an object is detected. The whole process occurs in less than one-twentieth of a second. The SideMinder's LED components have an expected life of 100,000 hours. Siemens said SideMinder is significantly less expensive than other collision warning systems on the market.

SideMinder, which was conceived by Denver-based Autosense, will be available in production quantities to automotive manufacturers for less than $50 in quantities of 4 million - a 90 percent differential compared to today's $500 for microwave- and radar-based systems, according to Siemens. Prototype vehicles featuring the SideMinder are currently on the road in the U.S. and in Europe and production systems are slated for shipment by 1996.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, an estimated 13 to 15 percent of vehicle collisions occur as a result of motorists, inability to see blind-spot objects while they are changing lanes.

In another development, Siemens Optoelectronics introduced a set of optocouplers for fax/modem cards meeting Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card standards. Calling them the first optocouplers made specifically for PCMCIA cards, Siemens rolled out six low-power devices that provide isolation between high-voltage and low-voltage circuits. Siemens said the optocouplers are 40 percent smaller than current devices with package heights of 3.4 millimeters. "The important benefit of PCMCIA optocouplers offer are their size. Our new optocouplers are two millimeters, consistent with PCMCIA Type 2 requirements," said Andy Mann, product marketing manager for Siemens Components Optoelectronics Division. "In addition, PCMCIA optocouplers can replace mechanical transformers, which protect the system, and it performs this function within the space constraints of a PCMCIA card. Also, since they are electronic parts, the devices offer performance that mechanical parts like transformers can't match."

Siemens is offering four linear optocouplers - the IL 350, 351, 358 and 359 - designed to replace transformers in the Direct Access Arrangement (DAA) circuit, which interfaces with and isolates copper wire telephone lines. Pricing ranges from $1.41 to $2.68 in 10,000 piece quantities for the devices.

Also available are the Siemens IL 352, a 63-cent phototransistor optocoupler that detects rings in fax/modems, and the $2.62 IL 356, a solid-state relay for switch hook functions. Its price is also based on 10,000 unit shipments.