Innovative Products Highlighted at 2010 AMPA & AutoTronics

One of Taiwan's most widely acknowledged competitive advantages is the strong innovation and creativity of its small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which enjoy unmatched response time and the ability to keep up with, or even lead, market trends.

Local auto-parts makers, most of which focus on the aftermarket and so have unlimited opportunities to exert their innovative talent to upgrade the comfort, convenience, styling, and function of used vehicles, share in this advantage.

The 2010 Taipei Int'l Auto Parts & Accessories Show (Taipei AMPA) and Taipei International Automobile Electronics Show (AutoTronics Taipei), held on April 12-15 in Taiwan, featured many new and innovative items.

Green and Light-weight

Giantlight Traffic Supplies Instrument Co., Ltd., an auto-lamp maker that aggressively develops innovative products for both international automakers and the aftermarket, showcased a new high-power 90mm LED fog lamp with a unique single-LED design. The company explains that the new technologies incorporated in the single-LED fog lamp endow it with low power consumption, a long life, minimal cost, and energy efficiency, making it a perfect fit for both internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and electric vehicles (EVs).

As batteries are at the heart of an EV, their safety and power management are both important areas of endeavor. STL Tech Co., Ltd. introduced a special battery management system that enables users to monitor battery life and predict time of use and mileage using a handheld wireless controller.

According to the company, its BHMS (battery health management system) can exam the capacity, voltage, temperature, and cycle life of every single cell of an EV's battery pack, leading to highly precise forecasting of vehicle mileage and the highest standard of battery safety.

Red Heart Enterprise Co., Ltd. rolled out a Humanized Rehab Vehicle that caters to the mobility needs of elders and the physically challenged. Among the company's other products are a swiveling front seat, automotive back seat, lightweight wheelchair up/down ramp, powered wheelchair elevating device, foldable stair pedals, in-car caretaking seat, and wheelchair-fixing buckle sets.

While lightweight design is already a mainstream trend for car chassis, the market is also giving increased attention to lightweight designs for car interiors and exteriors. Giantec Technologies Co., Ltd. specializes in manufacturing thermo-plastic composite materials that can be used to make car parts, ornamental pieces, collision parts, and thermo-setting/plastic composite materials.

These materials stand out for high strength, collision resistance, and light weight. The time needed to make products from these materials is 60-80% less than that using conventional materials. Products of the same strength that are made from these materials weigh only 25-50% as much as cast-iron products. Another advantage is that their surface is suitable for high-level coatings.

Shiniest Industries, Inc., a veteran supplier of aftermarket and performance parts and accessories, recently launched the eye-catching, innovative FANTASMA OWL Blazing Afterimage Effect. This new product, used on moving vehicles, features a programmable LED lighting system attached to rolling wheels to create a fantastic animated full-color lightshow of characters with a "photogene effect" as well as the eye-catching "Blazing Afterimage Effect." Users can use PCs with customized software to design their own personalized images.

Drivers know that car navigation systems work best when their itinerary is laid out beforehand.

E-Lead Electronic Co., Ltd., a major Taiwanese automotive-electronics maker, knows it too; the company offers G-Where Car Navigator advance maps from Google Maps, satellite maps, and street-view maps via a USB flash disk, which can be inserted into G-Where for pinpoint navigation. This product is perfect for planning business or pleasure trips.

The driveshaft that runs under the floor of a car is to the car what the spinal cord is to the human body. Since it is intimately related to safety, it must be manufactured to be resistant to fatigue, wear, and high torque, and so must be assembled seamlessly. C. V. Joint Co., Ltd.'s own-brand YAC drive shaft has been awarded as a "Taiwan Excellence" product. The company's latest driveshaft for modified cars can endure very strong horsepower--at least twice as strong as that found on the average car-making it strong enough for racing vehicles and the challenges of off-road vehicles.

The company claims that its high-end driveshaft can greatly improve a car's performance in recreational driving and off-road terrain. It is also designed and manufactured to be eco-friendly, using advanced medium-wave heat treatment instead of the traditional low-cost but highly-polluting carbon-penetrating method.

Tonfada Tech Co., Ltd.'s lane departure warning system (LDWS) incorporates state-of-the-art infrared detection technology. When a car is in motion, a light sensor captures road reflections. If what it captures is monochromatic (the color of the road asphalt), then it's business as usual. If it captures two colors, it's a sign that the car has deviated from the lane it's supposed to be on.

Trucks are essential to life and business today, and need repairs that are quick and convenient. But trucks, with the large size of their engines and gear boxes, can be a handful for their caretakers. To make things easier for drivers and repairmen, Hwang Cherng Bin Specialty Tools Inc.'s latest electrical truck K/D rack comes with a solution that saves time and sweat, and is safe to operate.

Once an engine or gear box is settled on the rack, it takes only one man to operate, with extra long lines ensuring user safety. The product is suitable for use with engines, transmission boxes, and differentials of various truck brands and can handle weights of up to 2,000-3,000 pounds.

The latest universal steering knuckle spreader tool offered by Orient River Inc. provides the perfect solution for maintenance or repair of the basic auto chassis, especially suspension systems, to provide more comfortable motoring that minimizes instability and noise on bumpy surfaces. The company's tools simplify the structurally complex task of repairing chassis and suspension systems.