Why does the demand for automotive sensors increase independently of the overall automotive demand?

Regardless of whether it is focused on China or globally, the overall growth of the current automobile market has entered a relatively slow growth phase. However, Yole Development, a world-renowned market research and strategic consulting company, issued a report saying that the average growth rate of automotive sensor shipments in the next five years is expected to reach more than 8%, and sales growth will exceed 14%.

For cars, the importance of sensors is like people's eyes. Its role is to carry out real-time and accurate measurement and control of various information such as car temperature, pressure, and position, and is a key component of the control system. But why is the growth in demand for automotive sensors independent of the overall automotive demand?

It turned out that the global automotive industry is entering the trend of intelligence. Regardless of whether it is in industry or in the scientific and technological circles, the intelligentization of automobiles has become the development direction and hot spot of the automotive industry in the future.

A large number of domestic and foreign technology giants such as Google, Intel, Tesla, Uber, Baidu, and many traditional automobile manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, Beiqi, SAIC, BYD, etc., are all in the intelligent and unmanned field. A generous investment has been made and it will be the key to grasping the competitive advantage in the future.

It is the increasingly intelligent car that makes the sensor more and more widely used in the car, and the demand for the type and quantity of sensors for the car is also increasing. It is precisely because of this trend that intelligence, miniaturization, multi-functionalization, and integration have gradually become the mainstream of automotive sensor technology development.

The use of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology in the field of sensors precisely meets this trend. Using micro-machining technology, micro-scale sensors, signal processors, and data processing devices are packaged on a single chip. The industry usually uses sensors manufactured by this technology as MEMS sensors.

MEMS sensors have the advantages of high accuracy, small size, low price, long working life, easy integration, and mass production. They have strong advantages in reducing the cost of automotive electronic systems and improving their performance. They have strong vitality in the market. And unique competitiveness.

From the perspective of future performance of product performance, the excellence of MEMS sensors is mainly manifested in the following aspects:

First, miniaturization while reducing power consumption, there will be micro- and even nano-level micro devices, while reducing power consumption;

Second, while miniaturizing and improving accuracy, the MEMS accelerometer is made to the noise characteristics of a quartz accelerometer, and the zero bias stability of the fiber optic gyroscope is obtained while ensuring the small size of the MEMS gyroscope;

Third, integration and intelligence, namely the integrated manufacturing technology of MEMS and ICs and the integrated manufacturing technology of multi-parameter MEMS sensors have been developed, and the signal detection has certain intelligence based on the integration.

No wonder, Murata Manufacturing Co., one of the world's leading manufacturers of electronic components, has already begun to lay out the MEMS sensor market. In 2012, Murata bought VTI Technology, a Finnish sensor manufacturer specializing in MEMS technology, and established Murata Electronics Oy with a price of 1.6 billion yuan. It expanded Murata's sensor product lineup and made MEMS sensor market development possible.

Murata has accumulated rich experience in the area of ​​MEMS sensing and has achieved remarkable results. For example, 42 million vehicles worldwide use Murata's accelerometers and gyroscopes each year for ABS and ESC systems.

Among many MEMS sensor technology brands, Murata MEMS mainly presents the following advantages:

First, Murata MEMS sensors have high accuracy and high reliability.

Before the product was put into mass production, Murata would take into consideration all the harsh environments that he could think of and test the sensors accordingly. Murata's MEMS sensors have passed automotive-grade AEC-Q100 certification, and Murata's MEMS sensors have undergone rigorous testing at 100% before delivery.

From a technical point of view, Murata's MEMS sensors use unique 3D-MEMS (three-dimensional MEMS) technology to creatively process and seal silicon materials into three-dimensional structures, making them easy to install and assemble, with high precision and small unit volume. Low power consumption.

Murata Sensor applied to the control of various safety systems in automobiles

Secondly, Murata put forward the concept of "active safety" and committed itself to preventing problems, which greatly met people's needs for car safety.

Traditional car protection tends to stay at the level of “passive safety”. In emergency situations, safety belts, airbags, and other means are used for post-event protection to prevent people from being subjected to huge impacts in car accidents.

Murata applies MEMS sensors to the automotive active safety field and can detect the current condition of the car through active sensing and adjust the car before the accident to avoid accidents.

Finally, Murata's MEMS sensors are good at detecting the three-dimensional position of vehicles and have a wide range of applications in the future unmanned field. Murata's three-dimensional detection device includes an inertial measurement device (IMU) and an air pressure sensor that can detect changes in the horizontal and vertical position of an object with a very small error.

Since most vehicle positioning systems are based on the Global Positioning System (GPS), when vehicles cross tunnels or dense buildings, it will be difficult to receive GPS signals. At this time, the IMU can estimate and correct changes in the horizontal position of the vehicle. The air pressure sensor can easily measure the three-dimensional position of the vehicle, effectively assisting the driverless 3D positioning.