Black box for cars

A black box for cars can automatically alert emergency services in the event of an accident, giving details of a vehicle’s location and the health of its occupants.

Developed over three years by 10 partners under the European Commission’s IST programme, the so-called AIDER system comprises an impact-resistant black box hooked up to a plethora of sensors.

The box itself contains a processing unit, flash memory and a mobile communications system that incorporates GPS tracking. Data is fed to it from an exterior front-mounted camera, a 360º degree camera inside the vehicle, mechanical sensors on the front, sides and back to register impact, and biomedical sensors connected to the occupants.

If an accident happens, data and low-resolution video footage is automatically sent via the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to a control centre. Operators can also remotely obtain additional information such as higher resolution video images of the exact moment that the accident occurred.