In April last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Matters Related to the Implementation of GB 7258-2017 Amendment No. 2", which mentioned that passenger cars newly produced from January 2022 must be equipped with an event data recording system (EDR system) or an on-board video driving recording system ((DVR system) that complies with GB/T 38892 regulations. At the time of the notice, it played a big role in pulling the stock prices of EDR system manufacturers, but because there was still a distance from the specific implementation date, it did not attract widespread attention.
The time came to the middle of February 2022, and according to the time node mentioned in the notice, the new national standard requirements have begun to be officially implemented. This time, "mandatory installation" and "car black box" have become the keywords of exposure.
In aviation accidents, we often hear a term called "black box." Through it, researchers can retrieve key flight information for a period of time before and after the accident of the aircraft, thereby speculating on the specific cause of the air crash. Then from the perspective of the working nature of the automotive EDR system itself, the term "car black box" to describe EDR can be described as quite appropriate.
What does EDR do?
EDR system, scientific name "Event Data Recorder", EDR is used to record the vehicle's key operating data (including speed, ABS status, seat belt status, etc.) in the three stages before, during and after the collision. In general, the EDR of the car is usually located in the vehicle airbag control module, when the vehicle has an accident, the longitudinal or lateral acceleration of the vehicle reaches the corresponding threshold, the system can record and store the key data before, during and after the collision at the first time, and can be extracted and analyzed by professional equipment in the later stage.
From the most direct role of the EDR system, it is similar to the role of the dashcam installed by the owner spontaneously. Both can help law enforcement determine the responsibility of traffic accidents by restoring the truth of the accident. However, the recording information of the dashcam is only the surface GPS trajectory, video recording data, etc., and does not record the key information of the vehicle in the process of operation, such as vehicle speed, steering wheel steering angle, vehicle braking state, etc. In addition, the data of the dashcam can be modified or even deleted by means of post-editing, and for accidents with greater controversy, it cannot be used as real and effective data for clear liability determination.
In contrast, EDR systems are stored through binary signals, and it is generally difficult to be tampered with or deleted except for professionals, and the authenticity of the data is guaranteed. Therefore, the key data of the vehicle stored by the EDR system can help law enforcement departments to determine the responsibility of accidents. And this may be where the EDR system makes more sense in the future traffic environment.
How necessary is it to install EDR?
In today's automotive field, the three hottest words are new energy, intelligent networking and autonomous driving. With the continuous improvement of the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, ordinary consumers have been able to truly feel the new advantages brought by new energy vehicles; intelligent networking has also accompanied the arrival of the 5G era and has a new development. Only automatic driving, is still in the initial stage of development, whether it is a new force or an old giant, can not easily cross the L2 level automatic driving line. In addition to the limitations brought about by the technology itself, it is more the impact of policy factors, among which the determination of accident liability is an important point.
When the vehicle is in a state of automatic driving, the responsible subject also changes due to the change in the subject of the driving. At this stage, models that are not equipped with automatic driving systems or driver assistance systems, after a traffic accident, the responsibilities are well divided between the two sides, either A owners or B owners. However, when an accident occurs after the vehicle is turned on automatically, is the responsible entity, in addition to the owner, the vehicle manufacturer responsible for failing to provide safe driving guarantees? Will parts suppliers be liable for possible part failures? These liability issues cannot be judged by the dashcam, nor can they be distinguished by law enforcement equipment such as electronic eyes.
Therefore, the role of the EDR system, which can record the actual data of the vehicle in detail, will be magnified in the determination of responsibility for autonomous driving accidents.
According to the mainland's policy on EDR systems for passenger cars, a step-by-step approach will be adopted. From 1 January 2022, the requirements for recording Class A data need to be met, including longitudinal acceleration, anti-lock braking system status, clipping signs, longitudinal delta-V, maximum recorded longitudinal delta-V, time to reach longitudinal maximum delta-V, revolutions per minute (RPM) (for internal combustion engines and drive motors), driver seat belt status, accelerator control (pedal) position, percentage of fully open position, turn signal switch status, and many other data From January 1, 2024, it is necessary to meet the requirements for recording Class A+B data, including swing angle speed, steering angle, gear position, engine throttle position, percentage of fully open position, brake pedal position, parking system status, turn signal switch status, driver belt preload device deployment time, driver front airbag deployment time (phase II), driver side airbag deployment time, driver side curtain expansion time, front passenger seat belt status and other data. Improved data logging will also help automotive companies provide more detailed data support in the development of active safety systems.
In the field of transportation and travel, the complexity of automatic driving determines that the EDR system cannot fully play the role of "referee", but for the development of automatic driving, the EDR system can still play a certain role in promoting. When the judgment of autonomous vehicle accidents is more standard and convincing, then we will be one step closer to the day when we will truly achieve autonomous driving.