DFI Invited to Autotronics Taipei, Injecting New Energy into the Automotive Industry with ARTC
The Chief Executive Officer of DFI Inc. (2397), Alexander Su, was recently invited to participate in the Mobility Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (mTARC) Pavilion's opening ceremony at Taipei AMPA & Autotronics Taipei 2022. The special exhibition combines two of the most high-profile technologies of the day, electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, and based on the theme “Drive into Future”. The pavilion presents the efforts invested in the Automated, Connected, Electrified, and Serviced of the vehicle industry by organizations and the industry as a whole. Eighteen carefully selected technical projects for vehicles are on display, including the electric vehicle T-Box project conducted by DFI and the Automotive Research Testing Center (ARTC) of the Department of Industrial Technology (DoTI), Ministry of Economic Affairs.
During his speech, Director General Chyou-Huey Chiou of the DoTI, Ministry of Economic Affairs, stated that, according to the data published by MarkLines, total global electric vehicles sales were 6.5 million vehicles in 2021, and the global automotive electronics market has reached a value of US$360 billion. In Taiwan, the market has a value of US$10.15 billion, and is projected to reach US$20.31 billion by 2025.
The DoTI aims to help the industry improve its technical capabilities to compete with international companies and enter the global market. Therefore, the mTARC, consisting of 7 institutions and 2 companies, was established to promote the development and upgrade of technologies in the automotive industry, and conduct exchanges with international markets. With the resources and support provided via technical projects, thousands of autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle patents have been acquired since 2008 in the United States, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, and China. Furthermore, 230 companies have licensed over 350 patents, which has helped the companies create nearly US$3.3 billion in revenue.
For the 18 products on display in the mTARC Pavilion, partnerships have been established with 13 companies, including Optimal-EV in the US, Foxtron, Kenda, and DFI. The commercialization and application of the products will gradually be rolled out in the future, embodying the efforts Taiwan has made in the field of advanced automotive electronics.
The electric vehicle T-Box project, worked on by DFI and ARTC, is one example of such a project. Based on ARM architecture, DFI provided the low power, high-reliability automotive computer VC900-M8M. The vehicle interface provided by the computer connects with the sensors to collect vehicle information. The data is synced with the cloud through the 4G network for reference and future analysis, making it possible to keep tabs on the status and conditions of the parts on the vehicle during use.
The chairman of mTARC, Chiu-Feng Lin, stated that the primary aim of the consortium is to improve critical technologies in Taiwan’s automotive industry and increase competitiveness. As time progresses, the consortium's goals will shift towards C.A.S.E. (Connected, Automated, Serviced, and Electrified), which represent the new trends in critical automotive technologies. The exciting results on display during this exhibition fully present the possibilities of the various technical applications.
Factory automation, in-vehicle applications, and smart healthcare are three vertical target markets of DFI. In an online investor conference in the fourth quarter of 2021, DFI stated that with the new infrastructures created for production automation and digital transformations, smart applications are becoming long-term requirements. In terms of the intelligent application needs and diversity, as well as deployment and development, DFI will continue to focus on existing automation, 5G, and AIoT products. The company will expand its market reach to include green energy, information security and Fintech applications, assisting companies in accelerating their transformations and deployment while satisfying the need for new infrastructure. DFI will continue to innovate and increase its production capacity to seize new opportunities in the market.