IEEE unveils standard for motor vehicle "black box"

For the past few years, some auto-makers have been including "black boxes" in their vehicles. Now, the industry has a standard for the data collected by these motor-vehicle event data recorders (MVEDRs).

In November, the IEEE published IEEE 1616, a standard that provides a dictionary of data types so information about events can be sensed and stored in a uniform manner. The standard does not specify what types of data an MVEDR must collect; that decision is left up the manufacturer. But it does define parameters such as vehicle speed, change in velocity, number of occupants, if seatbelts are used, geographic location, and direction of travel—parameters that could help in the investigation of a crash.

Tom Kowalick, chairman of the IEEE 1616 Working Group, noted that the data could help to improve vehicle design and hasten the deployment of collision-avoidance systems and other safety technologies. In his prepared statement, Kowalick also noted that he expects IEEE 1616 to be recognized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) within a year, as both organizations participated in the development of the standard. grouper.ieee.org/groups/1616/home.htm.