The HCT Automotive Seminar, which had been suspended for the past two years due to the spread of COVID-19, was held again this year and successfully concluded with an enthusiastic response from automotive engineers, with lectures on trends in electrical component certification and EMC solutions.

HCT, a domestic testing, certification, and calibration service provider, held the 2022 HCT Automotive Seminar for automotive engineers at the Future Hall of its headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province on the 31st.

In addition to EMC, in-depth sessions were held for developers of battlefield components and systems design, covering topics related to autonomous driving, cybersecurity, and battlefield. On this day, Vice President Kim Jeong-gi of CNBS, Senior Researcher Yang Jeong-seok of Hyundai Motor Company, Research Director Yeo Jae-young of Poem IT & Sungho Electronics, and Dr. Kim Jong-hoon of EMC Doctors participated and gave lectures.

■"Cybersecurity of war equipment is a must"

At the seminar that day, Vice President Kim Jeong-gi presented on the international standard trend ISO TC22/SC32. He emphasized, “The proportion of electrical and electronic devices in the automobile industry has increased, and 30% of parts according to Company H are electrical and electronic devices.” He continued, “Since automobiles have a high possibility of causing fatal accidents when they break down, safety and security issues are becoming a major issue, and risk management through testing and verification management is important.”

In overseas cases, in the case of autonomous driving, driving accidents occur due to recognition errors in lidar and camera sensing, and sudden acceleration accidents occur due to problems with the electrical control unit, and resolving reliability issues is emerging as a hot topic.

Vice President Kim mentioned that among the 14 working groups (WGs) actively engaged in standardization activities under the standards for automotive electrical and electronic components and systems, attention should be paid to WG2 Environmental conditions, WG8 Functional Safety and SOTIF, and WG11 Cybersecurity.

If we consider the industrial or national standards related to autonomous vehicles as constraints, 150 standards have been established as of now. There are also about 60 standards in the process of being established, and by the final stage of 2024, a total of about 250 standards could act as constraints in the fields of battlefield control and autonomous driving. In relation to this, it seems necessary for the industry to come up with countermeasures.

UNECE WP 29 Cybersecurity-related EU regulations were announced in July, requiring new cars released in Europe to be certified for cybersecurity and be accompanied by certifications for software updates. It is expected to be applied to all cars by 2024. While each country is legislating, Vice President Kim predicted that Korea will likely adopt a type approval method for cybersecurity in its automobile safety standards in November, rather than a self-certification method. He predicted that such regulations would be in place in the country no later than July 2024.

■EMC certification and verification must be considered in the design stage

Kim Jong-hoon, CEO of EMC Doctors, emphasized, “Product EMC debugging engineers should consider EMC design from the product design stage rather than considering EMC design after the product fails testing.”

Three criteria for EMC design were presented: △Reducing the loop area △Reducing, eliminating, or shielding the pole antenna length if possible △Predicting resonance is possible, but it is a difficult task, so the emphasis was on post-facto measures to avoid it.

He said, “It is more efficient for a PCB artwork engineer to think about how to configure lines in a circuit design,” and “If the design period for the first product design is assumed to be 2.5 times longer than before, a high-performance product can be produced.” This is because design optimization for EMI/EMC is more effective than shielding.

Kim, who says shielding is the final solution, said, “In the case of shielding, there are many things to consider, such as reflection and resonance as well as electromagnetic immunity (EMS), and shielding is not a technology that blocks well, but a technology that focuses on where to drill holes.” He also added that drilling multiple small holes in the shielding is more effective than drilling long holes in the shielding.

Meanwhile, at the seminar held that day, the host HCT disclosed the EMI/EMC testing and certification process and provided a place to view the testing equipment used for measurement and certification. The attendees toured the automotive chamber and listened to explanations about related solutions.

HCT is a company that provides testing, certification, and calibration technology services. It performs product testing and measurement, certification, and engineering consulting in various fields across the entire industrial sector, including automotive, mobile and communications, medical, shipbuilding, energy, and machinery. It is reported that HCT is seeking to expand its business by seeking to expand into related fields in line with the recent trend of strengthening automotive cybersecurity.