The zenith ADAPTA project will reduce mortality in the road

public-private partnership

-project CENIT ADAPTA – technologies of functions ofLateral protection, intelligent and adaptive –, pioneer at the global level,deals with the incorporation of intelligence to passive safety systems ofthe cars, which will improve the protection of the occupants in thecase of lateral collision of vehicles, causing more than 40% of thedeaths in highway in Spain.

– in this project, led by the Group Dalphi MetalSpain, S.A., participated companies Anafocus, SEAT, Elecnor Deimos,Gestamp, Antolín group and Magom, and have worked five technology centersthree public bodies of research and the University of Navarra.

Spain, 2012-may the Secretary of State ofResearch, development and innovation, Carmen Vela, has opened in the ParkTecnológico de Boecillo (Valladolid), the day of presentation of theresults of the zenith ADAPTA project, which has also counted with the presenceof the Minister of economy and employment of the Junta de Castilla y León, ThomasVillanueva, and the Director of the Centre for Industrial technological development(CDTI), Elisa Robles, as well as executives and representatives of the fieldbusiness and research centres and technology.

during his speech, Carmen Vela has stressed that thisproject is a perfect reflection of what must be the r & d in Spain:“ universities, public agencies, research, technology parks andcompanies working in a same sense and with an objective ”. In thissense, Vela has explained that the Ministry of economy and competitiveness areIt is going to turn out to support, approach and help all actors of the systemScience, innovation, Enterprise and society. The Secretary of State hasstressed also that the ADAPTA CENIT project improves trainingparticipants to collaborate in European programmes, in which thethe automotive sector is of great importance.

on the other hand, Elisa Robles explained that“ large cooperation projects are one of the efficient ways for theInnovation: share risks, seek economies of scale and synergies betweenpublic actors, especially in the generation of knowledge, and companies,to serve as a bridge between the knowledge generated and the society throughthe creation of added value based on innovation ”. The Director-general of theCDTI noted the significant amount of public funds involved in the sixcalls for zenith. They adopted 91 research projectspre-competitive Consortium, in which participated more than 1,200 businesses and1,500 research groups. The CDTI committed 1,072 million eurosin form of a grant, with a total investment of EUR 2.282 million, ofwhich more than 700 million euros was allocated to groups ofresearch.

the project adapting – technologies of protection functionsSide, intelligent and adaptive – has as main objective to developtechnologies that enable the construction of safer cars, whosepassive safety systems are able to adapt to external conditions andinternal and improve protection for the occupants in the event of impact.Specifically, in the field of advanced safety vehicles, are to bedeveloped innovative very effective lateral integral protection systemsin the case of accidents and lateral impact. During the day have shown different aspects of theresearch in which patent is the effectiveness of the new systems forreduce the severity of injuries and the number of deaths associated toside-impact accidents. In particular, these developments would allowa reduction of 30% and 40% of thoracic injuries sustained by theoccupants of the vehicle impacted, injuries causing about 50% ofthe deaths in lateral accidents.

presented systems include the side airbagend, mobile seat and bar inflatable side protection,equipment operating thanks to integrated detection systems in thevehicle, which allow that they can be activated milliseconds beforethe collision occurs

in this project, led by the Group Dalphi Metal Spain, S.A.,Spanish companies participated: Anafocus, SEAT, Elecnor Deimos,Gestamp, Antolín group and Magom. These companies have made a contributionfurther, according to their specialization and technological knowledge. For theresearch and development work has entered into collaboration with fivetechnology centres: Foundation Cidaut, Tecnalia, Fatronik, Cedetel and Gaiker,three public research organizations: universities of Valladolid,Santiago de Compostela and the University of Navarra and IMSE.