Yugo – A “National Class” Car

Bob McElroy and Dejan Dramicanin

Yugo production at Zastava

With a license from Fiat and based on the Fiat 128 the first Yugo was built in 1978 by Zastava which is located about 115 miles from Belgrade, Serbia.  In performing research for this article it appears that Zastava  is looking for partners interested in buying or investing in our factory.  The link is the first one to come up if you google Zastava Yugo.  In the event you do not want to buy the company, it is definitely interesting to follow this story as it unfolds for your Automotive Tribune Editor.  The last Yugo was built November 20 2008.

Zastava badging on a Yugo in Belgrade

In November 2008 I took a business trip to Belgrade, Serbia to meet with an engineering company concerning functional and test parameters for an advanced EDR.  It did not take me long to recognize that there were a lot of Yugo cars on the road as I travelled the streets of Belgrade with Mr. Dejan Dramicanin, CEO of Bitgear Design Services.  In fact there were lots of models and I was continually looking for major and minor differences with the various models.  Dejan, knew his Yugo’s and I did ask some challenging, or was that dumb, questions. … Continue Reading

Event Data Recorder — EDR

Event Data Recorders or EDR devices, installed in the vehicle, record what happens in your car during an airbag deployment or wake-up speed change situation.  Typically these devices record pre impact speed, Delta-V or speed change in the event, and possibly other inputs like seat belt operation, and throttle position.  Each manufacturer has their own set of criteria and values.

Photos shown are for research and testing of an advanced EDR.

Avanced EDR and Vericom Instrumentation

EDR systems can be much more robust and offer many other features which would be very valuable to fleets and businesses.  Photos shown here detail testing of an advanced EDR device.  Selected acceleration, deceleration, turn, and other tests are performed with the NEV before testing with real vehicles.

EDR systems provide real credibility associated with impacts because they provide an unbiased record of what happens.  This information can be vital to document what happened in the “event”.

EDR’s are typically referred to as Black Boxes.  However, in looking at the attached photos none of the devices are actually black.  The advanced EDR is in a white box and an actual Flight Data Recorder is orange.

Instrumented NEV

EDR’s are in the news and in your car.  Every vehicle today has airbag devices.  Every OEM has their own data that they can retrieve post impact so they can evaluate how well their car and safety devices performed in the crash.  Other data from the EDR requires special diagnostic and test equipment for data retrieval.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, and the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, have been very active with EDR issues.  NTSB has a long history with the five transportation mediums that embrace EDR: highway, rail, pipeline, aircraft and vessels (boats/ships).