VEHICLE SAFETY

Crash tests have shown that in many car collisions, airbags are likely to cause injuries to drivers and passengers. This article describes work at TRW Automotive Electronics Group in the USA, to improve the design and electronics of airbag and restraint systems. To help reduce risk of injury by airbags, crash severity and modulate inflates should be introduced to reduce deployment energy for less severe impacts, belted and unbelted occupants should have different airbag deployment thresholds, and a sensor should calculate the occupant's position and weight, and disable or modulate inflates accordingly. All this requires multiple sensors and sensing locations. Airbags need to have variable inflation rate, and crash sensors to detect if occupants are belted and adjust inflation rate to crash severity. A system is proposed with three inflation levels and multiple thresholds. Airbag exposure must also be reduced in the presence of children. Delphi Automotive Systems is working to create a sensor with many of these functions, and has formed an Adaptive Restraints Technology (ART) Systems team. Its new system would greatly reduce but not entirely eliminate airbag injury risks. The article also briefly describes four other safety devices for cars.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03076490
• Corporate Authors:

  Mechanical Engineering Publications Limited

  1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster
  New York, NY  United States  10017
• Authors:
  • SHAHMANESH, N
• Publication Date: 1998-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 44-6,48,51-2
• Serial:
  • AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER
  • Volume: 23
  • Issue Number: 9
  • Publisher: Institution of Mechanical Engineers
  • ISSN: 0307-6490

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air bags; Automobiles; Calculation; Children; Crash severity; Crash tests; Crashes; Design; Detection and identification; Detectors; Electronics; Energy; Hazards; Injury severity; Manual safety belts; Research projects; Sensors; Vehicle occupants
• ITRD Terms: 1465: Air bag (restraint system); 6464: Calculation; 1243: Car; 1758: Child; 1631: Collision; 9011: Design (overall design); 9115: Detection; 6965: Electronics; 213: Energy; 1648: Impact test (crash); 8557: Research project; 9150: Risk; 1476: Safety belt; 6120: Sensor; 1623: Severity (accid, injury); 1715: Vehicle occupant
• Subject Areas: Design; Energy; Passenger Transportation; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00759356
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Feb 19 1999 12:00AM