Autonomous Vehicle Seat Rotation Detection for Safety

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Rotating vehicle seats in autonomous vehicles pose challenges for passive safety systems, as they can move occupants away from or towards airbags, requiring advanced detection and control of seat orientation to deploy appropriate restraint devices effectively, especially when seats can rotate up to 360 degrees.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle system that detects the absolute angular displacement of rotatable seats using sensors such as magneto resistive or Hall effect sensors, or a light emitter and receiver, to determine the orientation of seats and control passive safety devices accordingly, ensuring appropriate restraint deployment during collisions based on seat position.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If seats are allowed to rotate freely to allow driver relaxation and interaction, then driver comfort and social interaction are improved, but the reliability of passive safety systems deteriorates due to unpredictable occupant positioning

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedriver comfortVSAvoidpassive safety system reliability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of seat angular displacement using sensors (magneto resistive, Hall effect, or optical) before a collision occurs. This advance knowledge allows the restraint control module to pre-calculate which airbags should be enabled or disabled based on the current seat orientation, ensuring reliable safety responses even with rotating seats

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors seat position through angular displacement sensors and provides real-time feedback to the restraint control module. This feedback loop enables dynamic adjustment of airbag deployment strategies according to the current seat configuration, maintaining safety reliability while allowing seat rotation freedom

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If the number of airbags is increased to cover all possible seat orientations, then the reliability of safety coverage is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesafety coverageVSAvoidairbag system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of providing static omnidirectional airbag coverage, the system dynamically enables or disables specific airbags based on the detected seat angular displacement. The restraint control module selectively activates only the airbags appropriate for the current seat orientation, achieving comprehensive safety coverage without the complexity of deploying airbags in all possible directions simultaneously

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies different airbag deployment strategies to different zones based on seat orientation. Rather than uniformly deploying all airbags, the restraint control module selectively enables airbags in the specific directional zones where protection is needed, optimizing safety coverage while reducing system complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Device complexity

If traditional binary seat position detection is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the measurement precision of seat orientation is insufficient for 360-degree rotation control

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedetection system complexityVSAvoidseat orientation detection precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces traditional mechanical position detection with magnetic field-based sensors (magneto resistive or Hall effect sensors) or optical detection systems. These sensors measure angular displacement by detecting changes in magnetic field orientation or light position, providing precise continuous measurement of seat rotation angles without complex mechanical linkages

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

Enables precise detection and control of seat orientation, allowing for effective deployment of restraint devices based on the angular displacement, enhancing passenger safety in autonomous vehicles with rotatable seats.

Implementation Method 1

A vehicle system that detects the absolute angular displacement of rotatable seats using sensors such as magneto resistive or Hall effect sensors

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectMagneto resistive effect: Magnetoresistance

Implementation Method 2

A vehicle system that detects the absolute angular displacement of rotatable seats using sensors such as magneto resistive or Hall effect sensors

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectHall effect: Hall Effect

Implementation Method 3

or a light emitter and receiver, to determine the orientation of seats

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectLight interaction with magnet:

Data Source

PatentUS9815425B2Autonomous vehicle restraint deployment

Publication Date: 2017.11.14 FORD GLOBAL TECH LLC

AI summary

A vehicle system includes a base, a driver seat rotatably disposed on the base, a sensor, and a processor. The sensor is programmed to measure an angular displacement of the driver seat relative to the base and output a displacement signal representing the angular displacement. The processor is programmed to receive the displacement signal and select at least one of a plurality of passive safety devices based at least in part on the angular displacement represented by the displacement signal and only deploy the selected passive safety devices during a collision.