Side Impact Airbag Triggering via Lateral Speed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing side impact detection systems face challenges in quickly and accurately activating personal protection devices, such as airbags, due to the complexity of determining the severity and direction of a side impact, often resulting in delayed or inappropriate activation.
Innovation Solution
The use of lateral speed and sideslip angle as modification factors to adjust threshold values in existing algorithms, combined with a centrifugal process and plausibility checks, enhances the triggering performance of personal protection devices by improving the accuracy and speed of activation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If threshold values are adjusted using lateral speed and sideslip angle, then activation speed and precision are improved, but system complexity increases due to additional calculations and plausibility checks
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of lateral speed and sideslip angle using existing sensor data before the actual collision detection. These preliminary actions prepare the threshold adjustment values in advance, allowing the final activation decision to be made quickly without complex real-time computations.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit uses existing sensor data from the vehicle's own systems (acceleration sensors, yaw rate sensors) to calculate lateral speed and sideslip angle. The system serves itself by repurposing available data rather than requiring additional dedicated sensors, thereby reducing overall system complexity while still achieving improved activation performance.
2Reliability
If multiple plausibility checks are performed to ensure accurate activation, then reliability is improved, but activation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a tiered plausibility check approach where essential checks are performed with higher priority and shorter time limits. The control unit evaluates multiple parameters but applies weighted importance to different checks, performing the most critical plausibility validations first to ensure reliable activation without excessive delay.
3Ease of manufacture
If existing sensors are used for lateral speed detection, then development costs are reduced, but measurement precision may be insufficient for accurate side impact detection
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces calculated intermediate values (lateral speed and sideslip angle) that are derived from existing sensor measurements. These intermediary calculations transform data from standard acceleration and yaw rate sensors into more meaningful metrics for side impact detection, effectively enhancing measurement precision through mathematical transformation rather than hardware upgrades.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method and device for the actuation of personal protection means in the event of a side impact. The method and device are characterized in that the vehicle dynamics signal that is triggering the personal protection means is emitted as a function of a transversal speed and/or a sideslip angle.