A New Pre-Crash System For Side Impact Protection

Sub-project 6 of the European Integrated Project APROSYS, implemented within the 6th Framework Programme, has developed an integrated safety system for side impact protection. For this, two different innovative technologies have been applied for the first time as a technology showcase in a car: shape memory alloy based actuators and a pre-crash sensing subsystem using radar and stereo-vision observing the side of a vehicle. Several technical challenges had to be met during development work. The sensing subsystem detects an imminent collision and decides about the probability of a collision. It activates the actuator before the crash occurs in order to reduce intrusion into the passenger compartment. This article describes the sensing subsystem, the actuator subsystem and finally the testing programme that was executed to evaluate the complete system.