Claims
- 1. A safety system for a vehicle comprising:
a plurality of discretized patch sensors coupled to a peripheral area of the vehicle and generating at least one collision detection signal; and a controller coupled to said plurality of discretized patch sensors, determining collision type in response to said at least one collision detection signal and performing at least one countermeasure in response to said collision type.
- 2. A system as in claim 1 wherein said plurality of discretized patch sensors are at least partially formed of a poly-vinylidine fluoride material.
- 3. A system as in claim 1 wherein said plurality of discretized patch sensors are in a composite form.
- 4. A system as in claim 1 wherein said plurality of discretized patch sensors are coupled to a bumper of the vehicle.
- 5. A system as in claim 1 wherein said controller comprises:
a collision contact location estimator determining said collision type, comprising determining collision severity and collision contact location of the vehicle, in response to said at least one collision detection signal; and a coordinated device activation system performing said at least one countermeasure in response to said collision type.
- 6. A system as in claim 5 wherein said collision contact location estimator in determining collision severity generates at least one collision severity signal corresponding to at least one collision detection signal.
- 7. A system as in claim 5 wherein said collision contact location estimator determines collision contact location relative to said plurality of discretized patch sensors in response to values selected from at least one of a plurality of location threshold values, time synchronized comparative magnitude values, and signature values of said collision detection signals.
- 8. A system as in claim 5 wherein said collision contact location estimator determines collision contact location relative to said plurality of discretized patch sensors in response to at least one collision confirmation threshold value.
- 9. A safety system for a vehicle comprising:
a plurality of collision detection sensors coupled to a periphery of the vehicle and generating at least one collision detection signal; and a controller coupled to said plurality of collision detection sensors and comprising;
a collision contact location estimator determining collision type, comprising determining collision severity and collision contact location on the vehicle, in response to said at least one collision detection signal; and a coordinated activation device performing at least one countermeasure in response to said collision type.
- 10. A system as in claim 9 wherein said plurality of collision detection sensors are in the form of a plurality of discretized patch sensors.
- 11. A system as in claim 9 wherein said plurality of collision detection sensors are at least partially formed of a poly-vinylidine fluoride material.
- 12. A system as in claim 9 wherein said plurality of discretized patch sensors are in a composite form.
- 13. A system as in claim 9 wherein said plurality of collision detection sensors are non-accelerometer type sensors.
- 14. A system as in claim 9 wherein said collision contact location estimator in determining collision severity generates at least one collision severity signal corresponding to at least one collision detection signal.
- 15. A system as in claim 9 wherein said collision contact location estimator in determining collision severity generates at least one collision severity signal corresponding to approximately KiVi(1−e−τt), where Vi is voltage output from the ith collision detection sensor, Ki is an adaptive gain, and τ is an adjustable filter time-constant.
- 16. A system as in claim 9 wherein said collision location estimator determines collision contact location relative to said plurality of collision detection sensors in response to values selected from at least one of a plurality of location threshold values, time synchronized comparative magnitude values, and signature values of said collision detection signals.
- 17. A system as in claim 9 wherein said collision contact location estimator determines collision contact location relative to said plurality of collision detection sensors in response to at least one collision confirmation threshold value.
- 18. A system as in claim 17 wherein said coordinated device activation system performs said at least one adaptive countermeasure based on the contacted area when said collision confirmation threshold value is exceeded.
- 19. A method of determining collision type and coordinating activation of safety systems of a vehicle comprising:
detecting a collision and generating at least one collision detection signal; determining collision severity and collision contact location onboard the vehicle in response to said at least one collision detection signal; and determining collision type in response to said collision severity and said collision contact location.
- 20. A method as in claim 19 further comprising performing at least one countermeasure in response to said collision type.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present invention claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/432,973, entitled “Automobile Impact Location Detection For Coordinated Activation of Safety System”, filed Dec. 13, 2002.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60432973 |
Dec 2002 |
US |