Occupant Detection and Sensing for Smarter Air Bag Systems

September 2003 marked the beginning of the legislated phase of advanced frontal air bag systems for vehicles sold in the United States. Although earlier models may have been equipped with some of the features, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Occupant Crash Protection Standard (FMVSS 208) requires that 20% of MY2004 vehicles be equipped with these "smart" air bags. The percentage increases to 65% starting in September 2004 and then to 100% by September 2005 for MY2006 vehicles.

Occupant Detection and Sensing for Smarter Air Bag Systems chronicles the progress made towards improving occupant safety in vehicles. Compiled by the leaders in occupant protection and the "who's who" of global industry, this book features a collection of best SAE technical papers that focuses on occupant detection and sensing for discriminating between different types of occupants, their positions, and the presence or absence of passengers.

Sections include:

Recognizing the Problem

• Research
• Simulation, Modeling & Testing
• Sensing Technologies
• Systems & Integration
• Beyond Advanced Air Bags
• While considerable overlap occurs between sections, the six classifications provide a basis to account for the requirements to improve occupant safety in vehicles. The technical papers within each section are arranged in chronological order to present the progress that has occurred. Frequently, the earlier papers provide an in-depth background that is missing on more recent papers, especially useful for those just getting involved in occupant sensing, while other historical papers provide insight to improvements in analyzing the problem and steps towards the manufacturable solutions that are appearing today.

Introduction

Part I : Recognizing the Problem
Chapter 1 : Special Problems and Considerations in the Development of Air Cushion Restraint Systems
Chapter 2 : Airbag Effects on the Out-of-Position Child
Chapter 3 : Occupant Position Sensing Systems : Functional Requirements and Technical Means
Chapter 4 : Vehicle Occupant Position Sensing
Chapter 5 : Control and Application of Intelligent Restraint Systems
Chapter 6 : New Aspects on Static Passenger and Child Seat Recognition and Future Dynamic Out-of-Position Detection for Airbag Control Systems
Chapter 7 : Child Occupant Safety - What Might we expect
Chapter 8 : Development of an Occupant Position Sensor System to Improve Frontal Crash Protection

Part II : Research
Chapter 9 : The Use of Signal Processing Techniques in an Occupant Detection System
Chapter 10 : Pre-Crash Sensing of Occupant Characteristics and Position : Enhancing Secondary Safety System Performance
Chapter 11 : Non-Contact Sensing of People and Things
Chapter 12 : Accurate Predictive Algorithm for Air Bag Expansion by Fusing the Conventional Predictive Algorithm and Proximity Sensor
Chapter 13 : Performance Evaluation of Dual Stage Passenger Air Bag Systems

Part III : Simulation, Modeling & Testing
Chapter 14 : Expanding Restraint Sensing System Discrimination
Chapter 15 : Integrated CAE Modeling of Intelligent Restraint Systems
Chapter 16 : A Preliminary Look at Occupant Sensing and Child Restraints
Chapter 17 : Advancements in Crash Sensing

Part IV : Sensing Technologies
Chapter 18 : Using Seat Mounted Accelerometers to Differentiate Between Normally Seated Passengers and Infants in Infant Seats
Chapter 19 : The Use of Magnetostrictive Sensors for Vehicle Safety Applications
Chapter 20 : Occupant Sensing Utilizing Perturbation of Electric Fields
Chapter 21 : Smart Airbag Systems
Chapter 22 : Capacitive Occupant Sensing
Chapter 23 : Direct Thermal Detection for Front Passenger Seat Airbag Suppression
Chapter 24 : Real-Time Video Surveillance and Monitoring for Automotive Applications
Chapter 25 : Suppression Technologies for Advanced Air Bags
Chapter 26 : Interior Sensing for Automotive Occupant Safety
Chapter 27 : 3D Vision Systems for Active Safety

Part V : Systems & Integration
Chapter 28 : Occupant Detection Systems
Chapter 29 : Intelligent System for Video Monitoring of Vehicle Cockpit
Chapter 30 : TOR (Total Occupant Recognition) System

Part VI : Beyond Advanced Air Bags
Chapter 31 : BARBI, a New Radar Concept for Percollision Sensing
Chapter 32 : Investigation of Sensor Requirements and Expected Benefits of Predictive Crash Sensing
Chapter 33 : An Integrated Approach to Automotive Safety Systems
Chapter 34 : Pre-Crash Sensing - Its Functional Evolution Based on a Platform Radar Sensor
Chapter 35 : Challenges in Simulation and Sensor Development for Occupant Protection in Rollover Accidents
Chapter 36 : Role of Electronics in Automotive Safety
Chapter 37 : Development of Short Range Radar for Automotive Applications
Chapter 38 : Radar-Based IVC System

References
About the Editor