In August 1995, Adam Opel AG began volume production of plastic housings for the Opel Vectra. “To develop a plastic housing for the passenger airbag was a world innovation at that time,“ explains Ulrich Rick, Team Supervisor of Airbag and Restraint System Development at Adam Opel AG. “With this concept, we created a stir of criticism and skepticism." Ultimately, however, we were able to demonstrate with resounding success the considerable benefits that using plastic to produce airbags had to offer. In the meantime, plastic housings have not only become an integral component of all Opel vehicle lines, but they have also been honored with numerous awards.
A success that is – last but not least - due to the fruitful working relationship between the supplier and the automobile manufacturer, says Dr. Günter Lohfink, Director of Plastics Development/ Design and Sales at ZF Boge Elastmetall. “In the future, both companies will be able to benefit from the product and materials know-how that we have acquired together with Opel in the last few years. Thus, we will be able to tap into greater potential when it comes to producing plastic airbag housings. “We foresee excellent potential for realizing further economic benefits, such as weight savings.“
Delphi's New Energy Absorbing Steering Column Technology Further Enhances Driver Safety
A recent report from NHTSA cites that energy absorbing steering columns are second, only to safety belts, as an effective safety device for vehicle drivers. Now Delphi's newest steering column technology will further enhance Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury driver safety.
Delphi next-generation active energy absorbing steering columns, featured on the 2005 Lincoln Town Car, Crown Victoria, and Mercury Grand Marquis, have the ability to automatically adjust within milliseconds of a crash to the driver weight and size, seat belt usage, vehicle speed and crash severity. The adaptable actuation of the new Delphi steering column helps automotive manufacturers meet the belted and unbelted crash dummy test requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 208 intended to evaluate occupant crash protection for both smaller 5th percentile female drivers and larger 50th percentile male drivers during frontal collisions.
ADAC awards prize for the Predictive Safety Systems from Bosch
The "Predictive Safety Systems" from Bosch will be awarded with the innovation prize of the German General Automotive Club ADAC in Munich today.
The new driver assistance systems support the driver in situations of an imminent impact. It works in a combination of the well-known brake control functions of the anti locking system ABS, the Electronic Stability Program ESP(r) and the hydraulic brake assist with the radar sensors of Adaptive Cruise Control ACC, which will in future also be aided by video sensorics.
Bosch will market the Predictive Safety Systems in three stages. The first stage allows the system to build up a preventive brake pressure by aligning the brake pads to the brake discs if the radar sensor identifies a critical situation, which will not be noticed by the driver, thus putting the hydraulic brake assist in a state of "alert". If the driver hits the brake, he produces the fastest possible response with optimal deceleration values and the shortest possible stopping distance. If the critical situation is alleviated or there is no braking, the state of alert is cancelled. The system will go into large-volume production in 2005.
The 2nd generation of Predictive Safety Systems not only alerts the braking system to a critical situation, it also alerts the driver in time to a critical traffic situation and can thus in many cases prevent the accident. To do this, the system may trigger, for example, a short, violent brake jerk. Bosch is planning for starting volume production in 2006.
The third stage of upgrading the Predictive Safety System is a recognition of an unavoidable crash with the car in front by the system, in which case an automatic emergency braking is initiated with maximum vehicle deceleration. This especially reduces the severity of an accident in case the driver reacted only insufficiently or not at all to the preceding warnings. In order to detect with certainty that an impact is unavoidable, other sensors, such as video cameras, must support the radar sensorics.
The Predictive Safety Systems are part of the Bosch CAPS concept. CAPS (Combined Active and Passive Safety Systems) presents a comprehensive networking of sensors and ECUs of already existing vehicle safety and convenience systems. These include, for example, ESP(r), ACC and also airbag controls. All this leads up to novel and extended safety functions.
Volvo is convinced that the car will continue to maintain an important role in the future. Man's need for freedom of movement and independence is unassailable. However, this should not take place at the cost of the global environment. Environmental demands promote smaller and more energy-efficient cars. At the same time, we must ensure that people are transported in a safe manner, which has customarily implied larger cars. A difficult equation.
While working on the 3CC, Volvo's engineers struggled with the issue of slowing down and absorbing incoming collision forces in a frontal impact in the shortest possible crush zone. A small car with a short front has very limited space for deformation. At the same time, the occupants' forward motion must be controlled as gently as possible. The occupant deceleration is the sum of the car's deceleration and the ride-down in the interior restraint systems. In a small car, like the 3CC, the car's deformation is limited. In order to compensate for this, an increase in the interior ride-down length is necessary. With this approach it is possible to provide a similar level of soft stop for the occupant despite the limited car deformation available. This is a more advanced system following the same principles of conventional systems as collapsible steering column and load limiting seat belts.
This reasoning led to the Volvo Safety Ride Down Concept, a unique solution with a seat system that moves forward, a bit like a sled, at the same time as the front is deformed. This movement is slowed with the help of adaptive shock absorbers that tailor the damping effect to suit the collision force and the occupants' number and weight. The interior can be moved between 0 and 8 inches forward, which has the same overall effect as extending the crumple zone by a corresponding length.
The moving part of the interior encompasses the front seats, rear seat - and the floor panel between the two areas. What is more, the steering wheel and a movable dash panel move forward as well, to create space for the driver's movement. The sliding components are unlocked and the dampers activated in the event of a crash severe enough to deploy the airbags. The seats slide forward/rearward on guide-tracks. The system is also extended for rear impact by allowing the seats to translate rearward by 3 inches, which reduces the forces on the occupants. The moving interior is also utilised to aid entry to the rear seat. All it takes is to press a button on the door pillar and all seats slide forward
"The Volvo Safety Ride Down Concept is a promising stage in our protective safety development", says Ingrid Skogsmo, Director Volvo Cars Safety. "We've learned a lot in the process. The next step could be to continue developing technologies from the concept stage."
Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui Announces New Safety Initiatives
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. president and CEO Takeo Fukui, speaking at the North American International Auto Show today, announced new safety initiatives for Honda and Acura vehicles
This fall, the 2006 Acura RL will be equipped with Collision Mitigation Brake System (CMBS) + E-Pretensioners, the worlds most advanced system for accident avoidance. CMBS uses millimeter wave radar to detect a collision before it happens and alerts the driver with audible and visual signals and by pre-tensioning of the seatbelt. If an accident appears unavoidable, the system applies braking force to reduce the severity of the collision.
The Audi road vision, shown at the North American International Automobile Show in Detroit, is one way to present the coming A6 Allroad, but also new technology. Audi road vision, an unprecedented sensor system recognizing the type of road and surface conditions, ensures a quantum leap in active driving safety: The system not only informs the driver on potentially critical conditions such as gravel or black ice, but also gives the ESP electronic stabilization program and the adaptive cruise control additional, crucial parameters for even better proactive control.
Audi road vision combines laser and infra-red spectroscopy to scan the road in front of the vehicle. In the process the frequency-optimized LEDs in the headlamps serve as an infra-red light source, sensors behind the windscreen monitoring the light beams reflected by the road and modulated in each case by characteristic features. This enables the system not only to distinguish between wet, dry and ice-bound roads, but also to recognize road surfaces with specific grip such as concrete, various types of asphalt, or gravel.
These two separate units are even able to distinguish between different road conditions to the left and right.
The driver is informed of possible risks via the instrument cluster. In addition, ESP is able, for example on road surfaces with poor grip, to intervene within fractions of a second and vary drive or brake forces as required before the vehicle becomes unstable.
Rear-end impacts and collisions involving stationary vehicles are both common accident scenarios. In many such cases, the cause of the accident is driver distraction and failure to react in time. Volvo has developed an advanced system of auxiliary functions that help the driver avoid such accidents or minimise the effects of a collision should one occur. This is done by reducing the total stopping distance.
The area in front of the car is continuously monitored with the help of a radar sensor. The system is activated in different ways at different stages of the sequence:
If the car approaches an obstacle (stationary or moving) and the driver does not react, a warning lamp comes on and is reflected in the windscreen. At the same time, an audible buzzer sounds. In certain situations, this is sufficient to catch the driver's attention and avoid the hazard.
When the driver brakes, the system monitors the pedal pressure. If the pressure is assessed as being too light for the car to be able to stop in time, the system steps in and amplifies the braking power. If the speed is not too high, this brake boosting function can help avoid a collision.
If, on the other hand, the driver does not react at all, a brake function is automatically activated to build up higher braking pressure and slow down the car. It may not be possible to avoid a collision, but the main purpose here is to reduce speed and the risk of severe consequences.
To provide this automatic braking function, the radar system is supplemented with a forward-sensing wide-angle camera fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror. No marketing launch date has been announced at the time being.
Rolls-Royce's passenger airbag concept wins top plastics award
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars' innovative passenger airbag concept has won the Society of Plastics' Engineers' (SPE) Grand Innovation Award.
The engineers working on the Rolls-Royce Project were also presented with the SPE's Automotive Division Grand Award. This award is granted annually in recognition of innovative developments in the processing and use of plastics in the automobile category. The Grand Innovation award is the most prestigious of all the SPE's awards with the winners of each specific category going forward for an overall 'top' award.
The Engineers impressed the judges with the pioneering design of passenger airbag, which deploys without the need for the leather trim to tear or the surrounding parts to separate, setting new standards in technological design. The Phantom's airbag specification demanding that there was no separate cover, no weakening of the leather trim and no egress through leather stitching was a major challenge for the development engineers and interior specialists. The airbag is folded in such a way that allows it to follow a defined route through a gap between the leather covered dashboard top and the adjacent magnesium alloy instrument panel support. In its initial milliseconds of expansion the airbag pushes the dashboard top upwards, creating a gap through which the airbag can deploy.
Through the innovative use of plastic materials the engineers were able to solve this problem while still retaining the highest standards of quality and design expected of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
In August 1995, Adam Opel AG began volume production of plastic housings for the Opel Vectra. “To develop a plastic housing for the passenger airbag was a world innovation at that time,“ explains Ulrich Rick, Team Supervisor of Airbag and Restraint System Development at Adam Opel AG. “With this concept, we created a stir of criticism and skepticism." Ultimately, however, we were able to demonstrate with resounding success the considerable benefits that using plastic to produce airbags had to offer. In the meantime, plastic housings have not only become an integral component of all Opel vehicle lines, but they have also been honored with numerous awards.
A recent report from NHTSA cites that energy absorbing steering columns are second, only to safety belts, as an effective safety device for vehicle drivers. Now Delphi's newest steering column technology will further enhance Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury driver safety.
The new driver assistance systems support the driver in situations of an imminent impact. It works in a combination of the well-known brake control functions of the anti locking system ABS, the Electronic Stability Program ESP(r) and the hydraulic brake assist with the radar sensors of Adaptive Cruise Control ACC, which will in future also be aided by video sensorics.
Volvo is convinced that the car will continue to maintain an important role in the future. Man's need for freedom of movement and independence is unassailable. However, this should not take place at the cost of the global environment. Environmental demands promote smaller and more energy-efficient cars. At the same time, we must ensure that people are transported in a safe manner, which has customarily implied larger cars. A difficult equation.
The moving part of the interior encompasses the front seats, rear seat - and the floor panel between the two areas. What is more, the steering wheel and a movable dash panel move forward as well, to create space for the driver's movement. The sliding components are unlocked and the dampers activated in the event of a crash severe enough to deploy the airbags. The seats slide forward/rearward on guide-tracks. The system is also extended for rear impact by allowing the seats to translate rearward by 3 inches, which reduces the forces on the occupants. The moving interior is also utilised to aid entry to the rear seat. All it takes is to press a button on the door pillar and all seats slide forward
The Audi road vision, shown at the North American International Automobile Show in Detroit, is one way to present the coming A6 Allroad, but also new technology. Audi road vision, an unprecedented sensor system recognizing the type of road and surface conditions, ensures a quantum leap in active driving safety: The system not only informs the driver on potentially critical conditions such as gravel or black ice, but also gives the ESP electronic stabilization program and the adaptive cruise control additional, crucial parameters for even better proactive control.