Concepts for Validation Sensor for Pre-Crash Information from Forward-Looking Sensors

One approach to improve road safety is to activate Passive Safety actuators adapted to the crash situation as early as possible. Advanced driver assistance systems and future automated driving systems use a combination of forward-looking sensors like radar, lidar or camera. Such sensors can also be used to provide (pre-)crash information which will help to select the most appropriate restraint strategy. To achieve the required Automotive Safety Integration Level (ASIL) for a critical process of triggering Passive Safety systems, the information from forward-looking sensors must be verified and validated. Hence, a validation sensor based on a different physical principle is required. New sensing concepts to validate the information from forward-looking sensors will complement existing technology. The challenge for the sensor is to confirm crash information within few milliseconds after the first contact (contact-sensing). For this purpose, this paper focuses on design of new sensing concepts. This paper describes two different approaches for contact-sensing. First approach is to include the sensing feature in the carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) material used in the vehicle structure. Second approach is to enhance the present pressure-hose sensor system used for pedestrian detection. It also describes the pre-investigation tests and their results. In the end, it explains a sensing principle to verify the position of impact and overlap from a vehicle crash. The results illustrate the potential of the different concepts.