Siemens Vdo Automotive Corporation

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Continental Automotive Systems Corporation

Continental Automotive Gmbh

Tobias Tyroller

Gerd Winkler

Andreas Knueppel

Robert M Andres

Thomas J Malbouef, Jr

Masataka Nakamura

Mitsuru Yokota

Naoki Shimoyama

Michael Feser

Lorenz Pfau

Christopher James Palazzolo

Nicholas J Anger

Thomas GÖTZ

Björg Haupt

A self-diagnosing sensor system for a vehicle is provided. The vehicle has a bumper with fascia material. The sensor system includes an elongated, deflectable cable disposed in the bumper generally adjacent to the fascia material. A tensioning and sensing unit is coupled to each end of the cable and fixed to the vehicle. Each unit includes a tension sensor electrically connected with an ECU of the vehicle such that the ECU receives signals from the tension sensors regarding tension in the cable, indicative of 1) whether the bumper has been impacted based on deflection of the cable from a sensing position, or 2) whether damage to the cable or a tensioning and sensing unit has occurred.

Self-diagnosing pedestrian protection sensor system for a vehicle

A distributed sensing system and method improves sensing of events that may require restraint deployment in a vehicle by distinguishing between deployment events and non-deployment events using data from more than one sensor. A transmission check process continuously monitors an incoming signal from a sensor and counts the number of data samples that exceed a selected value using a counter. If the counter value exceeds a selected threshold, the system indicates that the transmission check is fulfilled and allows deployment of the restraint. A correlation acceleration difference (CAD) algorithm calculates a CAD term corresponding to a degree of intrusion of a foreign object into a vehicle at a given time. Acceleration data from sensors disposed at supporting sides of the vehicle are checked if they respond to an event, and the absolute values of the acceleration data are subtracted from each other to obtain an absolute difference from which the CAD term is calculated. A method of reducing runtime in a system algorithm prioritizes calculations so that they are conducted on the side having the higher likelihood of having conditions requiring restraint deployment. Prioritizing calculations may also avoid refiring on a side that has already deployed a restraint, reducing the total number of calculations that the system needs to conduct. A method of evaluating a plausibility that a fire decision from a given sensor is the result of an event necessitating deployment of a restraint includes a plausibility check that checking the states of other sensors in the system before issuing a restraint firing request. The specific terms used in the plausibility check can be adjusted to accommodate different vehicle hardware configurations, vehicle setups and requirements.

Vehicle passenger restraint system with distributed sensors

An air bag system () provides a central controller (), a multiple of satellite sensors () and a multiple of deployable air bags (). The central controller () runs the impact event algorithms. The number of satellites which are allowed to activate algorithms at any one time is limited. The minimum number of satellites required for full protection is the maximum number of satellite sensors allowed to wake up an impact event algorithm at any one time. An order for algorithm wake is also specified since the number of algorithms allowed is less than the total number of satellite sensors.

Multiple-satellite sensors algorithm wake up and reset strategy for an inflatable restraint system

Multiple-satellite sensor algorithm wake up and reset strategy for an inflatable restraint system

The invention relates to a device for providing a signal in response to a change of the ambient pressure, comprising a pressure sensor (S) for providing a pressure signal (DS) depending on an ambient pressure (p), and a signal processing unit (SVE) mounted downstream of the pressure sensor (S) and comprising at least one analog logarithmic system and at least one high-pass filter system.

Device for providing a signal in response to a change of the ambient pressure

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Wuppertal, Germany

Tobias Tyroller