Method for detecting offset for a pedestrian protection device

• US 20090276112A1
• Filed: 10/19/2005
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Mack, Frank
• Granted Patent: US 8,996,236 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/013 including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motion parameters , e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01332 by frequency or waveform analysis
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01336 using filtering
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0136 responsive to actual contact with an obstacle , e.g. to vehicle deformation, bumper displacement or bumper velocity relative to the vehicle monitoring crash strength in combination with passenger seat detection B60R21/01558
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/34 Protecting non-occupants of a vehicle, e.g. pedestrians B60R19/02 takes precedence

Abstract

A method for detecting offset for a pedestrian protection device, in which sensor data are ascertained and evaluated for determining an impact point of an object. In the event of a collision with an object, characteristics are extracted for determining the offset of the impact point using the sensor data from at least two sensors, absolute values and/or differential values and/or composite values and/or maximum values and/or minimum values of the sensor data from the at least two sensors being determined in the characteristics extraction.

Claims

1-14. -14. (canceled)

15. A method for detecting an offset for a pedestrian protection arrangement, the method comprising:

determining sensor data;

evaluating the sensor data to determine an impact point of an object, wherein for a collision with an object, characteristics are extracted for determining the offset of the impact point using the sensor data from at least two sensors; and

determining, in a characteristics extraction, at least one of absolute values, differential values, composite values, maximum values, and minimum values of the sensor data of the at least two sensors.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein vehicle data are used for the characteristics extraction, the vehicle data including at least one of a speed, a yaw rate, and a relative speed.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein a first characteristic for determining the offset is extracted from a comparison of a differential signal and a composite signal of the sensor data from the at least two sensors.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein prior to the signal comparison, the absolute values of the differential signal and of the composite signal, respectively, are formed and summed up over time, a ratio of the absolute value of the differential signal and the absolute value of the composite signal being formed for the signal comparison.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein to extract a second characteristic, absolute values of the sensor data of the at least two sensors are summed, and a maximum value and a minimum value of the summed absolute values are determined and compared.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein for the signal comparison, the ratio of the determined maximum value and the determined minimum value is formed, from which the value 1 is subtracted to form the second characteristic.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein compensation factors are used to compensate for at least one of an unsymmetrical front structure of the vehicle and an unsymmetrical arrangement of the at least two sensors relative to the longitudinal vehicle access.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein to determine the offset, at least one of the first characteristic and the second characteristic is evaluated at at least one predefined instant.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein to determine the offset, an average value of at least one of the first characteristic and the second characteristic is evaluated within at least one predefined time interval.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the evaluation instant and the evaluation time interval for determining the offset is established as a function of vehicle data.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein for determining the offset, a characteristics space formed by the first and second characteristics is partitioned by various thresholds into a plurality of regions, which may be three or five regions, and it is determined whether the first characteristic and the second characteristic are located in one of the plurality of regions.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein an implausible situation is recognized and a default value is used for determining the offset when the first characteristic and the second characteristic are not located in any of the plurality of regions.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein further characteristics for determining the offset are formed from at least one of vehicle data, a time interval, a sign of the maximum values, and a sign of the minimum values of the sensor data of the at least two sensors.

28. The method of claim 15, wherein the pedestrian protection arrangement is triggered on only one side of the vehicle or with different strengths on both sides of the vehicle as a function of the determined offset value.