Occupant-restraint deployment method and system for automotive vehicle
First Claim
1. An occupant-restraint deployment method for an automotive vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining an e-m waveform for a discrete time interval;
retrieving a set of collision signature waveforms from a collision signature library;
calculating a semimetric distance for the discrete time interval between the e-m waveform and each of a set of signature waveforms characterizing a collision class;
generating a sequence of tentatively identified collision classes based upon the semimetric distance;
identifying an actual collision class as the limit of the sequence of tentatively identified collision classes; and
activating deployment of an occupant restraint if the actual collision class indicates a collision for which deployment is appropriate.
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Abstract
An occupant-restraint deployment system and method for an automotive vehicle measures an initial vehicle velocity and a vehicle acceleration over a discrete time interval and calculates a vehicle velocity. An energy-momentum (e-m) waveform is determined for the time interval based upon the vehicle velocity and a vehicle mass. A semimetric distance is calculated between the e-m waveform and each of a set of signature waveforms characterizing collision classes. Identification of a collision class is then made based upon the semimetric distances, and deployment of an occupant restraint is activated if the identified collision class indicates a collision for which deployment is appropriate.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An occupant-restraint deployment method for an automotive vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an e-m waveform for a discrete time interval;
retrieving a set of collision signature waveforms from a collision signature library;
calculating a semimetric distance for the discrete time interval between the e-m waveform and each of a set of signature waveforms characterizing a collision class;
generating a sequence of tentatively identified collision classes based upon the semimetric distance;
identifying an actual collision class as the limit of the sequence of tentatively identified collision classes; and
activating deployment of an occupant restraint if the actual collision class indicates a collision for which deployment is appropriate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An occupant-restraint deployment method for an automotive vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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measuring an initial vehicle velocity and a vehicle acceleration sample for a discrete time interval;
calculating a vehicle velocity from the initial vehicle velocity and the vehicle acceleration;
determining an e-m waveform for the time interval based upon the vehicle velocity and a vehicle mass;
calculating a semimetric distance between the e-m waveform and each of a set of signature waveforms characterizing, a collision class;
identifying a collision class based upon the semimetric distances; and
activating deployment of an occupant restraint if the identified collision class indicates a collision for which deployment is appropriate. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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10. The method of claim 9 wherein the e-m waveform is calculated as
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11. The method of claim 10 wherein the semimetric distances between q and sj over the intervals [0,n·
- Ts], n≧
0, and sj(n·
Ts), n≧
0 are determined aswhere q and s are an observed e-m waveform and a signature waveform, respectively.
- Ts], n≧
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12. The method of claim 11 wherein the collision class is identified if for some class j,
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13. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of activating the occupant restraint is accomplished by sending a signal from a controller to an occupant-restraint activation module.
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14. An occupant-restraint deployment system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
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means for measuring an initial vehicle velocity and vehicle acceleration;
an occupant-restraint activation module adapted for activation of a vehicle deployable occupant restraint; and
deployment control means for causing the occupant-restraint activation module to activate deployment of the deployable occupant restraint if an actual collision class indicates a collision for which deployment is appropriate based on a set of e-m waveforms, a set of collision classes, a set of signature waveforms each of which represents one of the set of collision classes, and a set of semimetric distances between the e-m waveforms and each of the set of signature waveforms. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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16. The system of claim 15 wherein the deployment control means has e-m waveform code means associated therewith for determining an e-m waveform as
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17. The system of claim 16 wherein the deployment control means has semimetric code means associated therewith for determining a set of semimetric distances between q and sj over the intervals [0, n·
- Ts], n≧
0, and sj(Ts), n≧
0 aswhere q and s are an observed wave form and a signature waveform, respectively.
- Ts], n≧
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18. The system of claim 17 wherein the deployment control means has collision class identification code means associated therewith for identifying a collision class if for some class j,
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Specification