Method and control arrangement for minimizing consequences of accidents
First Claim
1. A method of minimizing consequences of vehicle accidents comprising providing environmental sensors on a vehicle, detecting objects located in or near the direction of motion of the vehicle using the environmental sensors, providing dynamic parameters relating to vehicle operation to an evaluating unit, supplying data from the environmental sensors to the evaluating unit, continuously comparing in the evaluating unit the data from the environmental sensors and the dynamic parameters with predetermined limit values to detect an impending unavoidable accident situation and, upon detection of an impending unavoidable accident situation, causing the vehicle to be rotated by at least one of an automatic steering maneuver and a controlled braking of individual wheels of the vehicle into an impact position minimizing the consequences of the accident to the vehicle or its occupants.
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Abstract
In a method and a control arrangement for minimizing the consequences of an accident for motor vehicles, an evaluating unit continuously evaluates environmental data supplied by environmental sensors and vehicle data supplied by a vehicle electronics unit in the light of characteristic features stored in a memory. As a result of this evaluation, it can be ascertained whether an unavoidable accident situation is present with respect to a detected obstacle in which case the evaluating unit performs a controlled braking of the individual wheels of the vehicle by way of a braking control and/or an automatic steering process. This process takes places in such a manner that an optimum speed reduction is achieved as well as a favorable angle of impact. An optimal angle of impact depends on vehicle-specific features and on the particular accident situation.
77 Citations
10 Claims
- 1. A method of minimizing consequences of vehicle accidents comprising providing environmental sensors on a vehicle, detecting objects located in or near the direction of motion of the vehicle using the environmental sensors, providing dynamic parameters relating to vehicle operation to an evaluating unit, supplying data from the environmental sensors to the evaluating unit, continuously comparing in the evaluating unit the data from the environmental sensors and the dynamic parameters with predetermined limit values to detect an impending unavoidable accident situation and, upon detection of an impending unavoidable accident situation, causing the vehicle to be rotated by at least one of an automatic steering maneuver and a controlled braking of individual wheels of the vehicle into an impact position minimizing the consequences of the accident to the vehicle or its occupants.
- 7. A control arrangement for minimizing the consequences of a vehicle accident comprising a vehicle having a plurality of environmental sensors for detecting objects located in or near the direction of motion of the vehicle, an internal vehicle data electronics unit providing signals representing dynamic operating parameters of the vehicle, an evaluating unit for receiving data from the environmental sensors and internal vehicle data from the vehicle data electronics unit and, based on data received from the sensors and the electronics unit, recognizing an unavoidable accident situation and causing individual braking of predetermined vehicle wheels in such a manner that the vehicle will approach a predetermined optimal vehicle impact orientation.
Specification