Vehicle passenger restraint system with distributed sensors
First Claim
1. A sensing system for a vehicle passenger restraint system, comprising:
- a plurality of sensors symmetrically arranged in at least one row, each row containing a driver side sensor and a passenger side sensor;
a controller having a plurality of sensor modules, each sensor module corresponding to one of said plurality of sensors and generating a fire request that is considered by the controller in determining whether to generate the fire signal,said at least one sensor module containinga fire/no-fire discrimination algorithm used to decide whether to output a fire request,a plausibility check algorithm that controls a plausibility flag in a status field having a plurality of plausibility flags, wherein the plausibility flag for a given sensor is set if data from the sensor exceeds a plausibility threshold,a transmission check algorithm to check whether the sensor module is receiving valid sensor data from its corresponding sensor, wherein the transmission check algorithm comprises a counter that increments when the sensor data exceeds a transmission check threshold, and wherein the transmission check algorithm sets a transmission check flag used to determine whether to send the fire request when the counter reaches a counter threshold, anda correlation acceleration difference (CAD) algorithm that calculates a CAD term reflecting a difference between data from a driver side sensor and a passenger side sensor in one row,wherein the controller sends the fire signal if a first sensor sends a fire request and if a plausibility flag corresponding to a second sensor indicates that a crash event is plausible; and
a deployment device that deploys a restraint in response to the fire signal.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
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.
10 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A sensing system for a vehicle passenger restraint system, comprising:
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a plurality of sensors symmetrically arranged in at least one row, each row containing a driver side sensor and a passenger side sensor; a controller having a plurality of sensor modules, each sensor module corresponding to one of said plurality of sensors and generating a fire request that is considered by the controller in determining whether to generate the fire signal, said at least one sensor module containing a fire/no-fire discrimination algorithm used to decide whether to output a fire request, a plausibility check algorithm that controls a plausibility flag in a status field having a plurality of plausibility flags, wherein the plausibility flag for a given sensor is set if data from the sensor exceeds a plausibility threshold, a transmission check algorithm to check whether the sensor module is receiving valid sensor data from its corresponding sensor, wherein the transmission check algorithm comprises a counter that increments when the sensor data exceeds a transmission check threshold, and wherein the transmission check algorithm sets a transmission check flag used to determine whether to send the fire request when the counter reaches a counter threshold, and a correlation acceleration difference (CAD) algorithm that calculates a CAD term reflecting a difference between data from a driver side sensor and a passenger side sensor in one row, wherein the controller sends the fire signal if a first sensor sends a fire request and if a plausibility flag corresponding to a second sensor indicates that a crash event is plausible; and a deployment device that deploys a restraint in response to the fire signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification