The effectiveness of present airbag systems has substantially lowered the number of injuries due to front and side impact crashes. Thus, however, the relative importance of roll-over crashes has increased, since no protection is provided for this event, up to now. Future systems will include window curtains or window airbags, which will require at least one additional low-g accelerometer and an angular rate sensor for the longitudinal axis of the car. In the following, an accelerometer which can measure all three axes, monolithically will be presented. Another important topic for airbag systems is the monitoring of the seat occupancy status. In its simplest form one only wants to know, whether a passenger is present or not. This can be performed by applying specific weight sensitive mats. The more ambitious goal for the future is the recognition of a so-called out-of-position situation of a passenger, or the recognition of a rear facing child seat (RFC), where the deployment of the airbag can be more harmful than useful. For these applications, systems based on infrared sensors are presently under development. Micromachined vibratory motion gyroscopic sensors are becoming more and more important not only for roll-over detection, but also for advanced dynamic driving control systems. In these applications, the sensor monitors the motion of the car around its high axis (yaw rate). This signal is correlated with the angle of the steering wheel and the speed of the vehicle, as an indication of where the driver actually wants to go. When these two signals do not coincide, preventive measures, like turning back the acceleration or even single wheel braking, are undertaken. Further down, the present status of gyroscopic sensors at Temic GmbH will be presented.
Safety relevant microsystems for automotive applications
Sicherheitsrelevante Mikrosysteme für den Einsatz im Fahrzeug
2001
8 Seiten, 9 Bilder, 7 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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