Safety - Tech Blog
Continental is first supplier to receive Nevada license for autonomous-vehicle testing
Continental on Dec. 19 became the first automotive supplier to be granted a license from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to test autonomous vehicles on the state’s public roads. Continental’s testing license is for the company’s highly automated vehicle equipped with an integrated vehicle-control and safety system consisting of four short-range radar sensors, one long-range radar, a stereo camera, and a Motion Domain Controller interfacing with the vehicle’s engine, brakes, and steering. The testing license followed approval of Continental's safety plans, employee training, system functions, and accident reporting protocols by the Nevada DMV’s Autonomous Review Committee. The actual vehicle license plate is red and includes an “infinity” symbol so it can be easily recognized by law enforcement and the public. Continental officials noted in a release that public-roads testing will enable the company to launch series production of partially automated driving systems by 2016, with the goal of fully automated systems ready for production by 2020-25.
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The modified VW Passat used by Continental for highly automated vehicle development has racked up more than 15,000 mi (24,140 km) of testing thus far. It is shown here at the Nevada DMV without its official red license plate.
All passenger vehicles to be equipped with black boxes under NHTSA rule
Although about 96% of today's passenger vehicles already are equipped with black boxes (formally called event data recorders, or EDRs), NHTSA (U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) is proposing to require their fitment to all new light passenger vehicles of less than 8500 lb. The rule would take effect Sept. 1, 2014. Information collected would pertain to vehicle speed, braking, crash force, engine throttle, airbag deployment, and seatbelt usage. The proposal includes the same standardized data-collection requirements established by NHTSA in 2006 for EDRs that are voluntarily installed by automakers and mandates that automakers provide a commercially available tool for copying the data. In keeping with NHTSA's current policies on EDR data, the EDR data would be treated by NHTSA as the property of the vehicle owner and would not be used or accessed by the agency without owner consent. The agency expects the rule, if adopted, to cost automakers $20 per vehicle. It will accept public feedback on its proposal for the next two months at http://www.regulations.gov.
Autoliv expanding China tech center
Autoliv said Oct. 19 that it will expand its technical center for active safety and vehicle restraint development in Shanghai, China. The expansion will enable the company to increase its crash testing, engineering of passive and active safety systems, and global core airbag development in China. Currently, 6% of Autoliv’s 7200 employees in China work in engineering and product development, which includes vehicle crash testing. These 430 employees represent 10% of Autoliv’s global head count in research, development, and engineering. The current tech center will grow to 20,500 m2 (220,600 ft2) in the expansion. The company is adding an additional state-of-the-art crash simulation test track and office space for 130 more technical experts.
GM no dummy in safety research
General Motors is advancing the state of the art in testing of rear-seat crash test dummies. One of its crash-test engineers, Barbara Bunn, recently developed and conducted tests to evaluate the ability of a new dummy named BioRID to produce consistent measurements when subjected to identical tests. The United States Council for Automotive Research has recognized Bunn for her execution of the test matrix. To create the test matrix, Bunn, who chairs the Occupant Safety Research Partnership’s Rear Impact Dummy Task Group, collaborated with engineers from Chrysler, Ford, and Humanetics Innovative Systems, which manufactures the BioRID. She designed the construction of a crash simulator sled to simultaneously test four BioRIDs, working with engineers from Porsche, Volkswagen, Daimler, Chrysler, and Ford to determine seating postures and other test criteria. The tests subjected the dummies to a low-speed rear impact simulation in nearly identical seats, and collected measurements of crash forces on areas such as the upper and lower neck. The team compared its measurements to data from similar tests conducted by other automaker labs in Europe and submitted its findings to regulators worldwide for consideration.
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GM engineer Barbara Bunn works with BioRID, a dummy designed by Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden, for seat restraint assessment. It is distinguished by its sophisticated spinal column with 24 vertebra simulators that allow it to sit naturally and demonstrates humanlike neck movement in rear-end collisions.
New IIHS test aims to increase protection in frontal crashes
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has raised the bar with its new small overlap frontal crash test. With a 50th percentile male Hybrid III dummy in the driver seat, 25% of the car’s front end on the driver side strikes a 5-ft-tall rigid barrier at 40 mph. These small overlap crashes, which affect the outer edges not protected by crush-zone structures, are responsible for a considerable percentage of the 10,000 deaths in frontal crashes each year. The test utilizes three rating categories: structure, restraints and kinematics, and dummy injury measures. Of the vehicles tested, the Volvo S60 performed the best, permitting only a few inches of intrusion into the occupant compartment due to reinforcement of the upper rails and a steel cross member below the instrument panel. Common problems with other vehicles included high occupant compartment intrusion and unsafe occupant motion, including dummies that missed the airbag or moved too far forward toward the A-pillar. After 2013, the IIHS intends to add the small overlap frontal crash test to its list of evaluations for the Top Safety Pick award.
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Of the 11 midsize luxury and near-luxury cars tested, only three scored good or acceptable in the new small overlap frontal crash test from IIHS.
TRW announces next-gen pedestrian protection
TRW Automotive has announced its latest Pedestrian Protection System (PPS) developed to address increasing pedestrian fatalities worldwide. The system uses a combination of acceleration and pressure sensing technology to detect a pedestrian impact. According to Peter Lake, Executive Vice President of Sales and Business Development for TRW, “It is estimated that some 35% of global road fatalities involve pedestrians and other road users outside of a traditional four-wheel vehicle, and enhancing their protection is one of the next great frontiers for both active and passive safety systems.” The new PPS senses a pedestrian impact through pressure sensor satellite data, which is measured by flexible tubing located in the vehicle’s front bumper, as well as up to three remote acceleration sensors that detect the location of the impact on the vehicle. The system also utilizes pyrotechnic actuators to raise the rear area of the vehicle’s hood and better protect the pedestrian’s head, decreasing the impact of the most common cause of pedestrian injury and fatality. TRW hopes to begin producing the new system by 2016.
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TRW's latest Pedestrian Protection System (PPS) utilizes pressure sensor satellite data to detect an impact.
NHTSA takes closer look at vehicle compatibility
A voluntary agreement reached among the world's major automakers in 2003 to reduce the risk of injury and death in collisions between passenger cars and larger light vehicles (LTVs) has produced questionable results, according to the NHTSA (U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The agency is seeking comment on a technical report that describes the effectiveness of the Enhancing Vehicle-to-Vehicle Crash Compatibility Agreement (EVC), under which automakers agreed on voluntary standards for LTVs to reduce the height mismatches between LTVs and passenger cars. Overall, there was a statistically significant 8% reduction in car occupant fatalities of passenger cars after light trucks self-certified to the agreement. However, for pickup trucks and SUVs separately, the effectiveness is inconsistent. Pickup trucks experienced a nonsignificant increase of 5% likelihood of occupant fatalities of passenger cars, while SUVs were associated with a significant 17% reduction. The studies cited in the report "provide some evidence that the EVC has reduced fatalities, but are not sufficiently strong to permit an unequivocal conclusion that it has been effective in reducing fatality risk to car occupants." NHTSA will study comments received to determine whether to initiate rulemaking. The technical report can be viewed at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811621.pdf.
SAE updates trailer towing standard
SAE International has updated its trailer towing standard, J2807 - "Performance Requirements for Determining Tow-Vehicle Gross Combination Weight Rating and Trailer Weight Rating." The guidelines require vehicles to be tested under consistent conditions and parameters, giving consumers accurate information when comparing the trailer-towing capacities of similar models. Updates include revision of standard trailer weight range descriptions and clarification of test setup, ballast procedures, and test requirements in several areas. The standard can be applied to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of up to 13,000 lb. "We have a great committee with representatives from all over the auto and trailer industries who have put a lot of time and effort into developing standards for trailer weight ratings," said Robert J. Krouse, General Motors North America Trailering Engineer, BFO – Trailering, and SAE Tow Vehicle Trailer Rating Committee Chairman. "I think trailering customers will really benefit from this effort." The standard is available here.
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EU adopts two regulations on truck safety
The European Union in April adopted two regulations designed to enhance the safety of trucks with a gross vehicle weight exceeding 3500 kg and buses with more than eight passenger seats, according to InterRegs, an online resource for global vehicle safety and emissions regulations. One specifies the technical requirements and test procedures for advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS) that detect the possibility of a collision with a preceding vehicle; warn the driver by a combination of optical, acoustic, or haptic signals; and if the driver takes no action, automatically apply the vehicle’s brakes. The regulation also specifies two levels of performance to be achieved by AEBS. Fitment of AEBS meeting the "level 1" performance requirements becomes mandatory from Nov. 1, 2013 for new types of vehicles and from Nov. 1, 2015 for all new vehicles. The compliance dates for "level 2" are Nov. 1, 2016 for new types of vehicles and Nov. 1, 2018 for all new vehicles. The other regulation specifies the technical requirements and test procedures for lane departure warning systems (LDWS) that detect unintentional drift of the vehicle out of its travel lane and warn the driver by a combination of optical, acoustic, or haptic signals. Fitment LDWS becomes mandatory from Nov. 15, 2013 for new types of vehicles and from Nov. 1, 2015 for all new vehicles. Both regulations contain a list of specific vehicle types, such as urban buses and off-road vehicles, that are exempt. "New types of vehicles" are models being launched for the first time, and "new vehicles" are new vehicles being registered for the first time.
NHTSA proposes ESC for trucks and buses
NHTSA (U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) on May 16 proposed a rule to require that new large commercial truck tractors and buses be equipped with an electronic stability control (ESC) system. If and when the proposed rule is adopted, the mandate would take effect two years later for all new typical 6 x 4 truck tractors and four years for severe-service tractors and tractors with four or more axles. In justifying the lead times, NHTSA noted that there are only two suppliers of ESC systems for truck tractors and large buses: Bendix and WABCO. It said the current rate of ESC installation on new truck tractors is 18%.
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