Advanced automobile safety system

1.8 Advanced Automobile Safety System

Purpose of the study:

1. To know the technology behind the various safety devices used in modern automobiles.
2. Identify several significant automobile safety devices and the technology involved.
3. Illustrate how each device works and distinguish the purpose of those devices.
4. Aware about automobile safety systems and their History, Purpose, and Functionality in modern automobiles.

Introduction:

Automobile safety may have become an issue almost from the beginning of mechanised road vehicle development. One of the earliest recorded automobile fatalities was Mary Ward, on August 31, 1869 in Parsons town, Ireland. She was killed when she fell under the wheels of an experimental steam car built by her cousins. She is the first person known to have been killed by a motor vehicle. Automobile accidents occur due to driver fatigue, heavy road traffic, lights and reflectors, car colours etc.

Automobile safety is essential for minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions. Both automobile safety and Road traffic safety are co-related terms. Today’s modern vehicles are equipped with many advanced safety devices that help prevent serious injury in the event of a crash, or help avoid an accident all together.

In any automobile the most important primary safety system is the crucial importance of seat belts [1] and then air bags [2]. Most average peoples may recognize the names of some common safety devices in their vehicle, but many lack the knowledge of how these devices effectively work in providing them with a safe driving experience each day.

In modern automobiles have the numerous types of safety devices. These devices can range from the traditional safety belt invention better known as the Seatbelt, to more sophisticated systems such as Electronic Stability Control that can help the driver maintain control of the vehicle and prevent serious injury. While many of these technologies have been incorporated into the modern automobile that we drive today, but little to no anyone understanding of how some of these devices function properly.

There are some devices found on all modern automobiles that some people may not even consider a “safety” device, when in-fact they play an important role in automobile safety.

The following list of safety devices were area of interest, therefore need a better understanding of their purpose and functionality to the level of respect for these life-saving devices.

Passive Safety System or Safety-Restraint System (SRS):

• Seat Belts System
• Air Bag System
• Laminated Glass
• Crumple Zones
• Passenger Safety Cell
• Fuel Pump Kill Switches
• Correctly Positioned Fuel Tank
• Load space Barrier-nets

Active Safety Systems:

• Electric Mirrors
• Headlights
• Turn Signals
• Electric Horns
• Power Seat
• Central Locking System
• Electric Window or Power Window
• Windscreen Wiper System
• Analog and Digital Speedometer
• Engine Control Unit(ECU)
• Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
• Electronic Traction Control
• Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS)
• Brake Assist
• Collision Warning/Avoidance
• Adaptive or Autonomous Cruise Control System
• Electronic Brake-force Distribution
• Intelligent Speed Adaptation

The terms "active" and "passive" are simple but important terms in the world of automotive safety. "Active safety" is used to refer to technology assisting in the prevention of a crash and "passive safety" to components of the vehicle (primarily airbags, seatbelts and the physical structure of the vehicle) that help to protect occupants during a crash.

Crash avoidance systems & devices:

Those help the driver — and, increasingly, help the vehicle itself — to avoid a collision. This category includes:

• The vehicle's headlamps, reflectors, and other lights and signals
• The vehicle's mirrors
• The vehicle's brakes, steering, and suspension systems.

Driver assistance:

A subset of crash avoidance is driver assistance systems, which help the driver to detect obstacles and to control the vehicle. Driver assistance systems include:

• DADS: Driver Alertness Detection System - System to prevent crashes caused by fatigue.
• Driver drowsiness detection
• Automatic Braking systems - to prevent or reduce the severity of collision.
• Infrared night vision systems - to increase seeing distance beyond headlamp range
• Adaptive headlamps control - the direction and range of the headlight beams to light the driver's way through curves and maximize seeing distance without partially blinding other drivers
• Reverse backup sensors, which alert drivers to difficult-to-see objects in their path when reversing
• Backup camera
• Adaptive cruise control ACC - which maintains a safe distance from the vehicle in front
• Lane departure warning systems to alert the driver of an unintended departure from the intended lane of travel
• Tire pressure monitoring systems or Deflation Detection Systems.
• Traction control systems which restore traction if driven wheels begin to spin
• Electronic Stability Control, which intervenes to avert an impending loss of control
• Anti-lock braking systems
• Electronic brake force distribution systems
• Emergency brake assist systems
• Cornering Brake Control systems
• Assured Clear Distance Ahead measurement and speed governance systems
• Pre-crash system
• Automated parking system
• Obstacledetection sensor systems notify a driver how close their vehicle is to an object - usually providing a distance measurement, to the inch, as to how close they are.

Crash-worthy System & Devices:

Crash-worthy systems and devices prevent or reduce the severity of injuries when a crash is imminent or actually happening. Much research is carried out using anthropomorphic crash test dummies.

• Seatbelts limit the forward motion of an occupant, stretch to absorb energy, to lengthen the time of the occupant's negative acceleration in a crash, reducing the loading on the occupants' body. They prevent occupants being ejected from the vehicle and ensure that they are in the correct position for the operation of the airbags.
• Airbags inflate to cushion the impact of a vehicle occupant with various parts of the vehicle's interior. The most important being the prevention of direct impact of the driver's head with the steering wheel and door pillar.
• Laminated windshields remain in one piece when impacted, preventing penetration of unbelted occupants' heads and maintaining a minimal but adequate transparency for control of the car immediately following a collision. It is also a bonded structural part of the safety cell. Tempered glass side and rear windows break into granules with minimally sharp edges, rather than splintering into jagged fragments as ordinary glass does.
• Crumple zones absorb and dissipate the force of a collision, displacing and diverting it away from the passenger compartment and reducing the negative acceleration impact force on the vehicle occupants. Vehicles will include a front, rear and maybe side crumple zones (like Volvo SIPS) too.
• Safety Cell - the passenger compartment is reinforced with high strength materials, at places subject to high loads in a crash, in order to maintain a survival space for the vehicle occupants.
• Side impact protection beams, also called anti-intrusionbars.
• Collapsible universally jointed steering columns, along with steering wheel airbag. The steering system is mounted behind the front axle - behind and protected by, the front crumple zone. This reduces the risk and severity of driver impact or even impalement on the column in a frontal crash.
• Pedestrian protection systems.
• Padding of the instrument panel and other interior parts, on the vehicle in areas likely to be struck by the occupants during a crash, and the careful placement of mounting brackets away from those areas.
• Cargobarriers are sometimes fitted to provide a physical barrier between passenger and cargo compartments in vehicles such as SUVs, station wagons and vans. These help prevent injuries caused by occupants being struck by unsecured cargo. They can also help prevent collapse of the roof in the event of a vehicle rollover.

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References:

[1] Wikipedia (seatbelt) : "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt"

[2] Wikipedia (airbag) : "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag"