A lot of technological developments have taken place in the automobile industry in the last two decades. A lot of money and man hours have been invested into improving the passenger safety systems in newer models. One such system is the air bag. Government regulations in most countries require manufacturers to use airbags and other safety restraints in their cars. Also automobile manufacturers now understand the implications of advanced safety devices in cars on the final sales figures. Today it’s important for people to be able to drive a swanky car but be absolutely safe in it in case of an eventuality.
An airbag system is a fully automated system that comes into play only during emergencies and can save the lives of occupants in case of a crash.
The history of the automobile industry dates back to early 1900’s. Automobiles have gone through a major transformation from their ‘open bogeyed loud noise’ making days. Incredible innovations have been made since then in both, automobile technology and passenger safety. Even though, the passenger safety systems in cars saw their birth on paper in 1950 it took a decade for the first experimental production to take place. But rules regarding the mandatory usage of air bags in passenger vehicles came forth only in 980.
A lot has happened since the first airbag found its way into a car. Today automotive safety is a very important part of automobile manufacturing with passive restraint systems playing an extremely important role in passenger safety.
The primary reason for the rise of the passive restraint sector has been the innovation in the devices and an increase in the number of devices provided in one car.
Air bags were initially only fixed on the driver’s side. From there, manufacturers went on to include it for both the front seat passengers and today we have as many as four to six airbags in a single vehicle.
Innovations such as occupant sensing capabilities have now found their place in the latest models of most manufacturers. These help in minimizing the risk of injury in case the occupant is not seated in a designated spot at the time of the crash.
Airbags are not the only safety equipments to have gone through significant technological advances. Seat belts, sensors, air bag modules and also the design and implementation of these products have been through a major transition.
Today the safety systems include more than just a rudimentary on and off deployment decision. The introduction of graded or staged control system enables your safety devices to provide customized safety solutions to tackle any eventuality.
The sensors used a decade ago relied heavily on mechanical and electromagnetic components. But today technological advances have given us the electronic sensors which are far superior to their mechanical or electro magnetic counterparts.
The Electronic control units (ECU) which are instrumental in controlling most of the safety devices are capable of a providing stronger safety and authentic diagnosis. These systems work in conjunction with satellite and auxiliary sensors which further augment their decision making capacity during a crash. The ECU is also connected to the occupant sensors in the seats and the seat belt buckle switches which transmit real time data about the occupancy of a seat; further optimizing the ECU’s capacity to make smarter decisions.
The entire car is connected in a single network with the ECU which enables the apt deployment of the proper safety restraints. Another technological advance which is being explored is the use of inflators which work in dual or multiple stages. This is done keeping in mind that every crash needs a different level of air bag deployment. The feature will help the ECU in choosing the optimal inflation level of the air bag. This system also helps in minimizing the load factor on the occupant.
Seat belts are also available with variable functions such as load limit capability and pretensioning
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