The hottest new measures to improve vehicle safety

New measures to improve automobile safety performance

automobile and safety, issue 3, 2004

recently, Volvo automobile company has launched four new safety systems, two of which are the world's first, These four safety systems include: the world's first camera monitoring system that can cover blind spots; the world's first safety inflatable curtain specially designed for convertible sports cars; an intelligent cruise control system with distance function; a device that can give a warning when there is a collision risk and automatically fail to put into production to increase forced power. The adoption of these advanced technologies aims to improve the safety performance of Volvo cars from the perspectives of prevention and protection. Among them, "blind spot information system (BLIS)" uses digital camera technology to monitor the blind spots in the driver's field of vision, which is a technical breakthrough in the history of world automobile development. The safety inflatable curtain specially developed for the upcoming new convertible sports car is also a breakthrough technology. In addition, Volvo has also successfully developed two new systems, which can reduce the risk of rear end collision accidents when driving in crowded roads

blind spot information system

during driving, although the wide front window glass and reliable rear-view mirror can be used, blind spots will still appear. These blind spots may cause traffic accidents during driving, especially when changing lanes. In order to increase the safety performance of vehicles under such circumstances, Volvo automobile company took the lead in configuring a wide-angle rear-view mirror on the driver's side as early as 1979. The new measure now provided is to adopt a camera monitoring system, which can continuously monitor the dynamics on both sides and behind the vehicle. This technology was first applied in the Volvo SCC safety concept car launched in 2001

when another car enters the monitoring area, the warning light placed near the door mirror will flash, so that the driver can clearly see that another car is approaching, so as to take evasive measures. Whenever there is a vehicle approaching behind or a overtaking vehicle in front, the system will alert the driver. Such information can give drivers more time to make correct judgments in such situations and monitor the situation on both sides of the car at the same time

technology adopted: place two fast cameras on the rearview mirror of each door respectively. The blind spot information providing system can find each vehicle entering the monitoring area by comparing the images. The monitoring area is 9.5m long and 3M wide. The program compiled in the system can monitor all cars and motorcycles in day and night, but will not react to vehicles parked on the roadside, roadside fences, vehicles scrapped after an accident, street lamp posts and other objects. The system will work as long as the vehicle speed exceeds 10km/h. According to the design, as long as the speed of the other party's vehicle is within 20km/h and the speed of its own vehicle is within 70km/h, the system can warn the driver

safety inflatable curtain for convertible sports cars

ic inflatable curtain launched by vokvo automobile company in 1998 aims to protect the head of passengers wearing safety belts from injury in the event of a side impact or rollover accident. IC inflatable curtain has become the standard configuration of all Volvo cars, station wagons and SUVs

ic inflatable curtain is installed at the edge of the inner wall of the roof and can be deployed downward after being activated to form a protective barrier between the side window and the passenger's head. Because the roof of a convertible sports car often opens and closes, it is impossible to install an ordinary IC inflatable curtain

now, Volvo automobile company has solved this problem by inverting the inflatable curtain and placing it in the door panel. Once a side impact accident occurs, the inflatable curtain will expand upward. Like the inflatable curtain placed in the roof, the inflation process of this inflatable curtain can be completed in a fraction of a second, so as to form an effective protective layer between the side window and the passenger's head

the inflatable curtain installed in the door adopts a rigid design, which helps to keep the shape unchanged. The inflation units are arranged vertically in two rows and staggered from each other. It can provide effective protection even when the side window is opened or broken. In order to play a protective role in the event of a rollover accident, the expansion process of the inflatable curtain is deliberately slowed down

intelligent cruise control system

cruise control system allows drivers to easily drive their vehicles on highways with good road conditions. However, frequent changes in traffic flow often deprive drivers of the opportunity to use cruise control

in order to enable drivers to drive vehicles comfortably and effectively on highways with changeable road conditions and heavy traffic, Volvo automobile company has successfully developed an intelligent cruise control system. The system can continuously monitor the distance maintained with the vehicle in front, and automatically adjust the speed to maintain an appropriate safe distance with it (PA: Pascal =n/m2)

the driver can activate cruise after setting the required maximum speed and selecting the minimum time interval with the vehicle in front. The latter parameter can be changed in the range of 1 ~ 3S. For example, if the selected time interval is 2S, it means that the safety distance is about 56m for a car with a speed of 100km/h. The safety distance changes with the vehicle speed. When the speed drops to 70km/h, the safety distance decreases to about 39m. The system also takes into account vehicles entering the lane to overtake. For vehicles equipped with automatic transmission, the intelligent cruise control system can automatically change the speed according to the changes of traffic conditions until the vehicle stops completely

technology adopted: a radar sensor is installed at the front of the vehicle, which can continuously monitor the distance maintained with the vehicle in front

the system relies on continuously adjusting the power of the engine and activating the brake when necessary to maintain a constant time interval with the vehicle in front. The main purpose of designing the system is to reduce the pressure when driving the vehicle. Braking will automatically provide a certain limit of braking force when necessary, so unnecessary violent braking can be avoided during driving

warning system that can automatically activate the brake and has enhanced braking function

in today's traffic environment, rear end collisions and collisions with parked vehicles often occur. In most cases, the cause of such accidents is the driver's inattention and failure to respond in time

the system can be activated in various ways at different stages of the accident: when the car approaches a stationary or moving obstacle and the driver does not respond, the warning light will flash and reflect on the front window glass, and a buzzer will be activated at the same time. In most cases, this is enough to cause the driver to react and avoid the danger

when the driver presses the brake pedal, the system will measure the pedal pressure. If the pressure is insufficient to brake the car in time, the system will intervene to increase the braking pressure. When the speed is not too fast, this supercharging effect can avoid the occurrence of a crash

when the driver does not respond at all, the automatic braking function will be activated, so that the pressure of the brake will be increased enough to stop the vehicle. Although it is impossible to avoid a crash as a result of this, it can reduce the speed before the crash, thereby reducing the risk of serious accidents

from the perspective of pure theory, the system can be programmed to apply braking force in advance and increase the strength of braking force, so as to completely avoid the occurrence of crash accidents. However, if the driver is able to solve the problem by himself, the result may be suitable for this experimental machine, which is applicable to all kinds of waterproof coiled materials, coatings, rubber, woven fabrics and small cross-section metal filaments. In addition, when driving in rush hours, you should try to avoid unnecessary braking

the technology adopted is: a radar sensor is installed at the front of the car, which can continuously monitor the situation in a certain distance on the road ahead. If the distance from the vehicle in front is significantly shortened, the warning light and buzzer will be activated at the same time. The light of the warning light comes from the LED, and the beam shape appearing on the front window glass is the same as that of the brake light

after installing the braking force enhancement system, the existing emergency brake assist (EBA) system can be activated in advance

the fully automatic braking function can be activated when the driver does not press the brake pedal. In order to provide this function, a forward-looking camera is specially placed in front of the interior rearview mirror as an auxiliary facility of the strong radar system. The area covered by the camera is wider than that of the radar and helps to identify the types of obstacles encountered

new safety facilities will be gradually applied.

lux cossemex, vice president of global marketing and product planning of Volvo automobile company, said, "our strategy is to continue to maintain the world leading position in the field of safety, and these advanced systems are of key significance for the implementation of this strategy. These facilities we are now showing will be gradually applied in our cars". We expect that the blind spot information system will be put into production in 2004 and will be used in 2005 model cars. The inflatable curtain installed on the door will be configured in the next generation convertible sports car. As for the other two facilities, it has not yet been decided which model of Volvo car to use first. It is widely used in many artificial rubbers, resins, including engineering plastics and other resins processed at high temperature