World’s First Pre crash External Side Airbag System
48ZF safety system is designed to expand the size of the lateral crumple zone fractions of a second before a collision occurs
Up to 40 percent reduction in occupant injury severity for side impact collisions
ZF’s pre-crash technologies, including those for safety systems such as seat belts, are becoming more important
ZF gave a live demonstration of the prototype for the world’s first pre-crash occupant safety system with an external side airbag in Memmingen. “We highlighted that this safety system has the potential to significantly reduce occupant injury severity in cases of side impact collisions,” explains Uwe Class, Head of the Safe Mobility Systems department, within ZF’s Advanced Engineering team.
ZF is currently the only company to provide the full spectrum of integrated vehicle safety technology – from sensor systems, algorithms, and control units to active and passive actuators. “Our deep understanding of the entire ’see. think. act.’ process enables us to conceptualize and realize integrated vehicle safety solutions such as the new pre-crash safety system,” says Class.
From Recognition to Deployment in the Blink of an Eye
The biggest challenge in the development of this system was reliably recognizing an unavoidable collision and deploying the external side airbag before the collision takes place. The system has approximately 150 milliseconds to make the decision to deploy the airbag and fill it – roughly the amount of time it takes a person to blink.
The vehicle’s sensors first have to identify a potential impact quickly and accurately. This is possible with connected cameras, radar and lidar. Algorithms within the system software decide whether or not a collision is unavoidable and the deployment of the airbag is both possible and beneficial. If these decisions are all affirmative, the system ignites the inflators to fill the airbag. The airbag, which has a capacity of between 280 and 400 liters (five to eight times the volume of a driver airbag) depending on the vehicle, then expands upwards from the side sill to form an additional crumple zone in the door area between the A and C pillars.
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