A car that can anticipate a side-on impact and subtly alter its body shape to absorb the force of the crash is being developed by researchers in Germany.
The car will use hood-mounted cameras and radar to spot a vehicle on course for a side-on collision. Once it realises an impact is imminent it will activate a shape-shifting metal in the door. This reinforces the bond between door and frame, which is normally a weak spot, and distributes the force of the blow more safely.
Side impacts are as common as front or rear ones but cause many more injuries, says Joachim Tandler, a car safety researcher at engineering firm Siemens who is working on the EU-funded project.
Advertisement
鈥淚t鈥檚 because there is so little crush zone, and less energy is absorbed before the passenger compartment is crushed,鈥� he told New 女生小视频. There is also insufficient time for a conventional safety system 鈥� such as a built-in airbag 鈥� to react and protect a passenger, he says.
Impact velocity
Tandler鈥檚 team is working on a solution that will help protect those inside a car even before it is struck. The researchers have begun testing the impact-sensing system on experimental vehicles and have built prototypes of the shape-changing, frame-reinforcing system. 鈥淪tarting next year we will have a fully integrated system on a car,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n 2008 we will start full crash tests.鈥�
The experimental vehicles have radar sensors installed at the front and rear and stereo cameras in the back window. These feed information to an on-board computer that calculates the chances of an impact. 鈥淚t can recognise if something is going to hit the car, identify where it will hit and its velocity,鈥� Tandler says.
To protect those inside the car, the computer would then activate a shape-memory alloy in the side door by feeding an electrical current through it. The alloy changes shape in response to heat and swells to make a stronger connection with the car鈥檚 frame. The energy of the impact is then spread more widely around the car, and the risk to anyone inside is reduced. 鈥淭his could make a big difference to anyone inside the car,鈥� Tandler says.
