A treatise on crash sensing for automotive air bag systems

Car air bags are effective safety features, but have caused some fatalities and injuries. An essential focus of potential enhancements ("smart air bags") centers around crash sensing. This paper provides a basic yet thorough discussion of underlying technical challenges and design approaches for the subject matter. Mechanical sensors are analyzed to reveal their functioning characteristics. Discussions of design approaches for electronic sensor are elaborated with analysis of sensing algorithms. Subsequently, the shortcomings of current systems are cited. Definitions and compositions of smart air bags are then summarized. Included in the discussions are occupant sensing and integrated systems. Also presented is a perspective on system design of occupant restraints that relates to the concept of energy management. The implementation of air bags and related occupant restraints requires extensive knowledge from various engineering disciplines, in particular mechanical, chemical, electrical, and increasingly electronic expertise. The market is evolving toward a greater usage of electronic contents. The demand of advanced functions is stimulating the integration of various sensing technologies     

Trends in Crash Detection and Occupant Restraint Technology

In the past two decades, occupant restraint systems for automobiles have made considerable progress globally. There has been a tremendous increase in the complexity and sophistication of functional requirements. Particularly significant in the overall evolution of restraint systems is the growth in electronics content, which is concurrent with similar phenomena in the automotive world, as well as in many other technology-related fields. In conjunction with this trend, the shift to digital components and subsystems expanded, while the design of restraint systems has become more diversified with enhanced adaptability and flexibility. In addition to the airbags that are standardized for passenger vehicles, there has been a whole spectrum of emerging safety features that provide additional safety improvements. For example, rollover and occupant sensing are being added onto an integrated occupant protection system. Global positioning systems are coupled with crash sensors into emergency notification services. Increasingly, vehicles are now being equipped with active safety systems. The availability of both passive restraints and active safety functions will allow an additional layer of synergistic integration across safety systems. Research and developments in vehicular safety can be expected to remain active in the foreseeable future. This paper describes the system-level design trends that have occurred in the past and offers a perspective of future design transition in automotive restraint systems     

BorderSense: Border patrol through advanced wireless sensor networks

The conventional border patrol systems suffer from intensive human involvement. Recently, unmanned border patrol systems employ high-tech devices, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, unattended ground sensors, and surveillance towers equipped with camera sensors. However, any single technique encounters inextricable problems, such as high false alarm rate and line-of-sight-constraints. There lacks a coherent system that coordinates various technologies to improve the system accuracy. In this paper, the concept of BorderSense, a hybrid wireless sensor network architecture for border patrol systems, is introduced. BorderSense utilizes the most advanced sensor network technologies, including the wireless multimedia sensor networks and the wireless underground sensor networks. The framework to deploy and operate BorderSense is developed. Based on the framework, research challenges and open research issues are discussed.     

Control design of an automated highway system

Describes the design of an automated highway system (AHS) developed over the past ten years in the California PATH program. The AHS is a large, complex system, in which vehicles are automatically controlled. The design and implementation of the AHS required advances in actuator and sensor technologies, as well as the design, analysis, simulation, and testing of large-scale, hierarchical hybrid control systems. The paper focuses on the multilayer AHS control architecture and some questions of implementation. It discusses in detail the design and safety verification of the on-board vehicle control system and the design of the link-layer traffic-flow controller     

WHOMoVeS: An optimized broadband sensor network for military vehicle tracking

With the advance of sensing technologies and their applications, advanced sensor networks are gaining increasing interest. For certain sensitive applications, heterogeneous sensors can be deployed in the monitored space to ensure scalability, high-speed communication, and long network lifetime. Hybrid sensor networks have capabilities to combine the use of both resource-rich and resource-impoverished sensor nodes. This paper proposes a heterogeneous broadband sensor network architecture for military vehicle tracking. Powerful sensor devices with good bandwidth and energy capabilities are used as a communication backbone while energy sensors are used to track moving targets. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling and Verification of a Diamond-Shape Narrow-Tilting Vehicle

The authors use planar multibody system dynamics to model an intelligent personal mobility (IPM) narrow-tilting vehicle (NTV) with four wheels arranged in a diamond configuration. A planar multibody system tire model is used to represent ground-vehicle interaction. In addition to analyzing the roll plane dynamics, the proposed model supports the measuring of joint reaction forces (a difficult task with actual vehicles) to assist in advanced controller and mechanical system design. We also propose a separate calculation method using two acceleration sensors and one angular position sensor for the purpose of obtaining ground forces. Results from model verification tests (i.e., comparisons with actual data from a slalom test) indicate that the proposed IPM model performed with a high degree of accuracy.      

Triboelectricity Based Self-Powered Digital Displacement Sensor for Aircraft Flight Actuation

The utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is on the rise across various industries. In such a scenario, the issue of flight safety for these UAVs becomes increasingly paramount. Currently, UAVs exhibit shortcomings in flight attitude perception compared to more mature manned aircraft, especially concerning the position sensing of flight actuation, which poses significant safety risks. Mature position monitoring solutions for flight actuation used in manned aircraft cannot be directly integrated into systems of UAV due to compatibility issues. This necessitates the development of new position sensing technologies to address this challenge. Triboelectric nanogenerators, with their advantages of miniaturization, self-powering capabilities, and the ability to generate voltage-level electrical signals, are chosen to form a part of the position detection system for sensors in UAVs. In this study, a self-powered displacement sensor is developed that utilizes frictional charge separation signals. This sensor is specifically designed to monitor the position status of the flight actuators in UAV. With a compact volume of <11.1 cm³ and a weight of <9.5 g, this sensor is lightweight efficient and adaptable for practical applications.     

Nonlinear brake control for vehicle CW/CA systems

A brake control law for vehicle collision warning/collision avoidance (CW/CA) systems has been proposed in the paper. The control law has been designed for optimized safety and comfort. A solenoid-valve-controlled hydraulic brake actuator system for the CW/CA systems has been investigated. A nonlinear computer model and a linear model of the hydraulic brake actuator system have been developed. Both models were found to represent the actual system with good accuracy. Uncertainties in the brake actuator model have been considered in the design of the control law for the robustness of the controller. The effects of brake control on CW/CA vehicle response has been investigated via simulations. The simulations were performed using a complete nonlinear vehicle model. The results indicate that the proposed brake control law can provide the CW/CA vehicles with an optimized compromise between safety and comfort     

激光微纳制造在传感领域中的应用

物联网和可穿戴器件的快速发展对传感器的制备和性能提出了更高的要求。由于加工速度快、精度高、可控性强、易集成、与材料兼容性高等优点,激光微纳制造已逐渐成为一种流行的材料制备和器件加工技术。通过激光诱导加热、反应和分离这三种激光加工方式实现了对不同材料的激光处理,这为传感器的制备奠定了基础。近年来,研究人员利用激光微纳加工技术制备了应用于紫外线、气体、湿度、温度、应变/应力、生物、环境等信号监测的不同传感器。总结和归纳了目前存在的问题,展望了激光微纳制造在传感领域中的发展方向。希望文中对激光微纳制造应用于传感领域的介绍和总结能够为未来的研究和发展提供思路和参考。     

基于DSP的车载测距安全预警系统研究

针对高等级公路车辆纵向碰撞事故频发的问题,设计了一种基于DSP的车载测距安全预警系统,该系统通过激光雷达测距传感器实时采集车辆前方障碍物运动状况,由TMS320DM643高速数字信号处理DSP进行主要的数据信息处理,适时解算和分析前方车辆与本方车辆之间的纵向车距是否满足安全车距的需要,利用MC9S12XS128单片机完成车辆行驶状态参数的采集处理及声光预警。实验结果表明,该系统工作可靠性高、价格成本低,具有广泛的应用前景。     

Land-vehicle navigation using GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has made navigation systems practical for a number of land-vehicle navigation applications. Today, GPS-based navigation systems can be found in motor vehicles, farming and mining equipment, and a variety of other land-based vehicles (e.g., golf carts and mobile robots). Each of these applications is discussed and the reader is introduced to some of the issues involved with each one. One particular technical aspect of navigation for land vehicles is discussed. Specifically, the research discussed in this paper presents a quantitative examination of the impact that individual navigation sensors have on the perfomance of a land-vehicle navigation system. A range of navigation sensor performance levels and their influence on vehicle positioning accuracy are examined. Results show that, for a typical navigation system, positioning error is dominated by the accuracy of the position fixes provided by the GPS receiver when GPS position fixes are available and by the rate gyro's bias drift when GPS position fixes are not available. Furthermore, results show that the accuracy of the GPS position fixes has a significant impact on the relative contributions that each dead-reckoning navigation sensor error makes. The implications of these results for navigation system design and sensor design are discussed     

基于车车通信的车辆防碰撞算法

为了提前预测车辆碰撞事故和降低碰撞事故发生概率,提出了基于车车通信的车辆防碰撞算法（VACA）。VACA根据自身和周围邻居车辆的北斗位置坐标,在水平和垂直两个方向上分别采用Kalman预测算法预测下一时刻的车辆行驶状态,采用数据预判断方法直接确定一定发生碰撞或不发生碰撞的情况。当不能直接判断时,则计算加速度可变下的安全距离,建立和求解碰撞状态预测模型,获得碰撞预测时间最小值。如果该最小值小于阈值,则发出报警信号提醒驾驶员。仿真结果表明,与基于车辆间通信的智能防碰撞报警模型（IVCWM）和车辆提前预警的防碰撞算法（ECWA）比较,VACA可提前发现碰撞情况,而且更准确,有一定的应用价值。     

传感器技术在新能源汽车中的应用

随着现代技术的高速发展,新能源汽车借助传感器技术向着电气化、智能化、人性化的方向发展。新能源汽车可以通过控制系统收集传感器采集的各项参数,并在处理各项参数后发出指令控制汽车运行。文中围绕传感器在新能源汽车电子技术中的应用,划分了汽车的功能模块,分析了传感器各部分的工作原理,有助于探索未来的传感器应用集成化,希望能为传感器技术在新能源汽车中的应用探究提供一定参考。     

Advanced concepts in electric vehicle design

In 1994, the Eco-Vehicle Project was begun to develop an electric vehicle (EV) using a ground-up design approach that incorporates unique designs specific to an EV. The Eco-Vehicle will be a high-performance, but ultrasmall, battery-powered vehicle. New designs for the Eco-Vehicle include an in-wheel motor drive system, a hollow load floor which will house the batteries, and a new battery management system. The Eco-Vehicle may also utilize other advanced concepts suitable especially for EVs, including solar panels for battery charging and intelligent crash avoidance and guidance systems     

循迹多功能小车的设计与实现

智能车辆是目前世界车辆研究领域的热点,也是汽车工业新的增长点,是未来人们生活的重要载体。研制一种智能,高效的智能小车控制系统具有重要的实际意义和科学理论价值。论文基于STC89C52控制核心,利用反射式光电传感器检测黑线实现小车循迹和道路障碍物检测与提示,能实现小车自动根据地面黑线前进倒退、转向行驶,光电传感测距提示障碍物等功能,LCD1602显示器能实时显示小车的速度与行程,设计并实现了能自动循迹的智能小车控制系统,达到设计目标。     

Strategies and spacing requirements for lane changing and mergingin automated highway systems

In automated highway systems (AHS) vehicles are expected to operate using their own sensing and control systems by interacting with other vehicles and the infrastructure in a way that guarantees safety, stability, and high capacity. We examine various alternative scenaria for merging and lane changing and we present an algorithm for calculating the minimum safety spacing for lane changing (MSSLC); that is, we calculate the intervehicle spacing that the vehicles should maintain during a merging or lane changing maneuver so that in the case where one of the vehicles executes an emergency braking manuever, the rest of the vehicles have enough time and space to stop without any collision taking place. The calculation of the MSSLCs for merging or lane changing maneuvers is more complicated than the calculation of the minimum safety spacing for a longitudinal vehicle following since, in the former case we have to take into account the particular lane-changing policy of the merging vehicle as well as the effect of combined lateral/longitudinal motion during the lane changing maneuver. The braking profiles of the vehicles involved in an emergency scenario during a lane changing maneuver depends on the particular AHS operational concept, i.e., on the degree of communication between the vehicles and between the vehicles and the infrastructure. We consider six different AHS operational concepts; for each concept we consider possible emergency braking profiles and we investigate the effect of the particular operational concept on the MSSLC     

Development of embedded piezoelectric acoustic sensor array architecture

This paper examines development of novel piezoelectric acoustic sensors, which are capable of sensing high frequency acoustic emissions in a composite/metallic plate. The fabrication of the piezoelectric acoustic sensors, made from piezoceramic ribbons, is described in the paper. An attempt was made to build directionality into the sensing system itself. Continuous sensors placed at right angles on a plate are discussed as a new approach to measure and locate the source of the acoustic waves. Novel signal processing algorithms based on bio-inspired neural systems for spatial filtering of large numbers of embedded sensor arrays in laminated composite media are presented. It is expected that the present work would help in the development of microelectronic sensing aiding diagnostics and prognostics techniques for highly efficient health monitoring of integrated aerospace vehicles and structures.     

Recent Progress in Advanced Tactile Sensing Technologies for Soft Grippers

Tactile sensing technology is crucial for soft grippers. Soft grippers equipped with intelligent tactile sensing systems based on various sensors can interact safely with the unstructured environments and obtain precise properties of objects (e.g., size and shape). It is essential to develop state-of-the-art sensing technologies for soft grippers to handle different grasping tasks. In this review, the development of tactile sensing techniques for robotic hands is first introduced. Then, the principles and structures of different types of sensors normally adopted in soft grippers, including capacitive tactile sensors, piezoresistive tactile sensors, piezoelectric tactile sensors, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, vision-based tactile sensors, triboelectric tactile sensors, and other advanced sensors developed recently are briefly presented. Furthermore, sensing modalities and methodologies for soft grippers are also described in aspects of force measurement, perception of object properties, slip detection, and fusion of perception. The application scenarios of soft grippers are also summarized based on these advanced sensing technologies. Finally, the challenges of tactile sensing technologies for soft grippers that need to be tackled are discussed and perspectives in addressing these challenges are pointed out.     

Data rate requirements for relay links in vehicular locator systems

For the effective and efficient utilization of mobile vehicles, a vehicle locator and tracking system is necessary. Possible users of the system include the police, municipal bus systems, taxicabs, utilities, and others. One often suggested approach employs a network of distributed sensors, which sense and identify vehicles in the immediate vicinity. The sensors which receive transmissions from the vehicles then pass the vehicle identity, together with the sensor identity, to a central facility via a relay link. For the relay link, message-loss probability and time-delay statistics have been evaluated as a function of message traffic offered. By utilizing the dual criteria for acceptable performance as one of low message-loss probability and small time delays, data requirements for uniform vehicular traffic have been obtained. An extension to nonuniform vehicular traffic is suggested. Engineering estimates of data rate requirements for different system configurations can be made by using the figures presented.