In The News

Every day the ARC Network updates the web site with valuable, important industry news. Following are a few articles from last month.

TRW Automotive Introduces New Smart Airbag and Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems TRW Automotive, the global leader in automotive safety systems, will launch its new occupant weight- sensing system and its first direct tire pressure monitoring system for the 2004 model year. Smart Airbag System Uses Strain Gauge Technology TRW will launch its new occupant weight sensing system on a major automaker's 2004 sport utility vehicle, the first of many applications over the next several model years. This system uses strain gauges at each corner of the front passenger seat frame to directly measure the occupant's seating weight, which is, in turn, used to classify occupants as infants, children or adults. This classification is then used to determine the appropriate air bag deployment for the occupant, ranging from a full deployment for larger adults to a gentler deployment for small adults and larger children, to no deployment for infants, small children and some small stature adults. The system provides highly reliable performance from a direct weight measurement and eliminates the need for calibration at the seat or in the vehicle assembly plant. "This system has been developed in conjunction with our customer's engineering counterparts with the intent of better protecting occupants and meeting the intent of new FMVSS 208 requirements that go into effect for the 2004 model year," said Doug Campbell, vice president, engineering for Occupant Safety Systems. "This weight sensing solution is designed to provide highly reliable occupant classification data that will lead to enhanced protection by providing a more appropriate airbag deployment for each passenger type and by helping to reduce the number of inappropriate deployments." Read the full article

Ford To Add Fire Safety To '05 Crown Victoria Police Car Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will offer new fire suppression technology as an option on the 2005 model Crown Victoria Police Interceptors, widely used in the U.S. by police and state troopers. The technology will be available only on new factory-built police cars, according to Ford spokeswoman Francine Romine. Older vehicles can't be retrofitted because the technology is tied to a new computer system in the 2005 model. "This is an enhancement to help police with dangerous work," Romine said. Civilian drivers shouldn't be concerned about the safety of the Crown Victoria, Romine said. "There is no defect in the vehicle." The electronics for the fire suppression system were developed for use in interiors of military armored personnel vehicles. The system uses sensors to measure the optimum time after a crash to release fire suppression material. Safety questions surrounding the Crown Victoria came up after police officers were killed when their gas tanks exploded. The police cars had been hit from the rear at high speeds of at least 70 miles per hour, the Ford spokeswoman said. Read the full article

Vetronix and Injury Sciences Announce Extension of Strategic Partnership Agreement for Crash Data Retrieval System Agreement Extends the Length and Breadth of Joint Marketing Agreement for Vetronix's CDR System That Harvests Vehicle 'Black Box' Data Vetronix Corporation, a leading provider of advanced automotive diagnostic equipment and telematics solutions, and Injury Sciences LLC announced today at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., that they have extended and broadened their strategic partnership. The partnership, which first began in September 2000, pairs the Vetronix CDR (Crash Data Retrieval) system with Injury Sciences' WrExpert system. WrExpert assists insurance professionals in analyzing the severity of vehicle collisions and the potential for bodily injury resulting from those collisions. The Vetronix CDR system consists of hardware and software that downloads pre-crash and crash data from the vehicle's airbag module to a laptop computer. The Windows® based software presents the data in easy-to-read graphs and tables that, depending on the vehicle, show some or all of the following: Vehicle speed (up to 5 seconds before impact) Engine RPM Brake application Throttle position State of seat belt (may include driver and passenger) Passenger's side airbag enabled/disabled Airbag warning lamp status Time from impact to airbag deployment Maximum Delta V for near deployment The CDR software can display the critical 5 second period leading up to airbag deployment and show key parameters on a chart that can help investigators determine when and if brakes were applied and show speed and deceleration of the vehicle prior to the airbag deployment. The system can be used in stand-alone mode, or can be coupled with the WrExpert system from Injury Sciences to provide a powerful suite of analysis tools. Read the full article

Return to August 2003 Newsletter