. Nissan Collaborates on Next Generation In-Car
Safety Systems
TRAPPES, France - Nissan has
been collaborating in an exploratory project to develop bone-scanning
technology which will maximise the protection offered to occupants in the
event of a car crash.
Nissan's Technical Centre
Europe (NTCE) is one of several automotive organisations involved in the
bone-scanning project, called BOSCOS (Bone Scanning for Occupant Safety).
The aim of the project is to research and develop technology which can
adjust the deployment of on-board safety systems to account for the
density of the occupants' bone structure.
In recent years, huge
progress has been made in occupant protection from the introduction of
seat-belt pre-tensioners, steering wheel mounted airbags, then passenger,
side- and curtain airbags. The BOSCOS project is intended to take these
safety devices to the next level of effectiveness.
Research taken from analysis
has shown that injuries such as fractured ribs and sternum result from the
deployment of airbags and the high forces that are applied when seatbelts
are used in real-world accidents. In particular, older drivers and
passengers who have weaker bones or medical conditions such as
osteoporosis, can suffer from fractures as a result of the deployment of
airbags and seatbelts.
The bone-scanning system
works by using ultrasound technology to analyse the bone density of the
occupants and it can then adjust the force of the airbag and seatbelt pre-tensioners
to maximise the protection offered by those devices, and at the same time
help keep to a minimum the risk of injury as a direct result of their
deployment.
To analyse the bone density,
occupants place their finger in an aperture upon starting the car and an
ultrasound reader measures their bone density. With the results recorded,
the various safety devices will calculate the optimum level of deployment
to protect the occupants, whilst keeping to a minimum their risk of
injury.
Although the deployment of
airbags and the momentary high forces exerted on the chest by the seatbelt
during real-world accidents can occasionally cause injuries, it is well
known that these injuries are significantly less serious than the injury
that would likely occur to the occupants without the intervention of a
seatbelt and airbag.
At the moment, there is no
schedule for when this technology will first be employed on a commercially
available vehicle.
The consortium includes: the
Cranfield Impact Centre, part of Cranfield University's School of
Industrial and Manufacturing Science and TRW Automotive. NTCE is Nissan's
engineering and development facility in Europe. With sites in Cranfield,
Bedfordshire, Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels and Germany, NTCE employs 700
people who work on European projects, as well as projects for non-European
markets.
