Continental auto safety - Active Passive Integration
Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Safety
Modern cars are incorporating a variety of safety systems designed to help drivers avoid accidents and then, if an accident is unavoidable, to minimize the risk of injury. Until now, most of these have operated largely independently of each other, but Continental Automotive Systems (and its competitors) is trying to change that. At the Chicago Auto Show, Conti had a BMW 3-series equipped with its experimental Active Passive Integration Approach (APIA). APIA ties together the various safety systems to try and achieve a result greater than the sum of the parts.
Continental combined the radar inputs from the adaptive cruise control system and added a laser speed detector, the hydraulic control unit for the stability control, and then tied it all together with the air bag, seat belt tensioning, seat controls and window controls. The system detects the speed of the vehicle ahead and determines how fast you’re closing in. The system has various stages of operation depending on how quickly you approach the vehicle in front of you. There’s more about how the system works after the jump along with a video from Continental.
[Source: Continental Automotive Systems]Continue reading Chicago Auto Show: Continental auto safety - Active Passive Integration