Sensing Systems and Algorithms for Airbag Deployment Decision

This paper addresses the development of an integrated sensing system for the airbag deployment decision in an intelligent vehicle. A number of sensing systems has been developed and fused their decisions to provide an airbag deployment decision. The performance of the prototype system is evaluated through several test runs. The results proved that the airbag deployment decision is robust and intelligent and can be easily retrofitted into any vehicle with built-in airbag control.

I. Introduction

An intelligent vehicle operates to ensure the safety and comfort level of the occupant in the vehicle. Due to the high expectations for control and safety, an efficient integrated sensing system must be developed for airbag deployment decision [1]. Many individual researches have been focused on airbag deployment decision [2]–[4]. However, it is a difficult task, despite the success of some of these systems; occupant detection, human/nonhuman object detection and classification, and crash detection and its severity still pose a number of challenges for real-time implementation and operation [5], [6].