Advanced Vehicle Safety Electronics Roll to Production in 2006

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Current safety electronics, such as antilock braking systems, are considered 'passive' in that they require input from the driver before they activate. But 'active' safety technology, enabled by a new generation of ruggedized, "smart power" ICs, take a two-pronged approach to safety.

First, these active safety systems provide assistance to the driver by helping them anticipate problems. For example, the latest systems use long and short-range radars to assess the potential danger of a crash, detect how quickly the host vehicle is coming up on a vehicle in front of it, provide that information to both the driver and the host vehicle control electronics, and to apply full-force braking if the driver does not adjust the vehicle speed to avoid a collision.

In another example, a new generation of night vision cameras shines infrared beams down the road ahead to illuminate potential hazards that are beyond the reach of the headlights. A special camera embedded in the rearview mirror reads the reflected infrared energy and provides an image of what's ahead on an instrument LCD screen.

Second, these active safety systems work together with other vehicle systems to anticipate a rapid change in vehicle direction. The technology builds upon the antilock braking system and electronic stability control that are now common in many new vehicles today.

For example, stability control systems compare the driver's intended course via steering and braking inputs to the vehicle's response, via lateral acceleration, rotation, and wheel speeds and act accordingly. Advanced safety systems build upon that control system and proactively precharge the braking system in anticipation of hard collision-avoidance braking, stiffen the servo-controlled shock absorbers in advance of a change of direction, tighten the seat belt to put the driver in a safer position, and instantly close the windows to prevent occupants from being thrown from the vehicle.

Semiconductor companies that cater to the automotive market have responded to the increase in complexity by coupling computational horsepower, in the form of advanced microcontrollers, with the high voltage actuators needed to drive the electromechanical components. Since safety systems are considered 'mission-critical' in any vehicle, these smart power ICs must also be developed in very rugged, high-temperature process technologies to extremely high-quality standards.

Much of the activity in safety systems focuses on preventing vehicle rollovers which is especially important in vehicles with a high center of gravity. U.S. government figures cite 62% of sport-utility vehicle and 45% of pickup truck occupant fatalities occur in rollover crashes. However, studies on the effectiveness of anti-rollover stability control found that the systems reduced the number of single SUV crashes by 67% and single passenger car crashes by 35% (NHTSA's Light Vehicle ESC Research Program, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Research and Test Center, June 9, 2005). Therefore, hopes are high that these advanced safety systems, which build upon successful technology, should further reduce those grim statistics.