Abstract: Impacts with a vehicle body panel are detected by sensing airflow inboard of the vehicle body panel. The airflow can be measured by heated element sensor, a Pitot tube sensor, a venturi sensor or other airflow-responsive sensor. For side impact detection, the sensor is located in a door or pillar on the side of the vehicle; for frontal impact detection, the sensor may be located behind the front bumper. Multiple sensors mounted in distributed locations can be used to determine the location and extent of an impact.

Abstract: A satellite module mounted near the periphery of a vehicle inboard of a body panel such as a bumper or side door panel includes both primary and secondary (safing) sensors. Response time is enhanced by co-locating the sensors in a satellite module, and reliability is enhanced by utilizing different sensing technologies for the co-located sensors. In a preferred embodiment, either the primary or secondary sensor is responsive to airflow inboard of the body panel due to a crash event.

Abstract: Impacts with a vehicle body panel are detected by sensing airflow inboard of the vehicle body panel. The airflow can be measured by heated element sensor, a Pitot tube sensor, a venturi sensor or other airflow-responsive sensor. For side impact detection, the sensor is located in a door or pillar on the side of the vehicle; for frontal impact detection, the sensor may be located behind the front bumper. Multiple sensors mounted in distributed locations can be used to determine the location and extent of an impact.

Abstract: An arming signal for enabling deployment of rollover safety devices by a vehicle rollover detection apparatus is based on an off-axis measure of vehicle acceleration. A low-g accelerometer mounted perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle but at an angle with respect to Earth's ground plane detects components of both lateral and vertical vehicle accelerations. The measurement angle is selected to apportion the lateral vs. vertical measurement sensitivity in accordance with calibrated lateral and vertical acceleration thresholds, and an arming signal is generated when a filtered version of the measured acceleration exceeds an arming threshold.