ZF TRW, an automotive safety system supplier has developed an external airbag that can deploy just before a collision and reduce its impact by30%.
The company believes that this External Pre-crash Airbag technology could be seen in cars as early as 2020.
This airbag deploys from the external side structure of the vehicle to help protect passenger in the event of a side impact crash.
The airbag helps in absorbing energy in the event of a side impact collision.
In its recent demonstration at the CES, a prototype side impact airbag was deployed, displacing a volume about twice that of standard-side curtain airbag.
The airbag requires twice as much as time to fully deploy, so it is theorized that this airbag will deploy before the impact occurs, which is different from conventional airbags which detect an impact before being deployed.
So, in this case, the sensors need to detect an impact before it even occurs.
The company says that this technology will help in absorbing about 30% of the impact and the company believes that the technology is promising with a scope for improvement.
The new airbags need to resistant to changes in weather, dirt, corrosion and from small impact with debris, etc.
It also says that the sensors must be fine tuned to the extent that they will not deploy them because threw a can your car but would still have to detect another vehicle hitting it and deploy before it actually hits.
Already this technology has passed some tests in European countries.
Companies such as Volvo have attached external airbags to deploy in case of a head-on collision with a pedestrian.
