Denso develops pedestrian collision detection sensor

Kariya (Japan), February 15, 2013: Denso Corporation has developed a pedestrian collision detection sensor for the Pop-up Hood. The new sensor more precisely detects head-on collisions between vehicles and pedestrians, enabling the Pop-up Hood to operate more accurately.

A Pop-up Hood is designed to reduce pedestrian head injuries in a pedestrian / vehicle engine hood collision by creating a larger buffer space between the hood and hard components, including the engine, under the hood. When a pedestrian collides with the front bumper of a vehicle within a predetermined speed range, the pedestrian collision detection sensor sends the information to the airbag electric control unit to make the hood pop up at the moment of the frontal collision.

“The new sensor technology uses a structure that can more accurately detect head-on collisions, regardless of where the collision takes place on the front bumper,” said Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, executive director responsible for Denso's Information & Safety Systems Business Group.

In the conventional Pop-up Hood, several acceleration sensors are installed along the front bumper. However, detection by acceleration sensors varies depending on which part of the front bumper collides with a pedestrian. Denso’s new sensor consists of two pressure sensors and a hollow polyethylene housing that is installed across the entire front bumper and conformed to the bumper’s internal shape. In a head-on vehicle/pedestrian collision, these pressure sensors precisely detect the increase in internal pressure of the hollow housing as the bumper deforms, regardless of the collision position on the front bumper.

This sensor is installed on the Pop-up Hood of the Toyota Crown Hybrid launched in Japan.

Denso Corporation, headquartered in Kariya, Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world's major carmakers. Worldwide, the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 35 countries and regions (including India) and employs approximately 120,000 people. Consolidated global sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, totaled US$38.4 billion (Rs 206,592 crore). Last fiscal year, Denso spent 9.5 percent of its global consolidated sales on R&D.