METHOD OF DETERMINING AN ACCIDENT TIME PARAMETER FOR EVALUATING AN ACCIDENT SITUATION IN A MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

A method of determining an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation of a motor vehicle, including a) determining at least two of the following values: (i) a current value of a measured acceleration, (ii) a first integral of the measured acceleration, or (iii) a second integral of the measured acceleration, and b) determining an accident time parameter from the at least two values determined in step a).

Claims

1. A method of determining an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation of a motor vehicle, the method comprising: a) determining at least two of the following values: i) a current value of a measured acceleration, ii) a first integral of the measured acceleration, or iii) a second integral of the measured acceleration; and b) determining an accident time parameter from the at least two values determined in step a).

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the accident time parameter is set to a specified value, if a mathematical calculation is not possible in step b).

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the measured acceleration is filtered by a low-pass filter prior to the determination of the accident time parameter in step b).

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein prior to the determination of the accident time parameter in step b), the measured acceleration is transformed in such a manner, that it corresponds to an acceleration of a center of mass of the entire motor vehicle.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the determination of the accident time parameter in step b) includes a calculation of a quotient of the first integral of the measured acceleration and the second integral of the measured acceleration.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein in determining the accident time parameter in step b), a constant factor is taken into account, the factor being greater than 2.

7. A method for activating a safety function of a motor vehicle in an accident situation, the method comprising: determining an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation of a motor vehicle, including a) determining at least two of the following values: i) a current value of a measured acceleration, ii) a first integral of the measured acceleration, or iii) a second integral of the measured acceleration, and b); determining an accident time parameter from the at least two values determined in step a); and subsequent to step b), performing: c) deciding whether a collision of the motor vehicle with a collision object has taken place, the decision being made by comparing the accident time parameter determined in step b) to a limiting value, and d) outputting an activation signal of the at least one safety function of the motor vehicle, if a collision has been detected in step c).

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein at least one of: the first integral of the acceleration determined in step a) and the second integral of the acceleration determined in step a) is determined for a time interval of a specified interval duration, and step c) is carried out at least as a function of a difference of the accident time parameter from the interval duration.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein an accident time comparison parameter is determined, and step c) is carried out at least as a function of a difference of the accident time parameter from the accident time comparison parameter.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein step c) is carried out at least as a function of an absolute difference of the accident time parameter from a time actually elapsed since a temporal zero point.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein step c) is carried out at least as a function of a current difference of the accident time parameter from a time actually elapsed.

12. A control unit, comprising at least one input terminal via which the control unit may receive a signal of at least one acceleration sensor, and at least one output terminal via which the control unit may emit a signal for activating a restraint system, the control unit configured to: determine an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation of a motor vehicle, including a) determining at least two of the following values: i) a current value of a measured acceleration, ii) a first integral of the measured acceleration, or iii) a second integral of the measured acceleration, and b); determining an accident time parameter from the at least two values determined in step a); and subsequent to step b): c) decide whether a collision of the motor vehicle (1) with a collision object (2) has taken place, the decision being made by comparing the accident time parameter determined in step b) to a limiting value, and d) output an activation signal of the at least one safety function of the motor vehicle, if a collision has been detected in step c).

13. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium on which is stored the computer program for determining an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation of a motor vehicle, the method comprising: a) determining at least two of the following values: i) a current value of a measured acceleration, ii) a first integral of the measured acceleration, or iii) a second integral of the measured acceleration; and b) determining an accident time parameter from the at least two values determined in step a).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle and a collision object.

[0059] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the example method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

[0060] FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle 1, which is moving towards a collision object 2, as indicated by the arrow. In particular, a collision zone 3 of motor vehicle 1 is affected by the imminent collision. This means that motor vehicle 1 strikes collision object 2 at collision zone 3. Consequently, motor vehicle 1 is especially damaged in collision zone 3. The motor vehicle includes a first acceleration sensor 8, a second acceleration sensor 9, a third acceleration sensor 10, and a fourth acceleration sensor 11. If an acceleration is detected by one or more of acceleration sensors 8, 9, 10, 11, then this may indicate a collision. To protect the occupants, motor vehicle 1 includes a plurality of safety systems (in particular, restraint systems 5), of which two are shown, here, by way of example.

[0061] Motor vehicle 1 includes a control module 4, in order to activate the safety systems or restraint systems 5 in response to a collision. Control module 4 is configured to receive signals from acceleration sensors 8, 9, 10, 11 via four input terminals 6, and to emit signals for activating restraint systems 5 via two output terminals 7.

[0062] Control module 4 is configured to implement the following method: An acceleration is initially measured by each of acceleration sensors 8, 9, 10, 11. The measured values may be filtered by a low-pass filter (which, for example, may be integrated in control module 4). In each instance, an accident time parameter may be determined by each of acceleration sensors 8, 9, 10, 11 in accordance with the method described herein. Using averaging, a mean accident time parameter, which exhibits a particularly high accuracy, may be obtained from the accident time parameters respectively obtained. Starting out from the accident time parameter obtained in this manner, it may be decided whether a collision of motor vehicle 1 with collision object 2 has taken place. The decision is made by comparing the accident time parameter to a limiting value. If such a collision is detected, then restraint systems 5 are activated.

[0063] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the method described herein. The boxes depicted represent method steps a) through d). During operation of the motor vehicle, method steps a) and c) are preferably executed continually or, if indicated, executed repeatedly at regular intervals, in the form of a loop. If the accident time parameter exceeds a limiting value, then method step d) is executed.