Soft Collision Target

Abstract

A soft collision target, in particular for use within the framework of non-destructive collision tests, has an illumination device that comprises at least one illuminant and a covering structure, wherein the covering structure surrounds the illuminant and is configured to absorb forces acting on the illumination device on a collision and/or to conduct them at least partly past the illuminant.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A soft collision target, comprising an illumination device, the illumination device comprising at least one illuminant and a covering structure; and wherein the covering structure surrounds the illuminant and is configured to absorb forces acting on the illumination device on a collision and/or to conduct the forces at least partly past the illuminant.

16. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the soft collision target is configured for use within the framework of non-destructive collision tests.

17. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the illuminant is molded into the covering structure.

18. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the illumination device is at least substantially areal.

19. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the illumination device is flexible.

20. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein a material of the covering structure comprises silicone.

21. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the illuminant comprises at least one LED.

22. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 21, wherein the illuminant comprises at least one LED of a red color, at least one LED of a yellow color and/or at least one LED of a white color.

23. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 21, wherein the illuminant comprises at least one LED strip.

24. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the illumination device comprises at least one connector device for a power supply and/or for a control of the illumination device, with the connector apparatus being configured to form a magnetic coupling with a complementary connector apparatus.

25. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the illumination device can be controlled for transmitting different illumination characteristics.

26. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 25, wherein the different illumination characteristics are selected from the group of members consisting of a differing pulse frequency, a differing pulse break ratio, a differing duration, a differing color, a differing brightness, a differing spatial extent, a differing spatial pattern and combinations of the foregoing.

27. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 15, wherein the soft collision target simulates a vehicle and the illumination device is arranged at the soft collision target to simulate a vehicle illumination of the vehicle.

28. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 27, wherein the vehicle illumination is at least one of a brake light and at least one turn indicator.

29. The soft collision target in accordance with claim 1, wherein the illumination device is configured for a control via at least one of a serial bus system in accordance with ISO 11898 and a metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor.

30. An apparatus for carrying out collision tests, the apparatus comprising a soft collision target having an illumination device, and a control device that is configured to control the illumination device for transmitting an illumination characteristic signaling a driving condition of the soft collision target or of a dummy carrier carrying the soft collision target.

31. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, wherein the illumination device comprises at least one illuminant and a covering structure; and with the covering structure surrounding the illuminant and being configured to absorb forces acting on the illumination device on a collision and/or to conduct the forces at least partly past the illuminant.

32. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, wherein the control device is configured to associate a respective nominal driving condition with points of a predefined or predefinable travel trajectory of the soft collision target and to control the illumination device to transmit an illumination characteristic associated with the respective nominal driving condition.

33. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, wherein the control device is configured to derive a respective driving condition from received travel parameters of the soft collision target or of the dummy carrier and to control the illumination device to transmit an illumination characteristic associated with the respective actual travel condition.

34. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, further comprising a travelable dummy carrier to which the soft collision target is fastened, with the control device being at least partly provided at the dummy carrier.

Description

[0052] The invention will be described in more detail in the following only by way of example with reference to the drawings.

[0053] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a soft collision target in a schematic perspective representation; and

[0054] FIG. 2 shows an illumination device of a soft collision target in a schematic representation.

[0055] An apparatus 1 for carrying out non-destructive collision tests is shown in FIG. 1 that comprises a soft collision target 11 as well as an illumination device 17.

[0056] The soft collision target 11 simulates a vehicle, in the example shown a passenger car. For this purpose, the soft collision target 11 has an outer cover 13 of plastic that is carried at the inner side by a soft frame that comprises an inflatable hose structure. The soft collision target 11 is thereby deformable, in particular elastically deformable.

[0057] The soft collision target 13 corresponds at least roughly to the passenger car to be simulated with respect to its shape and dimensions. In addition, the outer covering 13 that substantially bounds the soft collision target 13 at all sides, with the exception of the lower side, is printed such that finer structures of the vehicle are also simulated and the soft collision target 11 also corresponds to the passenger car in color.

[0058] To be sensed, in particular by means of radar, for example, by sensors of an advanced driver assistance system of a vehicle such as a real passenger car, the outer covering 13 is configured to reflect a corresponding radiation, in particular radar, at least in those regions in which a passenger car would also reflect the radiation. A lower region of the outer covering 13 that corresponds to a free space beneath the simulated passenger car is configured as an absorption region 15 shown striped to absorb radiation in order, on the one hand, to be sensed as a free space by sensors and, on the other hand, to shield the interior of the soft collision target 11, in particular a dummy carrier (not recognizable) that moves and carries the soft collision target 11, from a sensing by respective sensors.

[0059] The soft collision target 11 can move or can be moved over an underfloor in accordance with a predefined or predefinable trajectory by means of a dummy carrier that comprises a drive unit. To be able to be driven over by a vehicle colliding with the soft collision target 11 without damaging the vehicle or the dummy carrier, the dummy carrier is flat and is correspondingly robust. To be carried by the dummy carrier, the soft collision target 11 can be placed onto an upper side of the dummy carrier and can be fastened, in particular releasably fastened, thereto. The dummy carrier is in this respect in particular configured to move the soft collision target 11 in a manner corresponding to the travel of a real vehicle, for example with respect to speed and dynamics.

[0060] For an even more realistic simulation of a real vehicle, the soft collision target 11 has the illumination device 17 that is configured as an arrangement of individual illumination devices 19. Each of the illumination devices 19 comprises an illuminant 21 as well as a covering structure 23 that surrounds the illuminant 21.

[0061] The illuminant 21 in the example shown is represented by LED strips 25 that are of strip shape and that each comprise a plurality of LEDs 27 arranged distributed over the longitudinal extent of an LED strip 25 (cf. FIG. 2). The LED strips 25 are connected to one another via corresponding lines such that the LEDs 27 of a respective illumination device 19 can be controlled together. In the example shown, the connection of the LED strips 25 takes place in a serial manner, but can also take place at least in part in parallel. In general, a respective illumination device 19 can have even further illuminants 21, optionally of a different kind.

[0062] The covering structure 23 surrounding the illuminant 21 is configured to absorb the forces acting on the respective illumination device 19 on a collision and to conduct them at least partly past the illuminant 21. For this purpose, the LED strips 25 are molded into the covering structure 23 that comprises silicone as the material such that a respective illumination device 19 has a rectangular, sheet-like shape of small thickness of approximately 1 cm within which the LED strips 25 are arranged in parallel with and equidistant from one another.

[0063] The covering structure 23 is at least substantially transparent at at least one side facing away from the outer cover 13 of the soft collision target 11 such that light generated by the LEDs 27 of the LED strips 25 can pass through the covering structure 23 and can be perceived from the outside. In this respect, the covering structure 23 is configured in the manner of a diffusion film to disperse the light passing through such that a single illumination device 19 appears at least substantially as an areal light source. The individual LEDs 27 can in this respect, however, generally still be recognizable. In addition, the covering structure 23 has a respective color such that the initially white light generated by the LEDs has this color after passing through a transparent region of the covering structure 23.

[0064] The illumination devices 19 are fastened to the outer covering 13 of the soft collision target 11 by adhesive bonding, by means of a hook and loop connection or by a magnetic coupling at points that are typical for elements of an outer vehicle illumination. In this respect, the illumination devices 19 can be arranged as at least substantially flat. The illumination devices 19 are, however, in turn likewise flexible due to the flexibility of the LED strips 25 and of the silicone covering structure 23 such that they can also be attached in uneven regions of the outer covering 13 since they can adapt to the unevenness of the outer covering 13. An example for this is represented by the illumination devices 19.1 that are attached to corners of the outer covering 13 and that are fastened to the outer covering 13 kinked or bent at an angle of approximately 90°.

[0065] The power supply and the control of the illumination devices 19 respectively takes place via a connector apparatus 29 that is only shown purely schematically in FIG. 2 and that is configured for a magnetic coupling with a complementary connector apparatus. For this purpose, the connector apparatus 29 is configured in the form of a magnetic plug and comprises a magnet 31 that serves, in cooperation with a corresponding magnet of the complementary connector apparatus, to hold the connector apparatus 29 and the complementary connector apparatus to one another such that an electrical connection of the two connector apparatus hereby also takes place. At the same time, the magnetic coupling is easily removable on a non-specific force effect that can in particular also include torques without the connector apparatus being damaged is so doing.

[0066] For the control and for the power supply of the total illumination device 17—that is formed as an arrangement of individual illumination devices 19—the apparatus 1 furthermore comprises a control device that is arranged beneath the soft collision target in the dummy carrier and is therefore not recognizable in the Figures. The control device is in this respect connected to the illumination devices 19 via the respective connector apparatus 29. It is generally also conceivable that the individual illumination devices 19 are first connected to one another and that the arrangement 17 of the individual illumination devices 19 has a connector apparatus 29 that is common to all the individual illumination devices 19 and is configured to form a magnetic coupling. In this case, the control device can then be connected via this common connector apparatus 29 to the illumination device 17 and thus ultimately also to the individual illumination devices 19.

[0067] In the case of a collision of a vehicle with the soft collision target 11, the soft collision target 11 can be deformed, in particular crumpled or compressed in another manner. In addition the collision can have the result that the soft collision target is hurled away and in so doing is in particular released from the dummy carrier that carries it and that can be driven over by the vehicle. The fact that the illumination device 17 or the individual illumination devices 19 is/are not damaged as a rule in this process is in particular due to the facts that the covering structure 23 protects the individual illuminants 21, that the individual illumination devices 19 are flexible and are thus in turn configured as deformable, and that the connection of the illumination devices 19 to the control device in the dummy carrier is releasable without damage due to the magnetic coupling in a similarly simple manner as the fastening of the soft collision target 11 to the dummy carrier. The soft collision target 11 can thus again be fastened to the dummy carrier after a collision and the illumination device 17 can again be connected to the control device via the magnetic coupling such that a further collision test can subsequently be carried out.

[0068] During the travel of the soft collision target 11, the illumination device 17 is controlled by the control device to transmit illumination characteristics that signal a respective driving condition of the soft collision target 11 or of the dummy carrier traveling it. To this extent, the transmitted optical signals correspond to a travel path of the soft collision target 11. In this respect, turn indicators are simulated by yellow illuminated illumination devices 19.1 in corners of the soft collision target 11 as well as by equally yellow illuminated lateral illumination device 19.4, while brake devices are simulated by three red illumination devices 19.2 at the rear tail lights are simulated by two further red illumination devices 19.3 at the rear.

[0069] Illumination characteristics of real vehicles can thus be simulated particularly realistically by such an arrangement 17 of illumination devices 19. In this respect, complex illumination characteristics, e.g. in the manner of a so-called adaptive brake light, can in particular be simulated that can serve, for instance for a warning of following traffic in the event of heavy breaking, optionally up to the standstill of the vehicle, for example by a brighter lighting up of the brake lights 19.2, additional flashing of the brake lights 19.2, additional or additionally brighter lighting up of the tail lights 19.3 and/or additional or subsequent flashing at both sides of the turn indicators 19.1, 19.4.

[0070] The provision of one or more illumination devices surviving a collision without damage at a soft collision target can in particular thus contribute to a more realistic simulation of situations typical of an accident within the framework of non-destructive collision tests.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0071] 1 apparatus for carrying out collision tests [0072] 11 soft collision target [0073] 13 outer covering [0074] 15 absorption region [0075] 17 arrangement of illumination devices [0076] 19 illumination device [0077] 21 illuminant [0078] 23 covering structure [0079] 25 LED strip [0080] 27 LED [0081] 29 connector apparatus [0082] 31 magnet