Revised: 2006-03-12

MMF - - - Active Safety

Spring Term 2006

(5.0 credit units)

0790 – Department of Applied Mechanics (earlier Dept. of Machine and Vehicle Systems)

Examiner: Assoc. Prof. Mats Svensson

This course is an independent extension of the course “MMF210 Crash Safety”. The objective is to give the students an overview of road vehicle safety systems that help the driver to avoid collisions or uses pre-crash sensor information to limit the injury outcome in case of a collision. The focus will be on systems that use modern information technology and sensor technology to provide the driver with helpful information and alerts or direct assistance with, or intervention of, the vehicle control. The course applies a Problem Based Learning methodology.

COURSE CONTENTS

  • Sensor technologies
  • Information processing
  • System reliability
  • Vehicle to infrastructure information exchange
  • Vehicle to vehicle information exchange
  • Driver information display and alerts
  • Vehicle control assistance
  • Vehicle control intervention
  • The human perspective, human cognitive capacity and human behaviour
  • Driving simulators and other platforms in research
  • Pre-crash sensing and influence on advanced passive safety systems
  • Post accident alarm systems

Figure 1: Schematic view of the Active Safety course contents. The course covers the yellow Active safety field as well as technologies that use sensor information and data processing to enhance the safety of the stages covered by the pink Passive safety field

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After finalising the course:

  • The student will be able list the most important sensor principles under consideration for automotive safety applications and to explain their technological advantages and limitations.
  • The student will be able explain the special challenges that are encountered in information processing in vehicle safety system applications.
  • The student will be able to list the most common systems for vehicle control assistance and intervention and to explain their potential and possible limitations.
  • The student will be able to describe different system principles for information based interaction and communication with the vehicle surrounding.
  • The student will be able to describe the most important principles for driver information display and to explain the challenges in designing systems that are adapted to the human cognitive capacity and human behaviour and response.
  • The student will be able to list the most widely used tools for driver capacity research and to describe the potential and limitations of these tools.
  • The student will be able to explain the potential for improved crash safety and post collision emergency care with the use of new technologies.

LECTURES:

A set of key lectures will be given. The lecturers will cover different subject areas with connection to their daily work and research.

PROJECTS:

Groups of about six students will investigate a selected problem. Written and oral presentation is a requirement. The project reports will be distributed to all the course participants and will become part of the course content for the final examination.

EXAMINATION:

The final examination will be a written home examination.

LITERATURE

The students will have to search for literature and relevant information. Some sources of recommended reading will be provided. No course book is available since this is a new field under rapid development. The Project reports will be distributed to all participants as they become available.