How do you incorporate passive and active safety features into vehicle development?

1 Conceptual stage

The conceptual stage of vehicle development involves defining the objectives, requirements, and constraints for the vehicle safety features, based on the target market, customer needs, regulations, and standards. At this stage, you need to identify the potential crash scenarios and hazards that the vehicle may encounter, such as frontal, side, rear, rollover, or pedestrian collisions, and the corresponding injury criteria and severity levels. You also need to consider the vehicle's architecture, layout, and dimensions, as well as the available technologies and materials for the safety features.

2 Design stage

The design stage of vehicle development involves creating and evaluating the detailed models and prototypes of the vehicle safety features, using various tools and methods, such as computer-aided design (CAD), finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and multi-body dynamics (MBD). At this stage, you need to optimize the geometry, structure, and material properties of the passive safety features, such as the body frame, crumple zones, bumpers, doors, pillars, roof, seat belts, airbags, and head restraints, to ensure they can absorb and distribute the impact energy and protect the occupants from intrusion and ejection. You also need to optimize the functionality, performance, and integration of the active safety features, such as the anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC), traction control system (TCS), adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane keeping assist (LKA), blind spot detection (BSD), and forward collision warning (FCW), to ensure they can detect and respond to the vehicle's dynamic conditions and external environment.

3 Testing stage

The testing stage of vehicle development involves verifying and validating the effectiveness and reliability of the vehicle safety features, using various instruments and techniques, such as sensors, cameras, dummies, sleds, barriers, and crash test facilities. At this stage, you need to conduct various tests and simulations to measure and analyze the impact forces, accelerations, deformations, displacements, velocities, and injury indices of the vehicle and its occupants under different crash scenarios and conditions. You also need to compare the test results with the design specifications and the regulatory and industry standards, such as the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

4 Validation stage

The validation stage of vehicle development involves evaluating and improving the customer satisfaction and acceptance of the vehicle safety features, using various methods and sources, such as surveys, feedback, ratings, reviews, and complaints. At this stage, you need to assess the usability, comfort, convenience, and affordability of the passive and active safety features, as well as their impact on the vehicle's fuel economy, emissions, and maintenance. You also need to identify and address any issues, defects, or failures that may arise from the vehicle safety features, such as false alarms, malfunctions, or recalls, and implement corrective and preventive actions.

By following these stages, you can incorporate passive and active safety features into vehicle development, and ensure that your vehicle meets the safety expectations and demands of the customers and the regulators. Vehicle safety is not only a technical challenge, but also a moral and social responsibility, as it can save lives and reduce injuries on the road.

5 Here’s what else to consider

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