Ford Motor Company engineers go to extremes to test the placement, reliability and sensitivity of state-of-the-art air bag sensors used on the new Taurus and F-150. These tests ensure the pressure-based sensors accurately measure the severity of a side impact to determine whether or not the air bag needs to be deployed.
Original Title
Safety Testing: A “Blast” Studying Next-gen Stability Control
Ford Motor Company engineers go to extremes to test the placement, reliability and sensitivity of state-of-the-art air bag sensors used on the new Taurus and F-150. These tests ensure the pressure-based sensors accurately measure the severity of a side impact to determine whether or not the air bag needs to be deployed.
Ford Motor Company engineers go to extremes to test the placement, reliability and sensitivity of state-of-the-art air bag sensors used on the new Taurus and F-150. These tests ensure the pressure-based sensors accurately measure the severity of a side impact to determine whether or not the air bag needs to be deployed.
Safety Testing: A “Blast” Studying Next-gen Stability Control
By the Numbers
• The tank that supplies the water
cannon holds about nine gallons • The compressed air is charged to 130 psi Water cannon tests are used by Ford engineers to analyze how a moving vehicle • The recoil impulse of the water reacts to being struck from the side – without putting test vehicles and drivers at discharge takes less than one-half risk of damage or injury. Researchers say the new test could prove useful in the second development of next-generation stability control technology. • Reaction of the vehicle to the sudden recoil takes about five seconds Deploying the Water Cannon • Testing is done on both dry and wet Ford engineers mount an air- asphalt to check vehicle reactions on powered cannon – a tool commonly a variety of surfaces and conditions used in mining operations and • Water-cannon testing began at Ford pumpkin-throwing contests – in in December of 2008 the rear compartment of a test vehicle. In this highly coordinated maneuver, the cannon blasts water outward, causing a recoil impulse “It’s a very effective test that that forces the vehicle into a skid. demonstrates the ingenuity of Engineers use the test data in our engineering team to think computer simulations to help refine outside the box. We know of no the technology, which reduces risk other automaker doing anything to test drivers and reduces damage quite like it.” to test vehicles. – Jeff Rupp, manager, Ford Active Safety Systems Engineering
From Hollywood to the Test Track
4 Million and Growing When considering how to avoid constantly crashing cars to Ford already is a world leader in test them, Ford engineers first electronic stability control (ESC) considered replicating how technology, with more than 4 million Hollywood creates dramatic ESC-equipped vehicles currently on wrecks for films. That proved the road globally, impractical, so the Ford team took and plans to another approach that led to air equip all of cannons mounted in the vehicle. Ford, Lincoln The engineering and research and Mercury team then developed these water retail vehicles tests, which simulate car-to-car with ESC by the collisions without crashes. end of 2009.
5/2009 for more information, go to WWW.media.ford.com