METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING DEFORMATION OF A VEHICLE SIDE PART

摘要

The present invention allows accurate determination as to if deformation of a vehicle side part has occurred or not as a result of a side impact even th ough the used data consists of outputs of acceleration sensors for detecting accelera tions given as combinations of deformation of a vehicle side part and a travel of the vehicle body. The device comprises a unit for detecting an acceleration prod uced in a first part of the vehicle body which moves in response to a deformation of thevehicle side part resulting from a side impact; a un it for detecting an acceleration produced in a second part of the vehicle body which substantially does not m ove in response to a deformation of the vehicle side part resulting from a side imp act; a unit for analyzing frequency components included in a time change of the detected acceleration of the first vehicle body part over a prescribed preceding time period; a unit for analyzing frequency components included in a time change of the det ected acceleration of the second vehicle body part over a prescribed preceding tim e period; and a unit for determining deformation of a vehicle side part resulting from a side impact according to the frequency components obtained by the two analyzing u nits.