Patent ID: 6749218
Filing Date: 2004-06-15
Classification: B60N,B60R,B60W,G01S,G08G

Abstract:
A motor vehicle, comprising:an inflatable airbag deployable outside of the vehicle; an anticipatory sensor system for assessing the probable severity of an impact involving the vehicle based on data obtained prior to the impact and initiating inflation of said airbag in the event an impact above a threshold severity is assessed; and an inflator coupled to said anticipatory sensor system and said airbag for inflating said airbag when initiated by said anticipatory sensor system, said anticipatory sensor system comprising at least one receiver for receiving waves or energy and pattern recognition means for analyzing the received waves or energy or data representative of the received waves or energy to assess the probable severity of the impact, said pattern recognition means being arranged to ascertain the identity of an object from which the waves or energy have been emitted, reflected or generated, the assessment of the probable severity of the impact being at least partially based on the identification of the object, said pattern recognition means comprising a processor embodying a pattern recognition algorithm trained to provide an output of one of a number of pre-determined identities of the object.