Patent ID: 7320478

Claim:
A smart airbag for being deployed and monitored by a restraint control module onboard a vehicle, said smart airbag comprising: an inflatable bag having a monitorable deployment characteristic; a triggerable inflator for deploying said bag; a trigger device adapted for being coupled to said restraint control module and said inflator, said trigger device having a predetermined circuit characteristic associated therewith; a trigger substitute adapted for being coupled to said restraint control module, said trigger substitute having a predetermined circuit characteristic associated therewith that is detectably different than said predetermined circuit characteristic associated with said trigger device; an airbag-state sensor for sensing said deployment characteristic of said bag and generating an airbag-state signal in response thereto; and an airbag-state monitor coupled to said airbag-state sensor and adapted for selectively coupling a trigger to said restraint control module according to said airbag-state signal, said trigger being selected from the group consisting of said trigger device and said trigger substitute; whereby said restraint control module is able to initiate deployment of said bag and also monitor said deployment of said bag by detecting said predetermined circuit characteristic of said trigger as selectively coupled to said restraint control module by said airbag-state monitor.