Patent ID: 8751113

Claim:
An apparatus for detecting a pedestrian/vehicle impact comprising: a plurality of space apart acceleration sensors mounted near a forward location of a vehicle, each sensor providing an associated acceleration sensor signal indicative of an impact event; a metric determining device for determining displacement metric values as a function of impact energy metric values, wherein the displacement metric values and impact energy metric values are determined from each of the acceleration sensor signals; a vehicle speed sensor for sensing vehicle speed and providing a vehicle speed signal indicative thereof; a controller for determining if a pedestrian impact has occurred by comparing the determined displacement metric values as a function of impact energy metric values for each of the acceleration sensor signals against selectable associated threshold values and for providing an actuation control signal in response thereto, said selectable associated threshold values being selected in response to the vehicle speed signal; and an actuatable impact mitigation device attached to the vehicle and being responsive to said actuation control signal.