Patent ID: 7407191

Claim:
A vehicle body strength control apparatus comprising: a collision energy absorption member that is capable of absorbing collision energy that is input from the outside; a vehicle quantity of state sensor that detects a vehicle quantity of state in accordance with a state of a host vehicle; a collision detecting device that predicts a contact or a collision between an object and the host vehicle, or detects the contact or the collision between the object and the host vehicle, based on a vehicle quantity of state detected by the vehicle quantity of state sensor; a collision energy calculation device that calulates a collision energy that is input into the host vehicle at a time of the contact or of the collision between the object and the host vehicle, based on a vehicle quantity of state detected by the vehicle quantity of state sensor; and a strength altering device that alters the strength of the collision energy absorption member, based on a result of a prediction or a result of a detection by the collision detecting device, and on the collision energy calculated by the collision energy calculation device.