THOR ADT Sensors and Crash Dummy Biofidelity Performance
Each year, automobiles get a little bit safer. By leveraging dynamic data, engineers and product designers are able to reduce mortality rates caused by accidents, steadily improving the interiors of cars and their performance in crashes. THOR biofidelity testing adds crucial data points to the existing library of information, helping engineers save lives even more effectively.
A Long Road to Reliable Crash Test Data
We’ve come a long way since the 1990s when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched its first research and development project to test crash dummy performance. At that time, automobile crashes resulted in 41,534 deaths per year, on average.
“Although the U.S. population has been growing steadily since 1975,” says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), “crash deaths per 100,000 people in 2019 is about half of what it was four decades ago.”
Today, the number of auto accident-related deaths continues to decline. In 2019, the number of people who died in motor vehicle accidents dipped under 37,000. That’s 2 percent less than 2018 … a pretty staggering drop. Part of this is due to impact measurement devices – such as THOR ATD sensors – which inform modern automotive design and its many innovative safety features.
Crash Test Sensors: Vital for Vehicle Passenger Safety
Crash test sensors, also known as ATDs or crash test dummy sensor devices, are designed to mimic the physical attributes of the human body. During testing, hundreds of individual sensors positioned throughout the dummy gather a wide variety of data in real-time. This data may reflect any of the following:
- Impact velocity
- Acceleration and deceleration rates
- Passenger position by body part (head, neck, back, etc.)
- Applied force across multiple body parts
- Chest compression
- Joint and bone load
… and various other metrics.
Data reflecting what happens to the head is especially important. Research shows that one out of six people will suffer a life-threatening brain injury during an auto accident. Technology such as THOR’s ADT sensors help researchers understand specific risks, enabling engineers to develop appropriate protective mechanisms for employment during high-impact collisions.
Granular Data Results in Greater Levels of Safety
The unfortunate truth is that car accidents are so varied in their nature, it is hard to protect occupants – who also vary widely – against injury. For instance, did you know that women are twice as likely to get whiplash in an automobile accident? Similarly, taller people are at higher risk during an accident than those who are shorter.
Fortunately, XSENSOR’s high resolution impact sensors can give engineers the specific data they need to adjust seat design, thereby improving driver positioning and protection. Data points gathered from THOR’s ADT sensors can also lead to better exterior component design, which reduces morbidity from side-impact collisions. These cause thousands of deaths annually, so even a modest reduction in percentage is equivalent to a lot of lives saved
THOR sensors provide another key tool to help engineers and manufacturers save lives and reduce motor vehicle accident mortality rates. But what happens when the use of these sensors goes wrong – or when the failure to use this technology results in costly recalls?
The manufacturer’s bottom line takes the fall, of course.
High-Resolution Impact Sensors Protect the Bottom Line
According to research data reported by Recall Masters, there were 28 recalls related to human occupant restraints (seatbelts, car seats and seat adjustments) in 2021 alone. More than 393,000 cars were included in these recalls.
This statistic highlights the necessity for using a test device for human occupant restraint performance, which is critical when evaluating automotive design, including accessories. But those sensors must demonstrate laser-like precision, and they have to be user-friendly.
THOR’s sensors check both boxes. They check a lot of boxes, in fact. For example:
- The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) sponsored a study to determine potential risks for rail passengers and found that the THOR-50M (50th percentile male) high-impact sensors were appropriate as a tool to inform railroad passenger safety protocol, interior design features and workstation table placement and positioning.
- In late 2020, the NHTSA published the overall BioRank score of the THOR 5th Percentile Anthropomorphic Test Device. The vehicle impact measurement device achieved an effective overall biofidelity rating of “good” (which is more exciting than it sounds).
- XSENSOR used on a THOR ATD uses more than 200 sensors throughout the crash dummy as data collection points, based on NHTSA and Euro NCAP standards.
XSENSOR and THOR ATD
The bottom line? THOR’s crash dummy testing technology informs vehicle design in a way that less-sophisticated testing systems simply cannot. XSENSOR offers software and vehicle impact measurement devices with a previously unattainable resolution to inform design decisions and manufacturing processes. Our products also feature user-friendly interfaces that make data collection and application efficiency. We can help you capture pressure range and sensing area data such as:
- Head Restraints (back-of-seat location)
- Back-of-seat (non-head restraint components)
- Head Restraint Only
- Small Surfaces
- Seat Bottom
Together, these additional data points offer an accurate, comprehensive picture of the impact interfaces of vehicle crashes on an ATD.
XSENSOR understands the financial impact a recall may have on a business. Along with providing in-depth insights into safety performance, we support clients with real-time, high-quality data that validates user safety and product durability. Ready to maximise performance with accurate, reliable precision?
