Latest Technologies From Delphi Can Significantly Improve Road Safety

New technologies such as Lane Departure Warning, Active Front Steering and Active Rear Steering can help avoid accidents

PARIS, Sept. 23 -- "Consumers are demanding more safety and security from their vehicles, and we're creating some of the most innovating and exciting solutions," said Volker Barth, President of Delphi Europe, Middle-East & Africa. A leader in safety technologies, Delphi, which has many years experience developing advanced safety technologies and helping vehicle manufacturers introduce them to the market, is offering systems that help drivers avoid accidents as well as help minimize the effect of collisions. Some of the latest systems that help improve safety include:

'ACTIVE SAFETY' DEVICES - SAFETY SYSTEMS THAT HELP AVOID ACCIDENTS

Delphi's family of Advanced Vehicle Dynamics technologies in steering, braking and suspension deliver enhanced daily driving pleasure, comfort and safety. They are designed to work independently or integrated together using Delphi's Unified Chassis Control strategy for superior performance in areas such as rollover prevention, stopping distance, driver workload, and handling responsiveness. Unified Chassis Control makes these technologies self sufficient, but integrable with common, modular algorithms and open architecture and interface standards. Delphi's MagneRide suspension system, Active Stabilizer Bar System, Electronic Stability Control 2.0, and Active front or rear steering systems are leading examples of Advanced Vehicle Dynamics technologies. Delphi is the world's only tier I supplier with in- depth production experience in all three of these vital areas of advanced vehicle dynamics.

MAGNERIDE(TM) SEMI-ACTIVE SUSPENSION improves vehicle comfort, safety, ride dynamics and control.

MagneRide is the industry's first high-performance, semi-active suspension technology that has no electro-mechanical valves and no small moving parts. The MagneRide magneto-rheological (MR) fluid-based semi-active suspension system consists of MR fluid-based monotube struts and/or monotube shock absorbers, a sensor set, and on-board controller. MagneRide helps provide increased handling performance, safety, comfort, and reliability. First introduced on the 2002 Cadillac Seville STS, MagneRide is also on the Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac Seville, XLR and SRX and brings these benefits to performance and luxury vehicles alike. Several European car manufacturers are today looking at introducing this revolutionary technology on their vehicles.

VISION-BASED LANE DEPARTURE WARNING

Delphi's vision-based Lane Departure Warning technology will warn the driver should the vehicle start to drift out of lane, helping to greatly reduce one of the largest causes of vehicle collisions. The system can be used as a stand-alone safety aid or integrated with other safety systems as part of Delphi's Integrated Safety Systems strategy. The new system uses a digital camera, typically mounted in the rear view mirror housing, to look up to 25 meters ahead of the vehicle. This data is supplemented by vehicle speed data and yaw data (so the computer knows if the vehicle is turning) collected from other systems via the vehicle's high-speed databus.

A number of warning strategies could be implemented depending on vehicle manufacturer preference. These include a warning projected onto the windscreen, an audible alarm, a small vibration in the steering wheel or any combination of these and other solutions. In the more distant future, where vehicles are fitted with active steering, the system may even help adjust the line of the car to maintain a safe course.

SAFETY WARNING SYSTEMS

Delphi also offers a number of different collision warning technologies to help avoid accidents caused by blind spots to the rear or either side of the vehicle. Delphi has developed an innovative family of sensing systems that include adaptive cruise control, Forewarn Side Alert and Forewarn Back-up Aid and Forewarn lane departure warning. Delphi was first to market with adaptive cruise control in 1999 on the 2000 Jaguar XKE, which has a radar-based system that allows drivers to maintain a pre-selected gap from the vehicle ahead. Delphi is also developing a vision-based lane departure warning system that uses cameras to help alert drivers when they are drifting out of the intended lane. Delphi has also developed workload management systems, Drowsy Driver Alert and Driver Gaze Alert that assess eye closure rate and the gaze of the driver and appropriately apply stimuli to alert the driver to the situation.

'PASSIVE SAFETY' DEVICES - SAFETY SYSTEMS THAT HELP MINIMIZE INJURIES WHEN ACCIDENTS OCCUR

Delphi is a leading global safety system supplier and has been engineering products that help mitigate injuries since 1966. Delphi's suite of passive safety products include driver, passenger, side, curtain, and knee airbags as well as seatbelt systems and steering wheels.

Delphi's Situationally Tailored Adaptive Restraint passenger airbag is a breakthrough safety technology that improves protection for occupants of all sizes and different crash severities. The adaptive system controls the size of the airbag by evaluating occupant size, the occupant's sitting position, seatbelt usage, crash severity, and crash direction. Delphi will be in serial production with this new technology with a major OEM by model year 2006. Delphi's curtain airbags provide head and neck protection during side impact collisions and rollovers. These airbags are designed to deploy from the vehicle roof rail or door. They deliver an extended inflation pressure to provide protection in the event of a multiple impact situation.

Delphi's eminent history in seatbelts allows it to offer advanced technologies that OEMs need to meet vehicle program goals while providing performance and reliability. Delphi was the first to invent a steering wheel with an integrated airbag. Delphi's steering wheel portfolio consists of a wide range of innovative technologies such as low mass, die cast magnesium insert designs to leather wrapped or natural wood steering wheels. These systems help satisfy the demands of consumers, government legislation, and OEMs.

OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEMS

Delphi supplies an Occupant Detection System that helps a passenger control airbag deployment to several car manufacturers including Jaguar, Ford, and General Motors. The system uses a silicone bladder mounted under the seat cushion and connected to a pressure sensor to determine if the passenger seat is occupied. The system's control unit uses the sensor data to allow or suppress airbag deployment. Designed to help reduce the potential for airbag- induced injuries, the system also helps reduce the cost of vehicle repairs associated with unnecessary airbag deployment. Delphi's Vision-based Interior Protection System helps take occupant detection into the next generation by adding the ability to sense position as well as providing a more accurate passenger size classification. Fully-featured vision-based occupant sensing is expected to enter production around 2008. In future implementations, the system could be integrated with telematics systems to help provide occupant data for medical staff following a severe collision, potentially even sending images direct to the hospital. It may also detect movements of a person or animal trapped in a vehicle and enable the application of appropriate countermeasures, such as contacting a service center to roll down a window or unlock the doors. It could also be integrated with vehicle security systems, providing superior cabin sensing and eliminating the cost of other detection systems.

ACTIVE ENERGY ABSORBING STEERING COLUMN provides enhanced protection to the drivers. It acts as part of an integrated system which improves vehicle crashworthiness and helps better protect the driver during a collision. Steering columns are the primary driver-to-vehicle interface during a collision and are critical to occupant safety. The new column from Delphi helps to improve crashworthiness by adjusting its energy absorption level based on a variety of factors, depending on the requirements of the vehicle manufacturer. Delphi's introductory active energy absorbing mechanism utilizes a pyrotechnic actuator to optimize the energy absorbed at the time of a collision, based on a number of vehicle inputs, such as occupant mass, seat belt usage, speed and crash severity. For example, a high level setting would be used for a large, unbelted driver in a severe collision to help absorb the heavier force, and a low level setting would be used for a small, belted driver in a light collision. This technology is planned for production in 2005. Delphi was the first to introduce energy absorbing steering columns into the market in 1967 and is still leading the industry today.

BATTERY DISCONNECT SYSTEM introduces additional safety functions

Delphi has developed a new line of safety products called Battery Disconnect Devices (BDD). These BDD's help provide post-collision circuit protection for electrical cables connecting to the battery. The base-level BDD is a low-cost, battery cable circuit protection device offering a solution to this issue during a significant collision. The device is actuated by a signal from the air bag controller or other crash sensors. However, unlike competing products, Delphi's base-level BDD enables the vehicle to remain operational, including the ability to restart without manual intervention, if the collision does not cause a battery cable circuit fault. This is a distinguishing safety feature, allowing drivers to still move their vehicle avoiding the risk of secondary collisions. Replacement of the BDD unit is necessary following actuation to provide proper operation in future conditions. Delphi also offers an up-level version of the BDD, with more sophisticated functions and additional features from which customers can choose.

BACKGROUND TO INTEGRATED SAFETY SYSTEMS

There have traditionally been two aspects to safety: helping to avoid accidents / minimize energy on impact (known as active safety) and helping to protect vehicle occupants when a collision occurs (passive safety). Within each of these areas the trend is to develop better, faster-reacting, more discriminatory systems that tailor their response to the situation, the conditions and the occupants.

Delphi's Integrated Safety System (ISS) vision takes this philosophy to the next stage by developing the synergies between active and passive safety to provide a level of benefit that is substantially more than the sum of its components. ISS considers the total driving experience in helping to provide protection to prevent or mitigate accidents. The Delphi Forewarn(TM) collision warning family of products consist of sophisticated detection sensors that provide a 360-degree cocoon around the vehicle to evaluate detected objects and assess the road conditions. If a high-probability crash event is identified it will warn the driver to take an evasive maneuver. Also, a variety of in-vehicle sensors are used to assess how alert the driver is through measurement of his breathing, eye dilation, heart or blink rate and gaze direction, and appropriately tailor the warning alert to deal safely with the situation.

ISS coordinates the detection sensors with systems such as anti-lock braking, traction control and stability enhancement to provide appropriate optimization of vehicle dynamics to help the driver avoid a potential impact. In future implementations, with extensive drive-by-wire, the vehicle may even assist the driver by automatically braking or steering.

Unfortunately, not all accidents are avoidable. However, pre-crash sensing can make a tremendous difference. Detection and assessment systems can provide data on the type of accident expected, allowing the relevant occupant protection systems to be appropriately configured and activated at the optimum time. Delphi offers one of the widest ranges of occupant protection systems, making it an ideal partner for the implementation of a vehicle-wide safety strategy. After the collision, Delphi's sophisticated in- car communications technologies can be used to alert emergency services, providing location data from the navigation system and even guidance on the type of incident and the types of injuries that may have occurred.

SECURITY PRODUCTS

Delphi also has a wide portfolio of security products that include immobilizers and remote keyless actuation that offers various security and comfort functions. Among the vehicle features that can be controlled from a distance are central door locking and unlocking, panic alarm, anti-theft systems, courtesy lights, electric windows, sliding roof and seat and mirror adjustment. In addition, Delphi offers keyless systems that utilize a fingerprint sensor to identify the owner of a vehicle without a key or key fob. Fingerprint identification cannot be lost, stolen or copied. The system stays constant through the life of the user and cannot be used without the knowledge of the user. Delphi also provides its PassKey systems that read rolling codes of resistance to identify the right key for the right vehicle. The systems can electronically immobilize the vehicle by shutting off the fuel flow through the Delphi engine controller if the wrong key is used to start the vehicle.