Autoblog

GM is building a better crash-test dummy

Jonathon Ramsey — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:01:00 EST

Anyone can be an ordinary dummy, whereas being a good crash-test dummy takes work. A few things you probably didn't know: the official name for a crash-test dummy is "anthropomorphic test device" (ATD), General Motors "has a long history" designing ATDs, and the process is so specialized that there's even a Rear Impact Dummy Task Group.

GM is working with five other OEMs on the dummies that help ensure humans stay as safe as possible in car crashes. The latest advance is the second generation of the Biofidelic Rear Impact Dummy, or BioRID II, designed by engineers at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. It has a backbone with 24 simulated vertebrae (the same number we have in our real vertebral columns) to recreate natural seating positions and back and neck movement in rear collisions. The challenge now is to make sure that the BioRID II can "deliver repeatable, reproducible test results" from which the next advances in safety can be engineered.

That's where GM comes in. One of its award-winning engineers produced a rear-impact sled just for the purpose. To find out more about the secret life of ATDs, you'll want to check out the video and press release below.

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GM is building a better crash-test dummy originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the scenes with Mr. Johansson, the Saab crash test dummy

Noah Joseph — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:01:00 EST

Filed under: Safety, Videos, Saab

Not born from jets: Mr. Johansson the Saab crash test dummy - Click above to watch the video after the jump

Being a crash test dummy is hard work. You get placed in a vehicle that's smashed into walls, T-boned by battering rams, jolted around and flipped upside down. All in the name of safety, making our cars a more secure environment to transport ourselves, our friends and our families.

And it's largely thankless work, too, apart from an '80s cartoon show and a Canadian pop band. But now it's time for a brief curtain call for the punching bags of the auto industry, as Saab takes us behind the scenes with Mr. Johansson, one of its highly complex anthropomorphic sensors. Follow the jump to watch the footage, complete with subtitles for those of us who don't speak the language of assemble-it-yourself furniture and pickled fishes.

Continue reading Behind the scenes with Mr. Johansson, the Saab crash test dummy

Behind the scenes with Mr. Johansson, the Saab crash test dummy originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How government safety standards for car seats fail large children

Dan Roth — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

Every parent does his or her best to keep their children safe. Car seats are a big part of that equation, and snapping our little cherubs into a five-point harness makes us feel like we've done our very best to care for our precious offspring. But are we really?

If you assume there's strict federal federal standards for child safety and booster seats to conform to, you might be surprised at just how little oversight there actually is. In fact, kids weighing more than 65 pounds - which means younger and younger kids as childhood obesity rates ratchet up - sit on boosters with no government safety standards. Seats for younger young'uns are only held to a front-end collision standard. The physics of a car crash act in different ways on the bodies of children than they do on their full-grown counterparts - kids are not simply scaled-down adults.

According to The Washington Post, part of the problem is that a crash-test dummy that mimics a child's physiology is far behind schedule. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was supposed to have a dummy ready by 2004 to simulate a 10-year-old, as part of Anton's Law, a bit of legislation that went into effect in 2002. That dummy is still not right, and that leaves child seat manufacturers to self-regulate their products and to recall reactively when problems crop up, instead of conforming to guidelines that protect all children in front, side, rear-end and rollover accidents.

[Source: The Washington Post | Image: U.S. Department of Transportation via CC 2.0]

How government safety standards for car seats fail large children originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How Ford made vehicles safer with a cadaver's help

Zach Bowman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:01:00 EST

Filed under: Safety, Technology, Ford

Ford's inflatable seatbelt - Click above for high-res image gallery

While we're all accustomed to seeing crash test vehicles packed with loveable dummies, the truth is that manufacturers can't always rely on high-tech mannequins to get the information they need. Sometimes, they have to resort to other testing procedures to research how new safety tech will impact the human body. And, as Jalopnik points out, those other procedures involve genuine human cadavers.

Now, don't start thinking that your favorite manufacturer has a covert team of grave robbers on the pay roll. According to the Jalop, automakers typically partner with universities that have the facilities for that kind of work. In every case, the family members of the deceased are informed of what kind of research their loved ones' body is being used for, and the cadaver is disposed of respectfully and properly after the trials.

So why use a body when we have all of these fancy computer models at our disposal? Because unfortunately, neither dummies nor our modeling systems have caught up with the complexities of the human body. Most recently, Ford used the deceased to test the impacts of its inflatable seatbelts on internal organs. Head over to Jalopnik to read the full piece.

Gallery: Ford's Inflatable Seat Belts

[Source: Jalopnik]

How Ford made vehicles safer with a cadaver's help originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM crash test dummy donated to Smithsonian after 15 years of whiplash

Zach Bowman — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:01:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Government/Legal, Safety, Technology, GM

GM's H50-1 ATD in action - Click above for high-res image gallery

General Motors has made an unusual donation to the Smithsonian: a crash test dummy. Well, not just any crash test dummy. The company handed over its H50-1 anthromorphic testing device, or ATD, to the museum to help catalog the advancement of vehicle safety in this country. After a full 15 years of service, H50-1 was ready for retirement, and rather than spend his days playing shuffleboard, The General decided to allow him to continue educating by going on display at the National Museum for American History.

GM also donated a slew of other "safety artifacts" along with its ATD. According to the Smithsonian, GM's dummy design helped to set the industry standard for crash safety research. While H50-1 was constructed as a stand-in for the typical male, the company says that it has over 200 ATD designs to represent every sort of vehicle occupant under the sun. We'd like to see that family portrait. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Gallery: GM Donates H50-1 Crash Test Dummy to Smithsonian

[Source: General Motors]

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GM crash test dummy donated to Smithsonian after 15 years of whiplash originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New York '08 Preview: Ford featuring crash-tested Taurus

John Neff — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:35:00 EST

Filed under: New York Auto Show, Sedan, Safety, Ford

Click above to view high-res gallery of crash-tested Ford Taurus

Ford has been very quiet about what it will have onstage at the New York Auto Show tomorrow, but one vehicle we do know that will be under the lights is the Ford Taurus. While there will certainly be a number of Taurus models waxed, polished and placed just so in Ford's display at the Jacob Javits Center, one in particular will be a mess. Ford will display a crash-tested Taurus in New York to show off the big car's five-star rating for frontal and side crash tests from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Unlike the mangled Celica that used to sit outside your highschool at prom time, the crash-tested Taurus on display in New York will be interactive. Show goers will be allowed to sit in the post-crash Taurus to see what a crash test dummy sees after a 35-mph meet up with an offset concrete barrier. Looking at the pic above, it is pretty impressive that the passenger compartment remains untouched after such an event. We're looking forward to our seat time with this one, though any trip to the Autoblog Garage might necessitate a tow truck.

Gallery: Ford Taurus Crash Test Car

[Source: Ford]

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New York '08 Preview: Ford featuring crash-tested Taurus originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automakers, suppliers team to seek virtual crash testing

Chris Tutor — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 08:37:00 EST

Filed under: Safety

Nine major automakers and two automotive suppliers have formed a group to look into and develop virtual crash tests that they say will be more realistic than violently smashing cars into immovable barriers.

DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Peugeot-Citroen, Renault and Toyota joined suppliers TRW and Takata last year to form the Global Human Body Models Consortium LLC. The group is expected to announce its plans today at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit.

And just what are their plans? They have recruited 40 research and university groups worldwide to develop "virtual humans" that will simulate crash test dummies which, they say, will provide better accident prediction data. The group hopes to have the project wrapped up in 2011. The companies will split the budgeted $18 million cost, but are looking to Uncle Sam and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. for a funding boost.

GM spokesman Alan Adler told the Associated Press that the data acquired from simulated tests would still be confirmed using good old crash testing.

Ford has a leg up on the group, having already developed a virtual adult male it uses to develop interiors and some safety devices. TRW also does some simulated tests on their restraint systems, pictured above.

[Source: The Associated Press via Journal and Courier Online]

Automakers, suppliers team to seek virtual crash testing originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 15 Apr 2007 08:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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