Integrated Self sufficient Structurally Integrated Multifunctional Sensors for Autonomous Vehicles

The Department of Energy DOE Vehicles Group has identified a need for novel multifunctional composite materials and structures for the automotive industry that have the capability to reduce weight and volume as well as costs of “conventional” structural components by performing engineering functions beyond load carrying. Acellent is developing an integrated AUTOSMART sensor system for the automotive industry. The focus will be on the development of 2 multifunctionalities: Pedestrian Protection System PPSdevelopment of a complete lowcost PPS that is fast to install during automobile manufacturing and satisfies both the time and accuracy requirements for a proposed sensory system for pedestrian protection; Battery monitoring system BMSto optimize battery performance and lifespan, a battery monitoring system BMS will be developed to determine State of Health SOH, State of Charge SOC and End of Life estimation. Phase I focused on identification of two primary multifunctionalities for vehicles – PPS and BMS and the requirements for the systems were developed. Acellent designed the sensor layout for car bumpers and identified potential low cost materials for use in the system. Sensors were manufactured and tested and a prototype PPS demonstrated in the laboratory for use in identification of nonpedestrian vs pedestrian impacts. Acellent also worked with Stanford University to manufacture and test laboratory based batteries and State of Health SOH and State of Charge SOC of the batteries for automotive applications. A test bed for use in battery monitoring was manufactured for continued testing in Phase II. Phase II will partner with Ford Motor Company and Stanford University to address the following 1 Design, development and testing of a complete prototype of the PPS through impact tests on cars, 2 Design, development and testing a complete prototype of the BMS for typical batteries and structurally integrated batteries, 3 Design of the architecture of a unified multifunctional AUTOSMART sensing system for cars and 4 Development of commercialization plans with Ford and other automotive companies. The multifunctional sensing system concepts that were developed and demonstrated through this program will provide immense benefits to the autonomous and electric vehicle industry including; 1 Conceptual leap in creation of selfsufficient autonomous vehicles, 2 Increased safety through realtime detection of impacts, 3 Rapid pedestrian crash sensing protection, 4 Novel battery monitoring systems for EV cars, 5 New advanced sensing that can save billions of dollars in lifecycle costs by reducing the cost of vehicle inspection and maintenance. Potential applications include electric and autonomous vehicles, unmanned aircraft, submarines etc.