Side Impact Sensor

Side Impact Sensor







The side impact sensors in the car are used to measure and evaluate the collision pulses, a decision is then transmitted to the supplemental restraint system module (SRS).

The sensors which are used in the car are:
- Two side impact sensors in the B-posts.
- Two side impact sensors in the C-posts.

The side impact sensors have integrated logic which, in the event of a collision, determines if there was a large enough impact to warrant transmitting a trigger pulse to the control module to deploy the side impact airbag. Only the side impact protection on the side from which the signal was sent can be deployed.

The side impact sensors transmit continuous OK signals to the control module to indicate that they function. In the event of a fault in the side impact sensors a fault signal is transmitted to the control module which stores a diagnostic trouble code (DTC). A diagnostic trouble code (DTC) is also stored when the control module has not received an OK signal. Each side impact sensor has a software ID. The ID is used to check that the correct side impact sensor is installed. This is because the activation level, on the signal which is transmitted to the control module, need not be the same for the different side impact sensors.

The front (B-post) and rear (C-post) side impact sensors have different colors and coding on their connectors to simplify installation. The front side impact sensors cannot be installed in the position for the rear side impact sensors and vice versa. Data transmission occurs on the same cable used for power supply, i.e. one cable to each side impact sensor.