New airbag control device from Bosch

Today's new cars are equipped with airbags as standard to protect occupants from injury during a collision.

Timing is decisive to achieve maximum protection. The airbag must be opened in the right millisecond. If it opens too late, occupants could be injured. If it opens too early, they are not protected adequately, since the airbag then no longer has its ideal form on impact.

Since May 2003, Bosch has been producing the latest generation of its airbag control devices - the AB9. The circuit board is only a few square centimeters large and processes information from a multiplicity of sensors in the car to adjust the activated protection measures precisely, depending on the analyzed situation. This ensures that the appropriate protective measures are taken at precisely the right moment. The airbag control device also instantly triggers additional measures like unlocking doors or switching off the fuel pump.

Several million control devices are produced every year for the Ford C-Max and Mazda 3. Now BMW, DaimlerChryser, Renault and Audi will also introduce the new system generation this year.

The new generation control systems are combined innovation packs:

• A new production technique - the double reflow soldering method - permits integration of many more components and corresponding functions. Up to 38 circuits for airbags, belt pretensioners and other controls and functions like battery detachment or an emergency call can now be integrated in the system.
• For the first time, the control device has demonstrated its reliability at extreme temperatures during a long-term “active on-board test.” The testing chamber was also developed by Bosch.

Many innovations and extreme reliability are packed into this small piece of technology that activates the life-saving airbag with extreme precision in an emergency.

Important airbag tips

Whether an airbag really does save lives in an emergence depends on the correct behavior of the car’s driver and passengers.

Fasten your seat belt
An airbag is certainly not a substitute for a seat belt. Even in a car with airbags, always fasten your seat belt before setting off. For instance: If a car first has a frontal collision and then impacts another obstacle, the frontal airbag will only open during the first collision and can no longer help during the second. In this case, head and/or side airbags offer additional protection. But your seat belt protects you all the time.

Sit correctly - even as a passenger
A distance of at least 30 cm is required to ensure ideal airbag protection. The driver's seat should not be placed too close to the steering wheel, while the backrest should not be angled too steeply. This is the only way to ensure that the driver is caught by the airbag when fully inflated and protected optimally in a crash.

Front-seat passengers should also move their seats as far back as possible and sit upright. Do not put your feet on the dashboard during the journey. Otherwise, the airbag can not unfold properly and will only push your legs back (which can cause injury).

Avoid smoking during your journey. An inflating airbag could push the cigarette into your face.

Do not decorate your dashboard with hard objects. The airbag lid bursts off very quickly and could turn them into dangerous projectiles.

Head and side airbags
Additional precautions should be taken if your vehicle is also equipped with head and/or side airbags in the doors or seat back. Do not lean your head or shoulder against the car door during your journey, since the airbag will not have enough space to inflate and will only push you away instead. Do not use seat covers that also cover the airbags, and do not hang any coat hangers or other hard objects on the clothes hooks.

Children in the car
Protect your children by using sleep supports or good children's seats that are fitted on the back seat and match the child’s size.

Backward-facing children's seats
Important: Never fit a backward-facing (“reboard”) children's seat to a seat with an airbag in front. Reboards are catapulted backwards by the inflating airbag along with the child, which can cause grave injury, if the child faces backwards. Only a few luxury cars automatically deactivate the airbag when a reboard is in use - and only if the device has a manufacturer permit and is equipped with an electronic mini- transmitter that sends an appropriate command to the airbag electronics.