Utilizing Vehicle Seat Adjustment Motor to Detect, Weigh and Classify the Seat Occupants

High-end vehicles with latest technology and autonomous driving experience have to bear the cost of increasing number of sensors on-board. It would be beneficial to reduce some of the sensors in the vehicle and make use of other available resources, retaining the same functionality. This paper discusses a novel technique of estimating the weight of seat occupant from an already existing DC motor without using additional pressure sensors. Passenger weight information is important for seat-belt reminder system as well as supplemental restraint system that will decide the air-bag deployment. The mathematical model for a series-type DC motor is analyzed and simulated using MATLAB. Further, results of the experiment performed on a lower capacity motor are shared and compared with the simulation results. Formulating a linear relation gives a possibility to develop a device for occupant weight measurement inside the high-end vehicles.