Determination of Crash Severity Using a Ball-In-Tube and Accelerometer Sensing System (BASS)

This paper presents a new system for crash severity detection. The proposed system design recommends the use of a mechanical Ball-In-Tube (BIT) style sensor(s) in the front of a vehicle, and an accelerometer based system in the passenger compartment. An advanced algorithm accomplishes data fusion between the sensors. Results to date have been extremely favorable.