The Effects of Collision-Related Power Loss on Toyota Safety Sense 2.5+ Event Data

Toyota vehicles equipped with Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) can record detailed information surrounding various driving events, including crashes. Often, this data is employed in accident reconstruction. TSS data is comprised of three main categories: Vehicle Control History (VCH), Freeze Frame Data (FFD), and images. Because the TSS data resides in multiple ECUs, the data recording is susceptible to catastrophic power loss. In this paper, the effects of a sudden power loss on the VCH, FFD, and images are studied. Events are triggered on a TSS 2.5+ equipped vehicle by driving toward a stationary target. After system activation, a total power loss is induced at various delays after activation. Results show that there is a minimum time required after system initiation in order to obtain full VCH, FFD, and image records. Power losses occurring within this time frame produce incomplete records. Data accuracy is unaffected, even in partial records.