The primary objective of the proposed work herein is to study the feasibility and to build a prototype of a Dynamic Intrusion Sensing (DIS) system using a novel concept of high speed and low cost three dimensional (3D) camera. Robotronics Inc. has invented the novel 3D camera concept that is perfectly suitable for the high speed vehicle impact evaluations. Our 3D camera system provides the high speed and full frame 3D imaging capabilities (1000 frames 3D images per second or faster) that no other currently available 3D image acquisition system or 3D rangefinder achieves at any cost. With the time- tagged "3D snap shots" at a high frame rate, ù e are able to closely monitor the behaviors of each individual components in the compartment as to exactly when and to what degree the intrusion occurs in 3D space and how and when they violate the occupant's survival space. The location and velocity of such violations at each time instance can be easily determined since the proposed 3D-DIS system not only provides 3D range images containing these components but also provides 2D intensity images with the same camera. There is no mechanical scanning or moving parts in our 3D camera, therefore the mechanical design can be very simple and reliable, and there is no "eyes safe" problem. The system can be built very rugged and portable to survive a severe crash environment, and can be easily installed on the testing vehicle. The prototype 3D-DIS system can be integrated using all off-the-shelf products which leads to a very low production cost and short development period. The damage parts due to the potential destructive test environment can be easily replaced by the off-the-shelf products at low cost.Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Results:The direct commercial potential of the proposed 3D-DIS technology is to build and to market a series of high quality 3D dynamic intrusion measurement devices for various vehicle impact test facilities as well as automakers in the U.S. and worldwide. The devices can be built to suit various types of crash modes like frontal, side, and rear impacts, rollovers and offset impact, etc. With the ever-increasing safety standards of auto vehicle fabrication, the market for such dynamic intrusion measurement devices is considerably large.
