Airbags are fitted to every new car nowadays and are ready to be deployed in most types of collisions. But there are certain scenarios where an airbag can't protect the occupants. The team at Hyundai Mobis, which is the parts arm of Hyundai automobiles, has tackled one of these scenarios by developing a world-first system designed to reduce injuries in a rollover using an airbag mounted in the panoramic sunroof.
The sunroof airbag is designed to prevent the passengers from spilling out in a rollover, and during crash tests conducted with dummies Hyundai found that it can also reduce serious head injuries.
To ensure that it can be deployed in whatever position the sunroof is set, the new airbag system is mounted in between the glass and sun shield. When the on board yaw sensor detects a rollover collision, the airbag covers the entire roof surface and deploys towards the rear of the vehicle in 0.08 seconds.
This is no mean feat, as the roof section of a car has very limited space to mount components, especially an airbag. Although roof-mounted airbags have been developed by safety companies like ZF and TRW, they've been more geared towards frontal impacts.
The system is expected to be available in early 2019 and it will most likely make its debut on models like the luxury Genesis and the new Kona crossover.
Source: Hyundai
