Low-cost automobile crash-sensor using a 61 GHz active integrated SIMMWIC antenna

We present a novel low-cost crash sensor to detect automobile body sheet deformations. The sensor, based on the CW Doppler radar principle, determines the deformation and deformation rate of a radar reflector inside a car door. Founded on these parameters, decision criteria can be derived within a few milliseconds allowing prediction of the seriousness of deformation. With this information, side-impact protection can be increased significantly by effective combination of safety systems ("predictive crash analysis").