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In
May 2000, Honda opened its indoor omni-directional Real World Crash
Test Facility, at the Tochigi R&D Center, Japan -- world's
first indoor all-weather, vehicle-to-vehicle crash test center.
The
facility makes car-to-car crash testing possible in all directions,
regardless of the weather. Honda also announced goals for the development
of new crash safety technology.
Honda is building on safety advances such as its G-Force Control
Technology, designed to reduce injuries and assure a safe survival space
for vehicle occupants in the event of an accident. The highly crashworthy
car bodies Honda has developed with this technology pass Honda's own
demanding testing, withstanding a fixed barrier full frontal collision at
55 km/h and a frontal offset collision at 64 km/h. The company is now
selling a wide range of cars built to this high standard of safety.
As a result of years of studying traffic accidents, Honda has progressed
to the analysis of issues that cannot be resolved simply with fixed
barrier tests, which are only capable of simulating car- to-car collisions
involving cars of the same weight. The company has therefore now
independently designed a complex variety of car-to-car crash tests that
emulate approximately 60% of fatal traffic accidents.
To attain a new standard in crash safety, Honda has established a new test
- a 50% frontal offset collision with a 2-ton car, with both cars
traveling at 50km/h as the initial target, and 55 km/h as the second step.
Honda plans to use the new indoor, omni-directional crash test facility to
conduct this and similarly demanding tests as an important new part of the
company's ongoing effort to produce vehicles that can withstand real-world
traffic accidents.
Developing technology that reduces injuries resulting from collisions is
only one aspect of traffic safety. Honda is also continuing its research
and development in active safety technology -- technology that helps
prevent accidents. An impressive case in point is HIDS (Honda Intelligent
Driver Support), a system that utilizes a host of "smart"
technologies to alleviate the driver's workload during high-speed freeway
driving. HIDS is implemented in the second iteration of Honda's ASV
(Advanced Safety Vehicle). In addition, Honda's multifaceted traffic
safety research program includes driver education, an important part of
the company's comprehensive effort to make driving safer. [Source:
Honda press release]
In October 2003,
Honda R&D Americas Inc has announced details of a new Automotive
Safety Research Facility featuring seven advanced safety testing
laboratories, including the world's most sophisticated high-resolution
crash barrier block and the world's first pitching crash test simulator.
The 7,200 square-metre
facility located on the campus of Honda R&D Americas in Raymond, Ohio,
represents an investment of US$30 million in advanced safety testing
facilities that will play an integral part in Honda's global safety
research and development efforts.
President of Honda
R&D Americas Hirohide Ikeno said the new facility is an important
advancement of Honda's local and worldwide R&D capabilities.
"This new Ohio
facility will play an important part in Honda's global research
efforts," he said.
The crash test facility
is capable of running a wide variety of both real world and simulated
crash tests including full frontal, angled barrier, side impact and offset
crash tests, along with simulations of various tests related to the
performance of safety systems such as airbags and seatbelts. Additional
capabilities of the Automotive Safety Research Facility include
laboratories for airbag testing, interior impact testing, pedestrian
safety testing, and structural strength testing of roofs, side doors,
seatbelt anchorages and child seat anchorages.
A key feature of the
facility is the world's most sophisticated crash barrier block, a
100-tonne moveable cube with sides that can be configured for different
tests, allowing for quicker and more efficient test cycles. The four-sided
block incorporates a high-resolution crash test barrier with 450 load
cells (90 5" x 5" cells and 360 2.5" x 2.5" cells).
This allows Honda engineers to understand in greater detail the
distribution of crash forces for further improvements to the company's
Advanced Compatibility Engineering body structure. The lab's test track
uses hydraulic power and sophisticated electronics to accurately launch
test vehicles at speeds ranging from 4 km/h - 95 km/h. Side impact tests
can be conducted in both the 90-degree and 27-degree configurations.
The facility also
boasts the world's first crash test simulator with pitching capabilities
for more accurate simulation of real world crash dynamics. The four
pistons on the pitching system can translate up and down as much as ten
inches which can then pitch the test sled at a rate of up to 0.25 degrees
per millisecond to a maximum angle of 15 degrees. This pitching motion
simulates the lifting of a vehicle's rear end in a frontal collision,
allowing engineers to gather data on the performance of safety systems
such as airbags and seatbelts that more closely reflect real world
performance.
Honda has a long record
of industry leadership in the development and application of advanced
safety technology. Research from the new Ohio facility will play a
critical role in the further development of Honda safety technology and
the evolution of Honda's 'Safety for Everyone' concept, a comprehensive
approach to vehicle safety that seeks to provide top-level occupant
protection for all Honda and Acura vehicles regardless of size or price,
along with reduced aggressivity toward other vehicles and improved safety
for pedestrians.
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