Patent attributes
A method for operating an automobile vehicle pedestrian sensing system includes: embedding multiple piezoelectric sensors in a vehicle bumper fascia, each generating a voltage in response to an impact of an object with the fascia; retrieving multiple threshold values from a memory, each assigned to one of the sensors; reading the voltage from each of the sensors; grouping individual sensors into multiple different logic circuits, each including at least two of the sensors; determining for each sensor in each of the logic circuits if the voltage is greater than the assigned threshold value; creating a positive signal following any one of the logic circuits when the voltage is determined to be greater than the assigned threshold value for the sensors grouped into the one of the logic circuits; and generating a hood deployment system deployment signal when the positive signal is output from all of the logic circuits.
