US Patent 11305724 Pedestrian protection system for sensor pods

A sensor pod system includes one or more sensor pods with a plurality of sensors configured to collect data from an environment. A sensor pod may include a housing and extend from a portion of a body of a vehicle. The sensor pod housing may have energy absorbing structures configured to absorb and dissipate energy during an impact in order to protect a pedestrian. The sensor pod may have deformable portions of the housing configured to absorb and dissipate energy during the impact. The sensor pod may have deformable fasteners coupling a sensor to the sensor pod configured to deform to absorb and dissipate energy during the impact.