A Reversible Mechatronic Retractor Offers Opportunities to Improve Restraint Systems

A car is driving at high speed on a wet country roal. Suddenly an obstacle appears in the headlights. The driver steers strongly to avoid a collision; too strong. The vehicle starts to skid, gets off the road. It comes to a rollover of the vehicle. A future trend in protection systems is a preventative and flexible individual occupant protection system adapted to the driving situation. The advantages of reversible occupant protective systems are not only the possibility of multiple usage with different efficiency, but also the possibility of multifunctionality. The reversible mechatronic retractor (RMR) can be activated primarily for the situation adapted and individual passenger protection. The paper deals with the modelling and simulation of the RMR in context of the vehicle dynamics. With the help of the models it will be possible to develop the restraint systems driving-state-dependent and adapt to the occupant with the help of virtual tests.