Volvo adds in-car computer to seat belts, expanding load-limiter settings to 11

Volvo has upgraded its three-point seat belt with a new central computing system, HuginCore, that runs in the EX60 and increases the belt's adjustable load-limiting profiles from three to 11.

The belt's mechanical parts—the retractor, buckle, webbing and pretensioner—remain the same. The pretensioner tightens the webbing in a collision and reduces forward movement of the passenger before the airbag deploys at speeds of up to 200 mph (321 km/h).

HuginCore performs more than 250 trillion operations per second and was developed in-house with partners Google, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. "With the HuginCore system we can collect a lot of data and make decisions in the car instantly and combine that with the belt’s ability to choose different load levels," says Åsa Haglund, head of the Volvo Cars Safety Center. Using data from exterior, interior, and crash sensors, the car reacts to a collision in milliseconds.

Volvo says the finer control lets the belt detect the type of crash and who is in the car and choose a more optimal belt force. The company compares the new range of load profiles to an audio system with more discrete steps, and testing continues with crash dummies to refine responses.

Key Topics

Tech, Volvo, Hugincore, Seat Belt, Load Limiter, Google