Networking Sensors and Actuators for a New Active Headrest

Tecnalia Automoción is working on new concepts for car cockpit components based on "Ambient Intelligence" (AmI) principles. Related to this concept, Tecnalia Automoción has developed a prototype of a sensorized active headrest to be placed maintaining desired horizontal and vertical safety distances to head and without pyrotechnical actuators which can cause injuries to the user. With the implementation of AmI based solutions like described above, the number of car sensors and actuators will grow up drastically, and more efficient control architectures will be needed. For this, Tecnalia Automoción is designing a networked solution with smart sensors and actuators integrating the IEEE 1451 standard group, initially to be applied to active headrest prototype. IEEE 1451 is a group of seven standards, some of them in revision phase, about smart transducers interface for sensors and actuators that they will let us to have more features in sensor-actuator side.