Click Me for Video of Jag Deployable Bonnet System





Jaguar first to offer Pyrotechnic Deployable Bonnet in the UK, on the all-new XK sports car
Pyrotechnic Deployable Bonnet is a world first for Jaguar
Bonnet is raised in around 30 milliseconds using forces up to 50 times the force of gravity
Operates in less time than it takes to blink
Advanced sensing system can distinguish between different impacts
Over 120 man years dedicated to system development
Jaguar has today revealed the world’s first Pyrotechnic Pedestrian Deployable Bonnet System (PDBS) a state-of-the-art advanced safety feature, at the Frankfurt Auto Show. In an era of safety conscious motoring, Jaguar has managed to combine beautiful, fast sports car design with the latest pedestrian impact technology to create a world first with the all-new XK which goes on sale in the UK in early 2006.

Within the 'blink of an eye'

In the unfortunate event of a pedestrian impact, the deployable bonnet on the new XK automatically ‘pops’ up a few inches, to create a cushioning effect between the engine and the bonnet. This helps to isolate the pedestrian from hard points in the engine compartment – and takes place in less than a tenth of the time it takes to blink an eye.

Jaguar is one of the first manufacturers to meet Phase One of new European safety legislation using an active deployable bonnet system. The new standards are designed to help mitigate the severity of injuries to pedestrians in the event of a collision with a car.

Legislation in the European market requires manufacturers to commit to a two-phase introduction of a range of active and passive safety improvements on all new cars to improve the protection of pedestrians in case of accident.

"The Jaguar design team embraced the idea of using a deployable bonnet when it was first considered during early concept discussions on the new XK. This clever feature saves between 50 and 65mm in height off the bonnet surface and a similar amount off the roofline, allowing the design team to maintain a very low, sleek Jaguar sports car profile on the new XK," said Ian Callum, Jaguar Cars Design Director.

The Jaguar Pyrotechnic Pedestrian Deployable Bonnet provides an innovative solution to these legislative requirements whilst ensuring that the sleek lines that customers expect from Jaguar sports cars can be retained. The active system fitted to the all-new XK is complemented by a passive bumper system, the design of which helps to mitigate leg injury through the use of crushable foam and plastic covering. An advanced sensing system is mounted in the front bumper to help discriminate between a pedestrian collision and any other possible front-end collisions. The speed of the sensing time in the system is around one tenth of the time it takes to blink an eye.

Phil Hodgkinson Jaguar Programmes Director said: "I take technology development at our product development centres very seriously and I am proud to be working with Jaguar engineers who can deliver this kind of safety system, which we believe to be a world-first. The fact that it also allows us to stay true to Ian Callum's core Jaguar design values is equally satisfying."

The complex system has been extensively researched across wide-ranging scenarios, using 120 man-years and thousands of computer simulations, as well as tested in practice at Jaguar’s Engineering Centre at Whitley in Coventry, England. While all pedestrian impact research has been carried out using virtual tools, analysis of previous 'real world' incidents has played an important part in the development process.

One of the impressive points about the new XK's pyrotechnic deployable bonnet system is that it can lift the bonnet (which weighs 18kg) in around 30 milliseconds, which requires an acceleration rate of about 50 times the force of gravity (50g).

Physical research carried out by the Jaguar development team has included investigation of various impacts including inanimate objects such as motorway cones. This is a vital part of the process to allow the system to differentiate a person from other impacts that can be experienced in day-to-day driving.

The Jaguar pyrotechnic pedestrian deployable bonnet system normally operates at vehicle speeds where it provides the most benefit and is automatically disabled outside of this speed range. The system is completely separate from any other crash protection system on the vehicle, including airbags.

"The Pyrotechnic Pedestrian Deployable Bonnet in the all-new XK is a leading safety technology that goes hand in hand with an advanced Jaguar sports car, sitting alongside a beautifully crafted luxury interior, aluminium technology and scintillating, dynamic performance," said Russ Varney, Chief Program Engineer for the XK series.

 

Jesus...

Sometimes there's alot to be said for Common Sense Driving.

 

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH AAHAH
AHAHAHAAHHWHWHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA HAHAH

Thank you, that will be all.
Stupid, stupid Europeans.

 

Honda has been working on an airbag system for the front bumper from what I recall, as well as energy absorbing hoods. I think it's R&D money that would be much better spent elsewhere. But from what I understand the federal government is really taking a liking to it and considering eventually making pedestrian safety standards as well that would essentially require some such measurements and precautions to be built into all future vehicles.

 

In the USA, I bet the deer population is greatful for all of that wasted technology and money to be spent on something like this .

 

Yeah, pretty stupid. Just think of what a Corvette would look like with the hood raised 4" above the engine.

 

As Burt Reynolds said in S&B,"What part of the country you are standing in determines how dumb you are."
Until you have spent weeks in Europe, you will not understand why they are doing this.

Does it mean a lot to us here in the states? No, not really... unless you live in New York, Chicago, LA, or any city where there are tons of pedestrians and you happen to be one of them.

For those of us who have to walk to lunch and dinner while in Neudorf, Germany (because the car rental company forbids you to take your car into another country, and the 3 restaurants in the border town of Neudorf are on the Czech-side of the border) for 2 weeks, I might inadvertantly become a beneficairy of such technology. (and yes, they stamp your passport EACH TIME you cross the border to go eat... THAT peeves me more than the waste of money and technology!)

Another interesting take on the deer thing though... this could help prevent the animal from actually coming through the winshield - which happens a lot. THAT could be a life-saving situation for the driver instead of the deer.

 

I see your point, but it would once again fall under how often that happens compared to the costs and effects of a safety device mandatory on all vehicles. I would not think the percentages would justify it even when combining pedistrian accidents and deer incidents through windshields etc. Of course this technology was not designed for deer, and not known to work for windshields and deer..

Just get some deer whistlers and call it a day (j/k)

I think they should have a giant mandatory deployable airbag that surrounds all suv's in case of rollovers. Kind of the same logic here. When will it end?

 

For a split second there I thought the topic was "deployable bayonet for pedestrians" and thought, "what a great idea".

 

Those deer whistlers are junk. My friend had two on his car because he had hit 2 deer in the past on the same stretch of road. After putting the whistlers on, a deer ran into the side of his car and wrote it off.

 

99% of the time this tech got actually used in the US (or atleast North East) would on deer.


pedestrians in LA? I thought that city was designed around the automobile.

This tech should be on 100% of NYC cabs though.

 

I used to think that pedestrian crash standards were ridiculous until I moved to Manhattan a month ago. I'd say every third day I'm involved in some sort of close call with a taxi and I'm obeying the crosswalk laws. Every day here you see people walking casually across 4 lanes of traffic and nearly getting hit every time. Whether the benefit of such standards is worth the cost of development here in the United States is debatable, but I can definitely see the benefit of it in European cities (pedestrians are probably even more aggressive there than they are here!).

 

Someone on this board manages to give me one good laugh each day.

 

you hit someone at 45+ MPH i feel they will still be dead.

 

Yeah but at least now they won't wreck your windshield. You can safely catapult them over your car.

I'm surprised Q from James Bond never thought of it.