Volvo's world-first Robocoaster test

>Volvo has developed a new crash safety tool inspired by the Robocoaster Lego theme park ride, leading to a world-first technology that represents a serious step towards its goal of having casualty-free vehicles by 2020, dubbed Vision 2020.

Essentially a giant robot arm that shakes a car seat vigorously to determine the human impact, the shake tester has led to safety technology that will be employed in the new Volvo XC90 due on sale in Australia in May 2015.

The seven-seat XC90 large SUV will priced from around $90,000 and promises to deliver high levels of technology on virtually every front.

The run-off road protection system works by first detecting the car is heading into a ditch, then tightens seat belts up to 100mm every 0.1 seconds. To cope with the car getting airborne and impacting harshly upon landing, energy-absorbing materials are fitted between the seat and seat frames, reducing the chances of spinal injury.

Volvo argues that its pioneering safety system is so advanced there are currently no crash test rules in place to test its functionality.

"Committing to safety is not about passing a test or getting a ranking," says Lotta Jakobsson, taking a swipe at NCAP's recently changed regulations that have made it more difficult to attain a five-star safety rating.

"It is about finding out how and why crashes and injuries occur and then developing the technology to prevent them. To reach our Vision 2020, we have to cover all accident types that occur in real-life traffic," stated Jakobsson.

The events that led to the study of these common road departure crashes, which account for "half of all traffic fatalities in the United States" – one of the XC90's biggest markets – began not in the laboratory but during a visit to Legoland in Denmark.

One of Volvo Cars' safety experts saw a ride called Robocoaster that inspired him to research a system that simulated the way car occupants moved around in run-off road accidents.

"Watching people being thrown in all directions during a ride in the Robocoaster, I suddenly realised that those rapid, random movements resembled the violent forces occupants in a run-off road crash are exposed to," explained Anders Axelson, Volvo Cars' safety expert.

With the Robocoaster front of mind, Axelson looked at developing software and hardware technology that in effect would mimic the theme park ride, providing an insight into road departure vehicle accidents.

Volvo wanted to understand why a high percentage of occupants in single vehicle run-off road accidents, usually caused by fatigue, low visibility conditions or foul weather, resulted in high levels of spinal injury.

"The engineers developed promising solutions to actively retract the occupants in order to keep them in position," explains the safety guru, "but since running complete cars into the terrain is a time-consuming and expensive test method, we needed a quicker and cheaper solution to evaluate the ideas."

"The industrial robot manufacturer ABB had the technology and the knowledge to program a machine designed for precision work to move a car seat around in a seemingly random pattern. It worked brilliantly," observed Axelson.

As such a giant robot arm, or multi-axial industrial robot to use the technical term, was mounted with a conventional vehicle seat and restraint system. Add a crash test dummy to the contrivance and occupant restraint levels are more easily measured.

The company says the occupant kinematics "during crucial parts of run-off road scenarios" have helped Volvo develop a world-first run-off road protection system, which will make its debut in the XC90.

"The most valuable result from the Robocoaster tests is probably the insight into how well the safety belt retraction interacts with the enhanced side support in our new seat generation," says Axelson.

Although Volvo's seat-shaking robot is for crash test dummies only, Axelson says he didn't even try the Legoland Robocoaster: "No way. Violent rides like that make me sick," he said.

Some of the key features of the new Volvo XC90 will include a luxury interior fitted with a button-less control system comprising a giant touch-screen.

Engine types will include D5 diesel and T6 petrol engines, both turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder units generating 165 and 236kW respectively. Fuel economy is likewise impressive at a claimed 5.8 and 7.7L/100km.

A range-topping T8 hybrid engine that will generate close to 300kW of power will also be offered and is able to travel 40km on electricity alone. The entry-level D5 diesel starts at $89,950 while the T8 hybrid will cost $122,950.

The order books for the second-generation Volvo XC90 have opened in Europe and are expected to commence soon in Australia ahead of its May arrival next year.