South Korea public car parts company, Hyundai Mobis has reportedly developed the world’s first panoramic sunroof airbag that is designed to protect the occupants in an unfortunate rollover. Yup. You heard that right. Airbag now has found a place on the roof too. Boy, why do I get the feeling that it is going to be standard on premium cars in not too-distant-future? And Hyundai is going to win on this. Oh, I know why. Because, the company has no less than 11 patents filed when developing this new safety feature and it isn’t a concept; it will be primarily implemented on the South Korean automobile manufacturer’s premium SUVs, starting with the Genesis SUV.
According to the report, the airbag has completed both road and reliability tests where it was subjected to heat and vibration resistant tests. And they really should do that because, nobody likes a fast expanding balloon expanding assaulting their heads anymore than they like it on their faces. The report also stated that the sunroof airbag, which you can see from the image, covers almost the entire roof when activated, can create a cushioning layer in split second, or a blinding 0.08 seconds to be precise. Together with seatbelt, panoramic sunroof airbag should minimize serious injuries or even preventing fatality in the event of a rollover.
Now, a car isn’t as steadfast as one may have liked, but to get it to go turtle takes quite a substantial impact and hence, it is paramount that the roof is also able to serve up the same kind of protection as the sides and the front. So, it is kind of a no brainer to be including it as part of the automaker’s pursuit for safety, especially in a time where panoramic sunroof has become a commonplace. TBH, I am surprised luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and the likes did not take up the lead to do so. Anywho, the airbag is integrated into the mounting module inside the sunroof module (hence, the name) and so, it shouldn’t impact the headroom of the vehicle.
The Hyundai Mobis Develops Panoramic Sunroof Airbag works in sync with the vehicle’s yaw sensor to swiftly deploy when a rollover is detected and while it is openly reported that it will go on the Genesis SUV first, it is not known when exactly that will be happening.
Images: Hyundai Mobis.
via Motoroids.
