Passive vehicle safety

The project:

• Project start: 2022
• Duration: 24 months
• Project partners: 4
• Funding volume: €800,000
• Innovation network: PREVON - Production Evolution Network

As a highly specialised supplier to the international aerospace industry, Autoflug GmbH is contributing its decades of experience in seat production to the project. Leichtwerk AG is providing its expertise in the development of complex and lightweight system components for the aviation industry. The two companies are supported in the development, production and testing of fibre composites by the Faserinstitut Bremen e.V. and in the area of vehicle safety and crash tests by the Institute of Vehicle Construction at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences.

Development of a modular, energy-absorbing seat belt system

Crashes involving small aircraft are life-threatening and often fatal. The existing seats in small aircraft are usually rudimentary seat shells without an energy-absorbing function.

The aim of the "Safe(F)Light" project is therefore to develop a new type of seat belt system for small aircraft. This system is intended to significantly reduce the risk of serious or fatal injuries in the event of a crash by means of a global safety concept based on local, optimally coordinated energy absorption functions.

The main functional features of the "Safe(F)Light" concept to be implemented in the project are a safety and weight-optimised seat frame and an energy-absorbing and adaptive belt system. By integrating functions and largely substituting metallic materials with modern fibre composite materials, the optimised energy absorption is to be combined with the strict space and lightweight construction requirements for small aircraft. A modular, modifiable structure and an efficient manufacturing process should ensure that the innovative seat and harness system is suitable for broad market access and can be used both in the classic small aircraft and helicopter segments as well as in the promising future market of urban air mobility (UAM). In this context, a simulation-based validation method is also to be developed so that the subsequent qualification and approval process can be carried out as efficiently as possible.

The LFF is a member of the FAKOSI innovation network, which focuses on the development of innovative comfort and safety technologies for light electric vehicles (LEV). The term LEV describes a wide variety of vehicle types below the passenger car class. In addition to two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles and light four-wheeled motor vehicles, the term LEV also includes e-bikes, pedelecs and other pedal-powered vehicles, such as electrically assisted cargo bikes and other vehicle concepts from the field of micromobility such as e-scooters. In order to address specific development needs, FAKOSI combines expertise in manufacturing processes, materials science, lightweight construction, metrology and other scientific and technical disciplines with medium-sized manufacturers and service providers from the fields of machine vision, embedded systems and AI.

The thematic focus "Passive safety systems for occupant and pedestrian protection" includes the development of technologies for new airbag systems for LEVs, innovative material combinations and crash elements in sandwich construction and component-integrated lighting systems.