Seat Belt Reminder
     
The most frequent excuses that drivers give for not wearing their seat belt are that they are only driving a short distance or they simply forgot. Therefore, reminding occupants to wear their seat belt makes sense and encourages their own safety. Seat belts prevent injury and save lives. Wearing your seat belt is the most effective way to reduce fatalities and serious injuries from automobile accidents. The fastest, easiest, and most effective way to prevent traffic injuries and fatalities is to ensure that every vehicle occupant is properly buckled up on every trip.

IEE has designed the innovative seat belt reminder system to detect the presence of a car occupant over 12kg in the front passenger seat and/or on the rear bench of the car. The system, connected to a seat-belt buckle, triggers a warning light reminding the seat occupant to fasten his or her seat belt. If an occupant's (adult or child) seat belt is unbuckled during the journey, the control system integrated into the buckle triggers an optical and/or audio signal warning the driver of the car.

The IEE Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) is made up from a sensor mat consisting of two sandwiched carrier sheets held together by an adhesive. Conductive lines and sensor cells are printed on the carrier sheets. Increased pressure on the sensor mat causes a decrease in electrical resistance of the cells, which informs the system that the seat is occupied and automatically activates the SBR. The mat is not affected by seat adjustments or repositionings.

The function described above is one application among many for this system. the same device may be used to control air conditioning, seat heaters, electrical headrests, interior lighting, car audio and seat position memory. SBR mats, installed in the passenger and rear bench seats, can be electronically linked with an Occupant Detection Network (OD-Net). The OD-Net is able to provide all the SBR system functions in addition to communicating the number of car occupants. The number of occupants constitutes critical information for a (GPS-GSM based) automated collision notification system or taxicab management system.

The SBR thick-film sensors adapt to most seat designs including front and rear benches. The systen needs no initial calibration, nor re-calibration during it's lifetime. Variable resistance permits engineers to specify an inexpensive electronic interface to the ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The sensor's lack of moving parts makes it unreceptive to shock and vibration.