Automotive Safety Testing

High-Speed Cameras for Automotive Safety Testing

Photron offers two high-speed camera systems that are intended specifically for automotive safety testing — the FASTCAM Mini CX and the FASTCAM MH6. Both offer outstanding HD 1080 resolution at 1,000fps with industry leading light sensitivity of ISO 5,000 color and ISO 10,000 monochrome.

The Mini CX delivers an exceptional combination of resolution, frame rate, light sensitivity and durability in a compact, stand-alone package suited for both on-board and off-board testing.  Designed for space limited locations and tested to 100G, the Mini CX is Photron’s smallest, lightest and most rugged self-contained camera.  The camera provides HDMI video output, an internal battery offering 30-minutes of camera operation if the primary power source fails, rapid download to nonvolatile memory, and a built-in accelerometer providing a backup trigger.

The MH6 allows six miniature camera heads to connect to a single processor and is designed for severely space/weight constrained locations.  The camera heads and processor are extremely rugged, tested to 160G and 100G respectively. The system provides automated image download to non-volatile memory, Gigabit Ethernet and USB3 for image download, and a built-in accelerometer that functions as a backup trigger signal source and allows waveform data to be saved alongside recorded images.

APPLICATIONS & TECHNIQUES

DIGITAL IMAGE CORRELATION

Digital Image Correlation is a 2D or 3D imaging technique used to measure deformation, vibration, and strain in materials.

COMBUSTION

Combustion studies is essential when researching explosions of various types and sizes.

MATERIALS TESTING

Materials Testing is used to measure the physical and mechanical properties of different materials or components.

FLUID DYNAMICS

In fluid dynamics, high-speed imaging provides an indispensable tool to measure and to visualize the complex movement of liquids, gases and plasmas in motion.

Euro NCAP and Applus+ IDIADA

Watch this high quality video of Volkswagen ID.3 safety testing produced by Euro NCAP and Applus+ IDIADA who have access to the latest Photron high-speed cameras for a broad range of crash and safety testing. Euro NCAP provides a five-star vehicle safety rating to help customers compare vehicles more easily and select the safest vehicle for their needs. With over 30 years’ experience Applus+ IDIADA is a Euro NCAP official test house for all testing, a global partner to the automotive industry and has recently appointed as ASEAN NCAP laboratory in Europe and the United States.

For on-board crash applications Photron’s  FASTCAM MH6 is perfectly suited for severely space and weight-constrained locations. Up to six miniature camera heads supported by a single compact processor record high-speed Full HD sequences and can accommodate a wide variety of camera viewing angles and mounting locations.

*Euro NCAP October 2020 press release

2d infrared imaging at different wavelengths to characterize cycle-to-cycle variation of the combustion process in a Diesel engine

The internal combustion engine is the most common motor used for civil and commercial transportation even if it is a technology more than one century old. In order to update the engine, the most advanced diagnostics have been applied to investigate directly within the engine the processes that regulate its operation. Among these diagnostics, infrared cameras have taken a big technological leap in combustion research. While the typical techniques used for the visualization of liquid/vapor fuel, flames and burned gases are characterized by complex optical setup and the use of laser, the infrared diagnostic can be performed easily and can be effective as well.

Read more

Gasoline Spray Characterization and Droplets-wall Interaction at Different Piston Temperatures

Spray/wall interaction has a significantly influence on the mixture formation process in gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. Moreover, the fuel wall film and the resulting delayed evaporation of the liquid fuel are the main sources of soot formation in the internal combustion engines. In this paper, the spray evolution from a multi-hole GDI injector was investigated into an optical accessible vessel and environmental controlled through optical diagnostic developed under different injection strategies varying the duration and pressure of injection.

Read more