Tesla patent application details revealed involving rotating front seats

Beijing time, May 7, according to foreign media reports, car seat belts have successfully saved countless lives, especially after a Swedish engineer invented the now popular three-point seat belt in 1958. Although seat belts have been proven to be a vehicle safety system, many errors still occur during actual use.

The American magazine Consumer Reports recently decided to write an article exposing how drivers use "cheating" methods to deceive Tesla's Autopilot system, and seat belts are used in the cheating process.

Consumer Reports testers used a Tesla Model Y crossover for the test. They fastened their seat belts in the unoccupied driver's seat, thereby tricking the Autopilot system.

After the seat belt was fastened, the tester sat directly in the driver's seat, and the vehicle mistakenly thought that the driver had fastened the seat belt. Fortunately, Tesla has developed a technical solution to prevent such cheating. Recently, a patent application approved by Tesla showed the outside world a system specifically for detecting whether the seat belt is used properly.

The patent Tesla applied for is called "Proper Seat Belt Usage Detection" system. The patent content was made public in 2019 and was approved by the US government earlier this year. The above system enables Tesla cars to accurately detect whether the driver and passengers are using seat belts properly. In the background of the patent application, Tesla admitted that the problem of drivers using seat belts improperly does exist.

Tesla wrote in the patent application: "In order for the seat belt system to work effectively, the driver must use the seat belt correctly. However, in fact, it is still common for people in the car not to wear seat belts. For example, the shoulder seat belt is placed behind the back or under the armpit, or one person hugs another person to share a seat belt. The existing monitoring system cannot determine whether the driver and passenger use the seat belt properly, so it is necessary to launch a system that specifically detects the use of seat belts."

Tesla's patented technology will use sensor modules to ensure that drivers and passengers are using their seat belts correctly. The sensor modules may have more than one sensor, and they may be pre-installed in the seat belts. Some sensor modules will also use inertial sensors or electromagnetic frequency beacons, which can allow the vehicle to detect whether the seat belts are used correctly.

In the patent document, Tesla mentioned a controller that can receive signals. The controller can receive signals from sensors to determine whether the seat belt is used properly. It is worth mentioning that the picture in Tesla's document shows that this seat belt detection system will be suitable for driverless cars.

Tesla also revealed that the system's controller contains a memory chip that can store data generated when the vehicle is used. This data includes information about the driver and passengers, such as weight, height, sitting posture, etc. The eye-catching design in Tesla's patent is that the system can even detect the casual use of seat belts, such as putting the seat belts under the armpits or having passengers share seat belts with others. Tesla also mentioned the reaction of the seat belt detection system after detecting improper use of seat belts.

Tesla wrote: "After detecting improper use of the seat belt, the controller may issue a warning notification and trigger an alarm, and may even no longer allow the driver to control the vehicle until the seat belt is properly used. The warning message will be displayed on the vehicle's central control screen, and the entertainment information system will sound an alarm, and the driver's registered mobile phone will also receive a prompt message. The controller may also perform any other form of tracking detection activities to ensure the correct use of the seat belt. This disclosure is not limited by any such subsequent actions."

With such a safety system, Tesla may highlight its position as the world's safest car model. Thanks to the all-electric design that lowers the center of gravity of the vehicle and creates a wide anti-collision buffer zone, the safety of Tesla vehicles has been guaranteed to a certain extent.

According to media reports, the patent application filed by Tesla shows that the front seats of its vehicles may be equipped with rotatable seats. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved the patent application on January 12 this year, and Tesla filed the application on December 6, 2017.