German company Hella is developing a smart body panel that can easily detect if someone has caused dents or scratches to one's car.
By using a grid of foil-like electronic sensors that are highly pressure-sensitive coupled with special algorithms, car owners can quickly be alerted of what's happening to their car before it is too late.
Dubbed the Intelligent Damage Detection System, the process involves using around four to 12 piezoelectric sensors, which are glued to the body panels' rear side. These sensors can also be hooked into the vehicle's current electronic infrastructure such as the Park Distance Control.
The system can also be linked with GPS and cameras onboard, which can record data on the car's location and keep evidence in a video format. This will help the car owner identify who could be at fault if there are dents or scratches on the car.
"We basically implement a sense of touch for the whole vehicle for the outer shell," said Kristian Döscher, head of marketing-original equipment in Hella. "Everything that is digitized so far in terms of diagnosis is only related to electronic infrastructure, but not the outer shell of the car."
The technology's advanced algorithm works by processing the electric signal that is produced when pressure is applied on the body panel's "structure-borne noise."
According to the company, the algorithm can also detect the location of the scratch and how intensive it is. There's also the capacity to determine if the scratch was caused by hail or even falling debris from a tree.
Perhaps the best thing about the technology is that it can actually work on any of the materials that are available today in modern body panels. These include steel, aluminum, carbon fiber and thermoplastic.
Hella is attracting a number of car manufacturers and other businesses, such as fleet operators and car rentals. For fleet operators, the technology will help them to find out in real time their drivers' level of skills. In the case of car rental companies, they can eliminate the routine inspection every time a client returns the car.
If the vehicle is equipped with cameras, they can turn them on instantly and be able to capture the event in real time. This will allow the car owner to produce a hard evidence of the incident to insurance companies.
Hella promises that the technology will become fully available by 2018.
