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GM’s new crash test dummies transmit data 10,000 times a second

By | December 1, 2010, 1:12 PM PST

General Motors said on Wednesday that it was using new crash test dummies that work at “hyper speed,” recording and transmitting data 10,000 times a second.

Two-hundred dummies in all shapes and sizes are deployed at GM’s Anthropomorphic Test Device lab, each wired with 70 to 80 sensors that detect how much and what kind of force is endured during a crash.

They’re no joke: the price tag for the most sophisticated dummy model is upward of half a million dollars.

Then, engineers crunch the data from both the physical tests and simulations to better understand how a new vehicle, its safety systems and occupants respond — then take that insight and turn it around to improve them.

“The more realistic the dummy, the more accurate the test results,” said GM safety engineer Jack Jensen in a statement.

The first car to receive improvements from the new dummies? The 2011 Buick Regal.

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Andrew Nusca

About Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca

Editor

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet and an associate editor for ZDNet. Previously, he worked at Money, Men's Vogue and Popular Mechanics magazines. He holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New York University. He based in New York but resides in Philadelphia.

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Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca
Andrew Nusca does not hold any investments in the companies he covers.
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RE: GM's new crash test dummies transmit data 10,000 times a second
I welcome Gm and its ongoing safety program.
I sold Honda cars from 1972 to 2006 and i noticed then that Honda was very heavy into safe
automobiles.Yes i would buy a New Boick Regal if i could afford one.,I have low yearly income,
retired etc.
Alex Nicol
Posted by alex6500@...
2nd Dec 2010
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