Method of initially characterizing an occupant of a vehicle seat based on weight and seat belt tension

摘要

An improved weight-based occupant characterization method reliably distinguishes between a minimum weight adult and a child seated on a booster seat. An early characterization of the seat occupant is made in an interval following a transition event such as a door opening or ignition state change that activates the occupant detection system. During this interval, an initial characterization routine monitors the seat belt tension and the raw seat pressure to identify signal values characteristic of a minimum weight adult or a child seated on a booster seat. If the indicated occupant weight during subsequent operation of the vehicle is inconsistent with the initial characterization, the initial characterization is discarded, and the seat occupancy is characterized based on the indicated occupant weight.