We've said it before, and we'll repeat it now: safety is a big deal when it comes to driving, but carmakers know that and strive to offer their A game in this area.
However, different manufacturers will lead to different approaches. While Jaguar Land Rover plan on scanning the driver's brain to prevent him or her from falling asleep, Toyota is going for a deeper approach as they made a step to improve crash test dummies.
Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) is their latest initiative in this respect. We won't let the confusion bother you, so here's how it works. THUMS simulates many characteristics of various parts of the human body, from the overall shape to bones and skin.
Therefore, researchers can analyze bone fractures, severed ligaments, and other injuries that can occur during a vehicle collision after the usual crash test has been performed.
With THUMS Version 5, however, Toyota introduces a 'muscle model' that can simulate changes in posture in the seconds preceding a car crash, from relaxed to braced.
According to Toyota, this new mannequin "makes it possible to more accurately study the effectiveness not only of seatbelts, airbags and other safety equipment, but also of active safety technologies such as pre-collision systems. In turn, this will lead to development of active safety technologies that better protect vehicle occupants."
Of course, it took almost two decade for Toyota to perfect the technology. THUMS was started in 1997, while THUMS Version 1 was launched three years later, in 2000, followed by Version 2 in 2004, which added a face and bones to the model.
Version 3, launched in 2006, added a precise brain model while Version 4, with detailed modeling of internal organs, was completed and released in 2010.
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