Surround Safety Laboratories Inc.
OPPORTUNITY
New, rotated & fully reclined, seating configurations are being planned for conventional and future automated vehicles
PROBLEM
Current restraints are not capable of managing occupant crash energy in these non-standard configurations
PROBLEM (2)
Fewer drivers of medium and heavy duty trucks are wearing seat belts, and they typically don’t have airbags as a backup like passenger cars
SOLUTION
These sketches begin to reveal the solution*:
Surrounding curtain/airbag, that
Deploys from the seat, is
Closed by a tether, and is
Effective when unbelted.
Restrains pets & packages too.
*USPTO patent issued 2021
VISION: MORE TO DO
“I helped build-in and improve the safety of many vehicles on the road today, including crash avoidance, collision mitigation, and occupant protection systems. I’ve always been personally invested. Now I want to do even more.
The real world of driving involves complex, even chaotic, traffic, and too many people continue to be injured or killed in automobile crashes. Regulated and 5-star/NCAP crash modes are very important, but they’re also very specific. Because of that, they may not drive safety systems that behave broadly enough for all the crash modes that occur in the real world, or if you are unfortunate enough, the exact one that you may experience in the future. On top of that, the seating configurations and orientations envisioned for enhanced relaxation and interaction in automated / self-driving vehicles, require an all new approach to occupant protection. That is what we’re offering.
I asked David to help me take these ideas and make them a reality, turn them into safety systems that could protect occupants in the real world where we drive everyday.“ – Jeff Rupp, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Surround Safety Laboratories, Inc..
Jeff: Live ADAS pedestrian target, ground-truth via Novatel/OxTS RT3000 GNSS/INS, 2003
TEAM (founded 2022)
Jeff Rupp, Co-Founder & CTO. Experienced automotive safety engineer with over 30 years of experience with leading automotive OEM's and advanced vehicle testing industry. SSL's CTO is the inventor of the foundational design and developer of the related IP portfolio. Career experience includes:
Ford Motor Company (26 years) – Senior Manager, passenger vehicle crash safety systems – structure, restraints, sensing, body (incl. VRU) and interior engineering; full virtual development; component, system and vehicle testing, validation, and certification
(Silicon Valley startup) – Director-level consultant for Safety and Compliance; structural, crash, and occupant CAE modeling, analysis, and development for 3 unique vehicles; government safety liaison; set safety policy and product safety strategy; set functional safety goals for fail-safe and fail-operational systems
Vehicle Safety Research LLC – Founder & Principal; systems engineering specializing in automotive crash protection engineering and forensic analysis
David Han, Co-Founder & CEO. Experienced technology commercialization leader with over 30 years of experience in the automotive, mobility, safety and sustainability technology markets; prior roles include:
Seoul Robotics Ltd, - VP, Mobility & Autonomous Systems; Managing Director NA and Global Automotive
Visteon Corporation - Global Director, Marketing & Business Development
Turtlerock Group LLC - Managing Principal, Strategic Marketing & Growth Consulting
Whirlpool Corporation - Global Product Director; Director of Advanced Product Concepts
The Extended Team:
In-house technical IP and product development by CTO
Consulting with extended professional network in domain
Leverage outside resources for CAE, full-scale functional prototype build, and in-vehicle testing