#MEMS: "Xtrinsic sensors trigger satellite airbags"

Claiming to shrink the size, increase the reliability and lower the cost of satellite airbag sensors, Freescale Semiconductor unveiled smart Xtrinsic airbag accelerometers using the Distributed Systems Interface (DSI) 2.5 standard at the Convergence 2010 automotive tradeshow in Detroit. Look for faster, safer airbag deployment in future automobiles within three years. R. Colin Johnson, Kyoto Prize Fellow @NextGenLog

High aspect ratio micro-electro-mechanical systems (HARMEMS) uses larger moveable elements to provide overdamped transducers that are immune to high-frequency resonance. 

Here is what EETimes says about airbag sensors: Modern automobiles deploy a variety of airbags depending upon where the impact occurs, requiring that satellite sensors to be deployed around the vehicle to collect and integrate signals to determine whether to trigger front-, side- or other supplemental restraint system (SRS) airbags.
Full Text: http://bit.ly/NextGenLog-9gKO