According to Yanfeng, its SafeUnit technology has broad applications and strong long-term potential, as both domestic and global OEMs are showing increasing interest.
The technology has been in development for over four years. In early 2024, the first products from the initial research project were selected and integrated into a mass-production vehicle development program by an OEM.
In December 2024, C-IASI (China Insurance Automotive Safety Index) of CAERI (China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Co.) announced a draft reclined seating test protocol.
A senior engineer from the safety performance development department of the OEM said, “Aiming at a much wider range of occupant protection, not only in upright but also in reclined seating positions, the Yanfeng SafeUnit differs from conventional restraint safety systems and is independent of the vehicle interior. It can provide safer protection in more seating arrangements and during complex impact scenarios.”
The Yanfeng SafeUnit is an advanced seat-integrated safety system designed to protect occupants in both upright and reclined positions during frontal, near-side and far-side crashes. Developed by the Yanfeng International Technical Center, the system is built for both current and future vehicles. It consists of several key components, including the seat itself, an optional pre-crash function that activates before impact, an all-belts-to-seat system, a follow-up seat mechanism, a buttock airbag and a hoodie airbag.
SafeUnit has undergone extensive testing at both the component and system levels, using virtual simulations and physical crash tests. The system has been validated both digitally and physically with Humanetics’s THOR-AV-50M dummy, a tool for studying injury mechanisms, developing new safety solutions and verifying their effectiveness.
Liu Chongqing, lead engineer, safety tech committee, Yanfeng International Technical Center, said, “In the automotive safety industry, SafeUnit is groundbreaking not only as a crash protection solution but also in testing innovation. Developing safety systems for reclined occupants presents unique challenges – for example, how do you test an occupant in a reclined seating position? How should a reclined ATD be positioned during a crash test? Which ATD should be used as a research and verification tool?
“These questions must be studied and addressed because protecting reclined occupants is a new area in automotive safety. Currently, there are no established regulations or test protocols for this type of protection, making research and innovation essential.
“Through our pioneering research, we have addressed these questions and developed related testing innovations, which could play a key role in shaping future safety testing regulations. In fact, regulatory authorities in China and Europe have already begun studying this area.”
Chongqing hopes the SafeUnit is sparking meaningful conversations and inspiring testing engineers to think critically about the future of vehicle safety systems and testing technologies.
