Vehicle rollover detection

A system for detecting a rollover of a vehicle that includes at least one wheel reaction force sensing device positioned about at least one wheel of the vehicle for transmitting wheel reaction force signals indicative of an amount of force exerted on the at least one of the wheels of the vehicle, the system comprising:

• a controller operably coupled to the at least one wheel reaction force sensing device and including at least one roll angle sensor for transmitting roll angle signals indicative of an angular rotation of the vehicle body, the controller being configured to:
• determine a first force index in response to the wheel reaction force signals,
• determine a first roll angle in response to the roll angle signals,
• determine a first roll rate of the vehicle in response to the roll angle signals,
• compare the first force index to a threshold force index the first roll angle to a threshold roll angle,
• compare at least one of the first roll angle to a threshold roll angle and the first roll rate to a threshold roll rate, and
• deploy the restraint system in response to the comparison of the first force index to the threshold force index and the comparison of the at least one of the first roll angle to the threshold roll angle and the first roll rate to the threshold roll rate.

A method for detecting a rollover of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving wheel reaction force signals indicative of an amount of force exerted on at least one wheel of the vehicle;
• receiving an acceleration signal indicative of vehicle body accelerations about at least one axis of the vehicle;
• receiving a roll angle signal indicative of an angular rotation of the vehicle body;
• determining a first force index in response to the wheel reaction force signals;
• determining a first lateral acceleration of the vehicle in response to the acceleration signals;
• determining at least one of a first roll angle and a first roll rate of the vehicle in response to roll angle signal;
• and
• comparing at least one of the first force index to a threshold force index, the first lateral acceleration to a threshold lateral acceleration, the first roll rate to a threshold roll rate, and the first roll angle to a threshold roll angle to determine whether to deploy a restraint system.