Intelligent deployment of safety mechanisms for autonomous vehicles

A method of deploying safety mechanisms in a vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving, from one or more first computing devices having one or more processors by one or more second computing devices having one or more processors, situational information, the situational information identifying a potential impact target corresponding to an object with which the vehicle is predicted to have a collision within a predetermined period of time, and an estimated time when the second computing device will receive an update for the potential impact target from the first computing device;
• using, by the one or more second computing devices, the estimated time to determine when to deploy one or more active safety mechanisms, wherein each of the one or more safety mechanisms is configured to reduce a likelihood of damage to an object external to the vehicle caused by a collision;
• sending, by the one or more second computing devices, a triggering signal to activate the one or more active safety mechanisms prior to an impact with the object corresponding to the identified potential impact target,
• wherein the situational information includes information identifying an impact point where the vehicle and the object are predicted to have the collision,
• mapping the impact point to a point on an exterior of the vehicle;
• selecting the one or more active safety mechanisms further based on the point on the exterior of the vehicle;
• repositioning the selected one or more active safety mechanisms from a first location to a location closest to the impact point without the selected one or more active safety mechanisms being deployed;
• and
• deploying, by one or more actuators, the one or more active safety mechanisms when the impact is imminent,
• wherein the selected one or more active safety mechanisms is configured to be deployable at the first location as well as at the location closest to the impact point.