Researchers at Siemens in Germany are developing a car that can anticipate a side-on impact and subtly alter its body shape to absorb the force of the crash.

The engineers have built prototypes of the shape-changing, frame-reinforcing system. The experimental vehicles have radar sensors installed at the front and rear and stereo cameras in the back window. These feed information to an on-board computer that calculates the chances of an impact. “It can recognise if something is going to hit the car, identify where it will hit and its velocity,” Joachim Tandler says.

The computer would then activate a shape-memory alloy in the side door by feeding an electrical current through it. The alloy changes shape in response to heat and swells to make a stronger connection with the car’s frame. The energy of the impact is then spread more widely around the car, and the risk to anyone inside is reduced.

Related: A move toward vehicles that morph.
Via New Scientist. Image.