Inflatable Restraint Side Impact Sensor (SIS)
WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2002 Pontiac Montana, 2002 Oldsmobile Silhouette, and 2002 Chevrolet Venture. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.
The side impact sensors (SIS) contain a sensing device which monitors vehicle acceleration and velocity changes to detect side collisions that are severe enough to warrant side inflator module deployment. Each SIS is not part of the deployment loop, but instead provides an input to the SDM. The SDM contains a microprocessor that performs calculations using the measured accelerations and compares these calculations to a value stored in memory. When the generated calculations exceed the stored value, the SDM will cause current to flow through the deployment loops, deploying the side air bags.