In a split second your car’s safety system needs to create a protective shield around you and your family. These complex automotive systems take researchers years to develop, and every aspect is tested and retested before ever entering the market. In an auto test facility, a new model of vehicle undergoes testing for about 30 different crash conditions, including side impact, front impact and more. A crash test may only take two-fifths of a second, but the computer sensors can generate a stream of 4,000 data sets, and engineers take weeks to analyze all that information. As many as 25 crash test dummies may be used for testing just one model. Each high-tech dummy, which typically costs $100,000, is wired with sensors connected to a computer.