Sitting posture in design position of automotive interiors

Abstract

Three dimensional digital human body models have been developed and incorporated in an optimisation algorithm for seating package design. These models represent the small female, medium male and large male sitting in erect, neutral and slumped spinal postures. The software has been used to evaluate seating comfort with a math-based sitting model in 84 production vehicles. A sample of these cars (n = 30) shows that comfort scores, which have a 0.8 correlation with subjective driver comfort scores, are consistently high for the medium male. The small female and to a lesser extent, the large male, are uncomfortable as calculated in this model. Since this is a virtual model, it can be used at the start of vehicle design to objectively define the location of controls and design a seating surface for all drivers with specifications that are manufacturable and verifiable. The resulting design will produce a faster time to market and greater objective quality in the car interior.