Ergonomic analysis of motor vehicles

Abstract

Design of motor vehicles had not initially focused around humans. Vehicles were merely designed to perform basic mechanical tasks. Only later designers took into account the human element, even though, in the beginning, ergonomic principles were often introduced as an interventional option at the end of the design process. The aim of ergonomics was mainly introducing further qualities, which were often perceived as accessories or part of the brand image. Only in the past decades, vehicle occupant packaging became a necessary design phase. The primary focus in occupant packaging is the driver‟s workstation, that is the location and adjustment ranges of the steering wheel and seat with respect to the pedals, the physical location of controls and displays with which the driver interacts, the analysis of interior and exterior driver visual areas, both direct and through mirrors. The objective of packaging is usually stated in terms of percentage accommodation on particular measures. Accommodation is quantified Design of motor vehicles had not initially focused around humans [2]. Vehicles were merely designed to perform basic mechanical tasks. Only later designers took into account the human element, even though, in the beginning, ergonomic principles were often introduced as an interventional option at the end of the design process. The aim of ergonomics was mainly introducing further qualities, which were often perceived as accessories or part of the brand image. Only in the past decades, vehicle occupant packaging became a necessary design phase. An increasing common approach to occupant packaging employs manikins to represent driver requirements. Use of three-dimensional computer graphic models has followed the development of low cost computers. Early human modelling software programs such as Sammie have been followed by Ramis, Jack and Safework among others. These digital human models (DHM) are now widely used for vehicle interior design and have often replaced SAE packaging tools. Manikins are fundamentally population models, in that they describe percentiles of a population, not the behaviour of any individual within the population. A panel of manikins would be needed to attain good estimates of population characteristics. In the attempt to reduce the number of computer analyses that must be performed, designers select the extremes that span a large percentage of the range of body dimensions in the target population. The five elements to be considered in the ergonomics of motor vehicles are:habitability, accessibility, reachability, internal and external visibility, and seating comfor