Development of Anthropometric Specifications for the Six-Year-Old OCATD

Advanced airbag systems use information from a variety of sensors to tune the airbag performance for crash severity and occupant characteristics. A new family of Occupant Classification ATDs (OCATD) have been developed for use in the design and testing of advanced airbag systems. This paper describes the development of anthropometric standards for an OCATD that represents a typical six-year-old child. Detailed analyses of existing child anthropometry databases were conducted to develop reference dimensions. A child who closely matched the reference dimensions was measured in a variety of conditions. A custom molded measurement seat was constructed using foam-in-place seating material. The surface of the child's body was scanned as he sat in the custom seat, and the three-dimensional locations of body landmarks defining the skeleton position were recorded. These data were used to create a three-dimensional CAD surface representation of the six-year-old child, along with the internal location of the skeleton. Minimal scaling was required to adjust the resulting model to match the reference dimensions developed from the large-scale anthropometric database. The resulting OCATD dimensions accurately represent both the body segment dimensions and the exterior surface shape of a typical six-year-old child.