Cutting development times in car manufacturing means bringing forward the knowledge processes. Simulations based directly on CAD data reduce or replace time-consuming hardware loops significantly and therefore make a significant contribution to this. Ergonomic product design is an area that is challenged as far as the further development of virtual methods is concerned.
Simulation of the static and quasi-static positions of passengers inside the car is the current state of the art in ergonomic product design. For this reason, interest is strongly focused on the simulation of complex movement processes within the context of enhancing simulation tools. For the car manufacturer, the manner in which people enter and leave the car is of particular interest. Getting into the car is the customers' first actual contact with it. It may also develop into a serious problem for car drivers, as they get older.
The work described here is aimed at establishing basic principles for the simulation of car-entry movements that permit them to be modeled.
In the first project phase the focus was on the development of a method of registering and evaluating car-entry movements quantitatively. It was considered especially important for later implementation for the results to be compatible with the planned “RAMSIS” simulation tool. During the data collection process, entry movements were recorded by means of an optical tracking procedure –the “Vicon 624” system from Oxford Metrics. BMW has developed a “Variable In- and Egress Mock-up” (VEMO) to permit variations in the entry geometries. Initial tests were used to validate the feasibility and accuracy of the experimental structure. They revealed the necessity for a further preliminary study relating to entry strategies.
The result of the representative study was that the “Slip-in” strategy is the most used strategy of male and female persons. Additionally within the “Slip-in” strategy five sub-strategies have been observed.
Further test series are to be conducted for the systematic analysis of the influence of modified entry geometry on the patterns of movement of a selected collective of test persons. Modeling approaches will then be derived from the test series.