This paper presents the usage of the Digital Human Models (DHM) PCMAN and RAMSIS to determine parameters for a supported ingress and egress on a mock-up.
Sports cars with lower seating positions show occurring difficulties among older drivers during ingress/egress. To equip sports cars with higher seats or narrow door sills seems limited due to design aspects. Therefore the idea of an ingress/egress support system arose. To build a mock-up, it needs specific dimensions already in the CAD design phase. Here DHM-systems are utilized.
As no similar systems are known, no ballpark figures for trajectories of the seat or movement ranges can be derived from literature. Therefore pre-tests were done with a simple manually moved seat. Test persons showed high acceptance and discomfort reduction.
In order to design a proper testing environment for repeatable and reliable results, a variable seat with electric motors is built into a mock-up with a package of a sports car. Previous tests of ingress/egress filmed from three perspectives on the same mock-up were digitized with PCMAN and imported to RAMSIS in CATIA V5. The manikin movements and CAD model of the movable seat are attached, while avoiding penetrations of body parts with any car geometry e.g. roof edge.
Herewith it is possible to rapidly determine the range of movement for the seat in the mock-up. Moreover these requirements help to reduce costs and development time. The result of the study shows an application for DHM systems to specify the design of test environments.