Browse Topic: Anthropometrics

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Ergonomic Assessment of Glove-Box Design in Passenger Vehicles for the Indian Scenario15-19-02-00096/10/2026
Passenger vehicles experience severe packaging constraints around the instrument panel, rendering glove-box operation a critical yet ergonomically underexplored interaction. Although glove-box interaction occurs frequently during routine vehicle use, its potential implications for ergonomic risk remain largely unexamined in existing automotive research. To isolate the influence of driver-side packaging constraints from component-level design effects, this study adopts a comparative evaluation of driver and co-driver glove-box interaction as a built-in control condition. This study introduces a discomfort-based evaluation framework that integrates Digital Human Modeling with India-specific anthropometric datasets. A composite loss-function scoring model is developed to quantify functional usability differences across four glove-box configurations, defined by variations in latch placement (center or side) and storage-bin mechanisms (fixed or rotating). Indians are utilized to assess reachability and visibility during glove-box interaction. Ergonomic performance is analyzed through reach and visibility metrics for both latch actuation and storage-access tasks. For the co-driver, all configurations exhibit 0% loss, confirming that usability remains unaffected. In contrast, the driver assessment reveals pronounced limitations. Center-mounted latches prove inaccessible from a neutral seated posture, reflecting an approximate loss function of 55%. Among the side-latch alternatives, the rotating-bin configuration achieves the lowest discomfort score (41%), supported by more favorable access posture and smoother hand-entry alignment. The findings specify that ergonomic limitations stem primarily from driver-side packaging constraints rather than inherent flaws in the glove box unit. Based on the reach and visibility loss values obtained through the developed framework, the Side-Latch + Rotating-Bin configuration emerges as the most suitable design option for passenger-vehicle layout. The proposed methodology offers a practical decision-support tool for early stage ergonomic evaluation of glove-box configurations in passenger vehicles.
Jujjavarapu, Sreeram, Kota, Srinivas, Kotkunde, Nitin, Jasti, Naga Vamsi Krishna
Augmented Reality and Multimodal Interfaces for Astronaut Training and In-Orbit Operations2026-26-07966/1/2026
Augmented Reality (AR) and multimodal human–machine interfaces (MMI)— combining visual overlays, voice, gesture, eye- tracking, and biometric sensing—are maturing into flight-relevant technologies capable of transforming astronaut training and in-orbit operations. These interfaces can reduce task time, lower procedural errors, and mitigate cognitive workload, thereby strengthening crew autonomy and mission safety. Global operational experiences from International Space Station (ISS) augmented- reality trials and related international programs are synthesized to inform the proposed system architecture and validation framework: (i) an overview of India’s current AR/MMI-related ecosystem relevant to human spaceflight, including astronaut training pipelines and research collaborations; (ii) a mission-grade AR/MMI system architecture and multimodal fusion/decision logic suitable for human-rated operations; (iii) algorithms and programming examples for AR-driven finite-state-machine (FSM) procedures and workload-sensitive adaptation; and (iv) simulation-backed datasets across representative procedures indicating approximately 20 to 30 percent task-time reduction and approximately 40 to 50 percent error- rate reduction under controlled conditions (based on ten procedures and twenty-four simulated sessions for workload analysis). The findings reinforce that AR/MMI deployment can improve training throughput, reduce crew fatigue, and increase safety margins when designed with evidence gating, conservative confidence thresholds, and robust fallback modes. Recommendations include establishing a Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) AR/MMI laboratory, conducting structured A/B validation trials, and committing resources for progressive demonstrations aligned with future in-orbit operations.
Yadav, Anoop Singh
Characterization of Front Row Occupants Involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes Compared to ATDs and the U.S. Population09-14-01-00275/4/2026
Currently, adult anthropomorphic test devices used in regulatory and consumer information crash testing in the United States are targeted to represent a small female (5th percentile) and an average male (50th percentile). The anthropometry determined previously might not represent the current population, or as investigated in the current study, those that are at least moderately injured during a motor vehicle crash. The objective of this study was to use field data to determine if the current frontal anthropomorphic test devices are representative. Data from the National Automotive Sampling System–Crashworthiness Data System (2010-2015) and Crash Investigation Sampling System (2017–2023) were queried for sex, age, size, and injury information for front seat occupants in frontal crashes. Additional datasets used were from the National Trauma Data Bank and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to field data, the most frequently injured female and male is approximately 164 cm tall, weighing 72 kg and approximately 177 cm tall, weighing 81 kg, respectively. The distribution of those injured in frontal crashes aligns with all crash types and the current United States population. Differences between anthropomorphic test device specifications and recent data (particularly weight) should be the focus of future work.
McNeil, Elizabeth, Atwood, Jonathan, Rudd, Rodney, Craig, Matthew
Frontal Crash Classification and Occupant Outcomes from 2017 to 2023 US Field Cases09-14-01-00245/4/2026
This study provides an updated characterization of real-world frontal crash types—considering overlap and obliquity—based on their overall frequency and associated injury outcomes. The results of this study will support an evaluation of how well NHTSA’s frontal oblique crash test condition addresses the current population of serious frontal crashes, as compared to frontal test modes in existing crashworthiness programs. U.S. field crash data from 2017 to 2023 were analyzed to classify frontal crashes by coded damage characteristics. Oblique frontal crashes were defined as those with principal direction of force between 10°–40° and 320°–350°. Non-ejected belted first and second row occupants in model year 2000 and newer passenger vehicles absent a rollover event were included. Occupants were stratified by sex, age, and body mass index, and injury outcomes based on moderate, serious, and fatal thresholds were analyzed across crash configurations. Among the belted first row occupants considered in this study, more than 45% were exposed to oblique crashes while full overlap colinear crashes accounted for 18% of the occupants. Oblique crashes represent a disproportionately large number of AIS 3+ injured and fatal occupants. Older occupants and females showed a trend of higher injury frequency despite less exposure. Full overlap crashes still account for a representative portion of serious injuries among frontal crashes. Limitations include restriction of cases to those with complete vehicle and occupant details. Assessment of impact type was dependent on generic vehicle class-specific reference values. The findings reinforce the enduring relevance of oblique frontal crash conditions which remain a substantial contributor to serious injuries and fatalities, especially for older adults and female occupants.
Rudd, Rodney W.
Comparative Analysis of Thoracic Injury and Causative Factors across Sexes in Serious Frontal Motor Vehicle Collisions in the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network Database09-14-01-00315/4/2026
This study investigated sex-specific differences in thoracic injury prevalence, causation, and rib fracture patterns among seriously injured occupants in frontal motor vehicle collisions. Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) data from 2005 to 2022 included 793 front-seat occupants aged 16 years and older with Abbreviated Injury Scale 2+ thorax injury, representing 1802 thoracic injuries. Injuries were grouped as rib fracture, sternum fracture, hemo/pneumothorax, lung injury, heart injury, and other. A weighted scoring system captured contributions of involved physical components to each injury. Logistic and linear regression with generalized estimating equations assessed sex associations with injury presence and causation. Two models were estimated: a comprehensively adjusted model including demographic, crash, vehicle, restraint, and airbag deployment, and a simplified model adjusting for age, body mass index, delta-V, and occupant role. Among occupants with AIS 2+ thoracic injuries, sex-specific differences were observed in injury patterns and causation. Females were less likely than males to sustain lung injuries (OR = 0.70, p = 0.038) and more likely to sustain rib fractures (OR = 1.25, p = 0.006). Females had higher odds of rib fractures attributed to seatbelt loading in both models (Full: OR = 2.20, p = 0.005; Simplified: OR = 1.55, p = 0.021). Females were less likely than males to sustain lung injuries (OR = 0.17, p = 0.042) and hemo/pneumothoraces (OR = 0.15, p = 0.044) from instrument panel loading. Steering wheel, airbag, and other components showed no significant sex-specific associations with thoracic injury. Rib fracture patterns showed clusters along the seatbelt path in belted occupants and a more diffuse pattern in unbelted occupants, with minimal significant findings of differences between sexes. These findings contribute to the growing evidence of sex-specific injury patterns and may inform future research on injury prediction and prevention strategies. However, this dataset includes only occupants with AIS 2+ thoracic injuries and therefore cannot be extrapolated to the general population or to collisions outside those represented in the sample.
Armstrong, William, Devane, Karan, Hsu, Fang-Chi, Heilmann, Nina, Sink, Joel, Miller, Anna N., Kiani, Bahram, Martin, R. Shayn, Stitzel, Joel D., Weaver, Ashley
Injury and Kinematics of Obese PMHS in Frontal Impacts with Reclined Seating09-14-01-00035/4/2026
Objective: This study investigated injury outcomes and body kinematics in obese occupants exposed to frontal impacts while seated in reclined postures. With increasing interest in non-traditional seating configurations and a growing population of obese vehicle occupants, the objective was to evaluate how seat stiffness and restraint features influence injury patterns and whole-body excursions. Methods: Nine obese post-mortem human surrogates (PMHS; mean age: 64 years, stature: 1.70 m, body mass: 102 kg, BMI: 35 kg/m2) were tested under frontal impact conditions simulating a delta-V of 50 kph. All specimens were seated on a spring-controlled seat with a 45° reclined seatback and restrained by a three-point belt system with pretensioner and load limiter. Three configurations were evaluated: (1) stiffer seat, (2) softer seat, and (3) stiffer seat with a knee bolster 100 mm from the knees. Each subject underwent one test. Whole-body kinematics were captured using a VICON motion analysis system, and injury outcomes were assessed through radiographs, CT imaging, and autopsy, with severity classified by Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) and Injury Severity Score (ISS). Results: Softer seats produced substantially greater downward (+Z) pelvic displacement compared with stiffer seats. The knee bolster effectively reduced both downward and forward excursions of the lower torso. Rib cage and pelvic injuries were most frequent, with the highest severity observed in softer seat tests. Mean ISS values were: STIFF—27, 13, 27; SOFT—34, 27, 14; STIFF-KB—22, 0, 13. Discussion: Reduced seat stiffness combined with increased occupant mass contributed to greater excursions and anterior torso injuries, whereas the knee bolster mitigated excursion and injury severity. Findings are limited by sample size and test conditions; broader evaluation with production seats is needed to confirm trends and support countermeasure design.
Somasundaram, Karthik, Yoganandan, Narayan, Pintar, Frank
Geometric Variabilities and Their Effects on Impact Responses in Midsize Male and Female Occupants09-14-01-00255/4/2026
The objective of this study is to use parametric human body models (HBMs) to understand how geometric variability among individuals who have the same sex, stature, and body weight may affect the impact responses and injury outcomes, using midsize male and midsize female populations as representative cases. Methods were developed to quantify skeletal and external body surface variations using principal component analysis, regression, and residual error analysis. Based on this analysis, nine midsize male and nine midsize female geometric models were created, focusing on ribcage and pelvis variations, which account for most of the observed variability. These geometries were then applied to morph the simplified Global Human Body Model Consortium (GHBMC) midsize male model, producing 18 distinct HBMs. Each morphed HBM was subjected to nine impact scenarios, resulting in a total of 162 simulations to assess the effects of geometric variability. Substantial geometric variation was observed in the ribcage and pelvis, while the femur and tibia showed minimal variability for both midsize males and females. All morphed HBMs had good mesh quality, and all crash simulations terminated normally without error. Component-level tests showed relatively minor differences in impact responses among HBMs with identical sex, stature, and body weight. However, the United States New Car Assessment Program (US-NCAP) frontal crash simulations revealed considerable differences in injury risk, especially in the front passenger position. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for geometric variability, even among HBMs with the same sex, stature, and body weight, when evaluating injury risks in severe frontal crashes. It is especially important to consider ribcage geometry variations, which could impact occupant sitting height, posture, and injury risks at different body regions in frontal crashes. This study demonstrated that future virtual testing frameworks using HBMs should consider human geometric variations, especially in the ribcage and pelvis, when assessing injury risks in vehicle frontal crashes.
Hu, Jingwen, Lin, Yang-Shen, Boyle, Kyle, Khandare, Sujata, Bonifas, Anne, Reed, Matthew P., Hasija, Vikas
Leveraging Machine Learning for Occupant Body Size Estimation via B-Pillar Seatbelt Systems2026-01-05594/7/2026
Occupant body size in vehicles varies significantly, encompassing differences in height, mass, and overall body composition. Adaptive restraint systems, featuring adjustable parameters such as belt load limiters, steering column load limiters and stroke, seat pan stiffness, and airbag pressure, can offer more equitable protection tailored to individual body sizes. In this study, a test rig modeled after the Volvo XC90 (2016) was used to collect data from 46 participants who were dressed in typical summer clothing and seated upright, without slouching or leaning sideways. Stepwise adjustments of the seat pan and seatback were performed. The collected measurements include seat pan movements (front-back and up-down), seatback recline, and key seatbelt-related parameters, such as belt payout length, D-ring angle, lap belt length, and buckle tension. The collected data was then used to train machine learning models to predict individual occupant characteristics: standing height, mass, and seated height. This study shows the challenges and opportunities for occupant body size estimation from seatbelt and seat location inputs. The prediction’s root mean square error across validation dataset was as follows: standing height 8.76cm, mass 11.33kg, and seated height 5.61cm. The prediction of mass fulfilled the defined criterion, while the prediction accuracy for standing height and seated height require further improvement. Our analysis reveals that a key improvement could be achieved by implementing an upgraded lap belt position sensor, given that lap belt length was identified as a dominant feature across models. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that D-ring angle, buckle tension, and seatback recline can be excluded from the input feature set.
Wang, Da, Ahmed, Jawwad, Rowe, Mike, Brase, Dan
Improve Safety Balance between Women and Men in Frontal Crashes through Parametric Human Modeling and Adaptive Design Optimization2025-22-00101/23/2026
Objective: Previous studies have reported disparity in injuries between male and female drivers in the risk of certain types of injuries in frontal crashes that may be due to a myriad of sex-related differences, including body size, shape, anatomy, or sitting posture. The objectives of this study are 1) to use mesh-morphing methods to generate a diverse set of human body models (HBMs) representing a wide range of body sizes and shapes for both sexes, 2) conduct population-based frontal crash simulations, and 3) explore adaptive restraint design strategies that may lead to enhanced safety for the whole population while mitigating potential differences in injury risks between male and female drivers Method: A total of 200 HBMs with a wide range of body sizes and shapes were generated by morphing the THUMS v4.1 midsize male model into geometries predicted by the statistical human geometry models. Ten male and ten female HBMs were selected for population-based simulations. An existing automated simulation framework was leveraged to rapidly set up crash simulations with the morphed HBMs and previously-validated driver compartment and restraint models. A total of 1,000 frontal crash simulations were performed under varied restraint designs and crash severities. A surrogate model was developed based on the simulation data using a Gaussian Process (GP) method. Two design optimization schemes were used to flexibly adjust design parameters based on subject variables to minimize population injury risks while minimizing differences in injury risk between male and female HBMs. Key Results: The simulations indicated that the joint injury probability (Pjoint) is more sensitive to the seatbelt and driver airbag variables at 35 mph, while the variability is greatly reduced at 25 mph for all design variables. The optimal adaptive design strategy from these models suggested a higher seat belt load limit, higher airbag inflation pressure, smaller airbag venting, and higher steering column force for occupants with higher body mass index (BMI). The adaptive design reduced the population Pjoint by 19.6%, 31.8% and 38.8% from the baseline design when Delta-V equals to 25, 30 and 35 mph, respectively. For high speed crashes (Delta-V = 35 mph), the proposed adaptive design reduced the average Pjoint differences between men and women from 24.02% to 2.84% compared to the baseline design. Surprisingly, a restraint strategy constrained to sex-based balance is able to maintain similar injury risks between male and female drivers. Major Conclusion: This study is the first to integrate finite element crash simulations with adaptive restraint design optimization to potentially reduce population injury risks and safety balance between male and female occupants. Gaussian process was shown to be an effective surrogate to FE simulations.
Sun, Wenbo, Hu, Jingwen, Lin, Yang-Shen, Boyle, Kyle, Reed, Matthew, Sun, Zhaonan, Hallman, Jason
Addressing Safety Belt Discomfort among Female Driving Population through Data Collection and Simulation2026-26-00161/16/2026
The number of female drivers in India is increasing alongside the rapid growth of the Indian automotive industry. A driving comfort survey conducted among female drivers revealed that many of them experienced discomfort when wearing safety belts—while driving and as front-seat passengers. This discomfort is primarily due to a phenomenon referred to as “neck cutting.” The root cause of neck cutting is likely related to vehicle design, which is traditionally based on Anthropometric Test Devices (ATD’s) representing the 5th, 50th & 95th percentile (%tile) of the global population. However, a literature review indicated that the anthropometric dimensions of the Indian populations are generally smaller than those of the global for the respective candidate. To validate the neck-cutting issue, various female candidates were asked to sit in the Driver’s seat for physical measurements trials. Accordingly, methodology was developed to quantify neck cutting parameters objectively. A correlation study was performed to align virtual simulation results with physical trials outcomes, to fine-tune the virtual methodology. Based on the findings, few recommendations were suggested which were evaluated against its effect on existing relevant standards.
Kulkarni, Nachiket A, Chitodkar, Vivek V, Eknath Chopade, Santosh, Mahajan, Rahul, Yamgar, Babasaheb S
Analysis of Road Accident Statistics for Females in India and Gaps in Safety Regulations2026-26-00201/16/2026
This paper investigates the current state of road safety for female occupants in India, with a particular focus on road accident statistics and the gaps in safety regulations. According to the Road Accident in India 2022 report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), female occupants constitute 16% of passenger car fatalities. Using a extensive dataset of 596 passenger car accidents involving at least one female occupant from the Road Accident Sampling System – India (RASSI), this study evalu the severity and patterns of injuries sustained by female drivers and passengers. The analysis identifies critical shortcomings in existing safety measures, particularly in addressing anatomical differences and male-centric safety designs. Gender-sorted injury trends reveal heightened vulnerabilities for women in crash scenarios. Current regulatory frameworks bank on crash test dummies developed on average male anthropometry, neglecting female-specific biomechanical needs in seatbelt fit, airbag deployment, and injury mitigation. Key gaps include the absence of standardized female-representative crash test dummies and insufficient anthropometric data on Indian women, which compromise the effectiveness of safety systems. To address these issues, the paper advocates for systematic gender-sorted data collection and integration of female-centric dummies in crash testing protocols. Policy recommendations emphasize the urgent need for gender-sensitive regulations and targeted anthropometric research to align safety measures with the physiological diversity of occupants. These steps are vital to reducing disparities in injury outcomes and promoting equitable road safety for women in India.
Ayyagari, Chandrashekhar, G, Santhosh Kumar, Rao, Guruprakash
Geometrical Assessment of the Curtain Airbag Coverage in Indian Passenger Vehicles2026-26-00211/16/2026
Curtain airbags are the most effective protective systems to prevent severe/fatal head injuries in side collisions with narrow objects such as poles or trees. One of the important parameters of curtain airbags is the inflated zone i.e. the coverage area of the airbag, which decides the extent of head protection for occupants with different anthropometries in different seating rows. EuroNCAP first introduced the concept of Head Protection Device Assessment (HPDA) in 2015., In addition to the performance requirements in the dynamic test, EuroNCAP started assessing the deployed curtain airbag/s for its area coverage and verification of inflated zones for various anthropometries over occupant rows. In India, there is now a near total adoption of curtain airbags as standard fitment by the OEMs. Further, introduction of Bharat NCAP (BNCAP), a Perpendicular Pole Side Impact test is conducted for assessing the effectiveness of curtain airbags in a dynamic test, but currently, does not perform the HPD assessment. The paper studies the Head Protection Device/Curtain Airbags offered in Passenger Vehicles in India w.r.t. the Head Protection Device Geometric Assessment (HPDA). This assessment analyses the effectiveness of curtain airbags present in Indian passenger vehicles for protection of occupants of different anthropometries. The study is conducted on the vehicles that have been tested at ARAI and are also currently under sale in the Indian market.
Jaju, Divyan, Kulkarni, Dileep, Mahajan, Rahul
Chinese Standard Typical Traffic Participant Characteristic Parameters Model Library Construction Technology2025-99-021012/23/2025
In the context of the automotive industry’s rapid evolution, traffic safety has become a top priority. Automobile active safety technology has shown great potential in reducing traffic accidents. Soft targets in intelligent vehicle testing play a pivotal role in assessing active safety performance. However, these targets are designed according to standards set by European and American countries, which may not fully reflect China’s needs. The study’s objective is to design a library of pedestrian parameter models that meet Chinese standards. It began with the design of a representative pedestrian target, created using Chinese body size parameters and data. An experimental investigation was then conducted to determine the radar characteristics of pedestrian targets. A comparative analysis was performed with reference products. The study led to the creation of a model library for pedestrian targets, following the Chinese standard. It was formulated using experimental data and standards.
Tian, Xinpeng, Guo, Juwei, Chen, Xingyu, Zhang, Jie, Zhang, Xin, Wang, Ke
Optimal Investigation About Cab of BSC Racing Car Based on Ergonomics2025-01-86694/1/2025
In the Baja race, off-road vehicles need to run under a variety of real and complex off-road conditions such as pebble road, shell pit, stone bad road, hump, water puddle, etc. In the process of this high-intensity and high-concentration race, the unoptimized design of the cab in ergonomics will easily cause the driver's visual and handling fatigue, so that the driver's attention is not concentrated. Cause the occurrence of security accidents. Moreover, lower back pain, sciatic nerve discomfort, lumbar spine diseases and other occupational diseases are basically caused by uncomfortable driving posture and unreasonable control matching, and these have a lot to do with unreasonable ergonomic design. In order to solve these problems, firstly establish the human body model of the driver, and then build the BSC racing car model by using 3D modeling software Catia. Then use the ergonomics simulation software Jack to analyze the visibility, accessibility and comfort. Based on the simulation analysis, provide a more scientific and effective cab optimization scheme, to improve the driving comfort and safety, and provide experience and technical reference for the future development and progress of Baja racing.
Liu, Yuzhou, Liu, Silang
Modeling and Evaluation of FSAE Vehicle Cockpit Ergonomics2025-01-86104/1/2025
This paper seeks to define an analytical approach to ergonomic cockpit design for SAE formula style vehicles. The proposed approach uses a data driven driver model based on RAMSIS ergonomic FEA that considers the discomfort, fatigue, and force availability to evaluate cockpit designs that are generated considering defined constraint inputs, such as driver gender and size. The multifunctional model is applicable to various settings of vehicle design and is tuned toward proving performance in operation tasks, as well as setting the groundwork for a multi-variable optimization to determine the preferred driver controls positions for minimum effort and fatigue. In this initial research, RAMSIS ergonomic software is used to generate fatigue and joint discomfort data related to individual joint angles. Anthropometric data is used to calculate the proportional limb lengths from an individual’s gender and height percentile. The optimization function works by selecting a range of driver percentiles and creating random vehicle control positions within the bounds established. From this, each driver is positioned in the car in a random configuration and inverse kinematics calculations evaluate the driver’s limb and joint angles in the driving position. Using the discomfort and fatigue values in the ergonomic dataset, the penalty function evaluates each driving position. The optimization function works towards a minimum discomfort and fatigue rating using provided convergence criteria. Once the acceptance criteria are met, the optimal cockpit position for the desired range of driver percentiles is reported from the position function. A visualization of the optimum driver position for minimum comfort and fatigue is generated from the results of the algorithm, taking into account the constraints and key cockpit features.
Mayor, J.Rhett, Bezaitis, Megan, Oromi, Negar, Winters, Emily, Repp, Alex
A Survey of Vehicle Forward Lighting System Mounting Height and Driver Eye Height2025-01-86624/1/2025
Headlight glare remains a persistent problem to the U.S. driving public. Over the past 30 years, vehicle forward lighting and signaling systems have evolved dramatically in terms of styling and lighting technologies used. Importantly, vehicles driven in the U.S. have increased in size during this time as the proportion of pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) has increased relative to passenger sedans and other lower-height vehicles. Accordingly, estimates of typical driver eye height and the height of lighting and signaling equipment on vehicles from one or two decades ago are unlikely to represent the characteristics of current vehicles in the U.S. automotive market. In the present study we surveyed the most popular vehicles sold in the U.S. and carried out evaluations of the heights of lighting and signaling systems, as well as typical driver eye heights based on male and female drivers. These data may be of use to those interested in understanding how exposure to vehicle headlighting and other factors have changed in the recent past.
Bullough, John D.
Study of Indian Population’s Eye Point to Adapt Indian Vehicle Design to Indian Anthropometry for Accident Risk Mitigation2025-01-86654/1/2025
India has one of the highest accident rates in the world. Quite a few accidents have been attributed to poor driver visibility. Driver visibility is an important factor that can help mitigate the risk of accidents. The optimal visibility of in-vehicle controls is also essential for improving driver experience. Optimized driver visibility improves driving comfort and gives confidence to the driver, ensuring the safety of drivers and subsequently that of pedestrians. Driver visibility is an important consideration for vehicle occupant packaging and SAE has defined various standards and regulations for the same. These guidelines are defined considering American anthropometry, helping OEMs create global vehicles with uniform checkpoints. However, due to anthropometric differences, a need was felt to capture and analyze Indian-specific eyellipse and eye points. To measure the eye point of the user in a controlled environment, the interiors of a passenger vehicle were simulated using a Flexible Interior Mockup (FIM). A Body Motion Tracker (BMT) camera setup was used to capture the user’s eye point related data with the help of markers while they were seated inside the FIM in static condition. The eye point related data was recorded at five different recline angles while giving the user complete control over the seat slide position. Taking the Indian population specific eye point into consideration along with SAE standards for the design and positioning of vehicle components, in vehicles made for India will help optimize the visibility for Indian drivers and reduce the risk of accidents. It will also help improve the overall driving experience while positively affecting the safety level of drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
P H, Salman, Kalra, Prerita, Rawat, Ashish, Sharma, Deepak, Singh, Ashwinder
Lightweight Optimization of an Electric Bus Body Frame Based on the C 2 oDE Algorithm2025-01-86544/1/2025
In this work, design optimization for the lightweight of the body frame of a commercial electric bus with the requirements of stiffness, strength and crashworthiness is presented. The technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is applied to calculate the components that have a great impact on the output response of the static modal model and the rear-end collision model. The thickness of the five components with the highest contribution in the two models is determined as the final design variable. Design of experiment (DOE) is carried out based on the Latin Hypercube sampling method, and then the surrogate models are fitted by the least squares regression (LSR) method based on the DOE sampling data. The error analysis of the surrogate model is carried out to determine whether it can replace the finite element (FE) model for optimization, then the optimization scheme for lightweight optimization of electric bus frame is implemented based on the algorithm of composite differential evolution for constrained evolutionary optimization (C2oDE). Comparing the optimization results with the initial values, it can be found that the mass of the electric bus body frame is reduced by 51.59kg with a reduction rate of 4.99%. Meanwhile, the energy absorption of the rear wall increases by 2.79%, the maximum intrusion is reduced by 0.36%, the intrusion velocity at the center of the rear wall of the electric bus body frame is reduced by 0.46%, the acceleration at the cabin center is reduced by 3.29%, and the crashworthiness performance of the electric bus body frame is also improved.
Yang, Xiujian, Tian, Dekuan, Liu, Jiaqi, Cui, Yan, Lin, Qiang
Predicting Small-Stature Young Female Rib Response with an Isolated Rib Finite Element Model09-12-02-001411/12/2024
Thorax injuries are a significant cause of mortality in automotive crashes, with varying susceptibility across sex and age demographics. Finite element (FE) human body models (HBMs) offer the potential for injury outcome analysis by incorporating anthropometric variations. Recent advancements in material constitutive models, cortical bone fracture and continuum damage mechanics model (CFraC) and an orthotropic trabecular bone model (OrthoT), offer the opportunity to further improve rib models. In this study, the CFraC and OrthoT material modes, coupled with age-specific material properties, were progressively implemented to the Global Human Body Model Consortium small female 6th rib. Four distinct 6th rib models were developed and compared against sex and age-specific experimental data. The updated material models notably refined the predictions of force–displacement responses, aligning them more closely with the experimental averages. The CFraC model significantly improved the prediction of displacement at fracture, suggesting that incorporating stress triaxiality criteria can better account for the complex loading conditions ribs face in crashes, such as combined cortical tension and shear due to rib bending and torque. The study highlights the importance of using biofidelic material models and sex and age-specific data to simulate hard tissue fractures. The improved rib model demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating updated material properties and constitutive models to enhance injury prediction accuracy, which can inform better automotive safety designs and reduce mortality rates. Further research is recommended to extend these models across different demographic groups to fully capture population variability in rib fracture risk.
Corrales, Miguel A., Holcombe, Sven, Agnew, Amanda M., Kang, Yun-Seok, Markusic, Craig, Sugaya, Hisaki, Cronin, Duane S.
Sonometric Triangulation for Seated Pelvis Orientation09-12-02-001611/12/2024
Pelvic orientation in vehicles is crucial for preventing injuries and creating safer vehicles and restraint systems. A better understanding of pelvic orientation could provide more accurate anthropomorphic test device (ATD) models of underrepresented populations such as obese individuals, children, and small females. Sonomicrometry is the use of piezoelectric transducers that transmit ultrasound signals to each other to measure the distance between them. These signals may be aggregated using triangulation. In this experiment, ultrasound crystals were secured to the surface of a porcine surrogate to evaluate pelvic movement. This data was then processed using Sonometrics software to generate a 3D model of four static positions and three dynamic tests. The test was validated using a camera and a 3D measurement arm (CMM) to validate XYZ positions. This article discusses how this method could be helpful for developing more accurate ATD models, preventing fatalities in vehicle crashes.
Mrozek, Allison, Sirhan, Katerena, MacDonald, Robert, Dannaoui, Abdul, Mazloum, Aisha, Ochocki, Katarzyna, ‘Dale’ Bass , Cameron R.
Evaluation of Child Anthropometries in Relation to Modern Vehicle Seat and Booster Dimensions2024-22-000410/30/2024
This study compared modern vehicle and booster geometries with relevant child anthropometries. Vehicle geometries (seat length, seat pan height, shoulder belt outlet height, and roof height) were obtained for 275 center and outboard rear seating positions of US vehicles (MY 2009–2022). Measurements of 85 US boosters (pan height and pan length) and anthropometries of 80 US children between 4–14yo (seated height, thigh length, leg length, and seated shoulder height) were also collected. Comparisons were made between vehicles, boosters, and child anthropometries. Average vehicle seat lengths exceeded child thigh lengths (+9.5cm). Only 16.4% of seating positions had seat lengths less than the child thigh length mean+1SD. Even for children at least 145cm, only 18.8% had thigh lengths greater than the average vehicle seat length. Child thigh lengths were more comparable with average booster seat pan lengths for all multi-mode and high-back designs (-2.0cm) and low-back boosters (+3.1cm). The average observed booster pan height (9.9cm) would help most children achieve seated shoulder heights similar to the Hybrid III 5th percentile Female ATD. Compared to vehicle seats, booster geometries were more compatible with child thigh lengths and assist children in achieving seated shoulder heights more comparable to the vehicle restraint system. This emphasizes the continued need for shorter vehicle seat cushion lengths for these occupants and the need to educate caregivers and promote booster recommendations which highlight the importance of achieving proper belt fit and avoiding slouched postures, even for children greater than 8 years and/or 145cm.
Baker, Gretchen H., Connell, Rosalie R., Rhodes, Carrie A., Mansfield, Julie A.
Developing Customer Loss Function for Door Opening Angle in Passenger Cars: Balancing the Ergonomic Performance between “Entry/Exit (Ingress/Egress) Accommodation” and Door Reachability15-17-03-00147/27/2024
Occupant packaging is one of the key tasks involved in the early architectural phase of a vehicle. Accommodation, as a convention, is generally considered related to a car’s interior. Typical roominess metrics of the occupant like hip room, shoulder room, and elbow room are defined with the door in its closed condition. Several other roominess metrics like knee room, leg room, head room, and the like are also specified. While all the guidelines are defined with doors in their closed condition, it is also important to consider the dynamics that exist while the occupant is entering the vehicle. This article expands the traditional understanding of occupant accommodation beyond conventionally considering the vehicle interior’s ability to accommodate anthropometry. It broadens the scope to include dynamic conditions, such as when doors are opened, providing a more realistic and practical perspective. As a luxury car manufacturer, it is important to ensure the best overall customer experience at each touch point of the vehicle. When the customer enters the vehicle, there should be sufficient space provided by the door opening angle for a comfortable entry. The larger the opening angle, the better is the “entry accommodation” and vice versa. However, a wide-open door also necessitates the customer to bend more, after being seated, to reach its handle and close it. Thus, it becomes a compromise between what is possible as accommodation while the customer is entering the vehicle and how easy it is to close the door after being seated. The same logic holds good while the customer opens the door and exits the vehicle. This article aims to develop a customer loss function (CLF) between the two conflicting criteria by considering relevant anthropometric distribution of customers. This study focuses on driver compartment and the methodology developed is also pertinent to rear compartment with minor adaptations. Since driver’s seating position is heavily dependent on anthropometry, finer details of occupant seating position are also considered in this study. CLF developed in this article will help the designer and packaging engineers in making informed decisions on the door opening angle, by being conscious of the customer loss/gain for defined performance metrics.
Rajakumaran, Sriram, Sreenivas, Kalyan
Application of a Seat Transmissibility Approach to Experience Measured or Predicted Seat-Rail Vibration in a Multi-Attribute Simulator2024-01-29626/12/2024
Computer modelling, virtual prototyping and simulation is widely used in the automotive industry to optimize the development process. While the use of CAE is widespread, on its own it lacks the ability to provide observable acoustics or tactile vibrations for decision makers to assess, and hence optimize the customer experience. Subjective assessment using Driver-in-Loop simulators to experience data has been shown to improve the quality of vehicles and reduce development time and uncertainty. Efficient development processes require a seamless interface from detailed CAE simulation to subjective evaluations suitable for high level decision makers. In the context of perceived vehicle vibration, the need for a bridge between complex CAE data and realistic subjective evaluation of tactile response is most compelling. A suite of VI-grade noise and vibration simulators have been developed to meet this challenge. In the process of developing these solutions VI-grade has identified the need for a means of accurately interpreting and presenting CAE vibration predictions at hardpoints such as the seat-rail (which can be efficiently and accurately modelled) as equivalent vibration at the driver tactile interfaces. This need has resulted in the development of a seat transmissibility approach to transform the seat-rail vibration to an accurate reproduction of vibration at the seat to driver interface points. This paper will describe an efficient measurement based seat transmissibility approach, and identify additional benefits such as the ability to make virtual seat swaps or experience the vibration that would be perceived by people with different physical characteristics (body mass, height, etc.).
Franks, Graham, Tcherniak, Dmitri, Kennings, Paul, Allman-Ward, Mark, Kuhmann, Marvin
An Uncertainty Propagation Approach to Collective Bounce Rotorcraft-Pilot Couplings AnalysisF-0080-2024-13215/7/2024
In the context of Rotorcraft Pilot Couplings, the biomechanics of the pilot body play a fundamental role in determining the stability of the pilot-vehicle closed loop system. The response of the pilot body is, in turn, inherently stochastic, being a function of pilot biometrics and muscular activation. Coupling the statistical distribution of pilot biomechanical behavior determined in specialized experimental campaign with linear models of the helicopter heave dynamics, an uncertainty propagation procedure is developed, with the aim of estimating the statistical distribution of the stability margins of the closed loop pilot-vehicle system. Results obtained varying the collective lever characteristics, as well as the helicopter model parameters, align well with results obtained previously in deterministic settings. However, the new scheme allows to define quantitative robustness indices.
Zanoni, Andrea, Masarati, Pierangelo, Colombo, Francesca, Zilletti, Michele, Marchesoli, Davide, Talamo, Carmen, Cassoni, Gianni
Mapping out future vehicle cockpits24AUTD05_095/1/2024
Game-like navigation visuals Conversational-style voice commands. Contactless biometric sensing. A tidal wave of software code and sensing technologies are being prepped to alter in-vehicle activities. Two supplier companies, TomTom and Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America (MEAA), recently presented their concept cockpit demonstrators to media at TomTom's North American corporate offices in Farmington Hills, Michigan. A few highlights:
Buchholz, Kami
Developing dynamic driver head envelope for passenger cars considering real-time road conditions2024-01-24934/9/2024
Ergonomics plays an important role in automobile design to achieve optimal compatibility between occupants and vehicle components. The overall goal is to ensure that the vehicle design accommodates the target customer group, who come in varied sizes, preferences and tastes. Headroom is one such metric that not only influences accommodation rate but also conveys a visual perception on how spacious the vehicle is. An adequate headroom is necessary for a good seating comfort and a relaxed driving experience. Headroom is intensely discussed in magazine tests and one of the key deciding factors in purchasing a car. SAE J1100 defines a set of measurements and standard procedures for motor vehicle dimensions. H61, W27, W35, H35 and W38 are some of the standard dimensions that relate to headroom and head clearances. While developing the vehicle architecture in the early design phase, it is customary to specify targets for various ergonomic attributes and arrive at the above-mentioned dimensions. In general, specifications that relate to headroom are only a consequence of static assessments carried out inside a laboratory and not on real-time driving condition. The static assessment can be as simple as positioning a digital manikin in CAD environment and then specifying how high or low the interior trim of the headliner be to achieve a certain head clearance. In actual driving scenario, the vehicle would experience rough terrain. In such cases, the road undulations can displace the occupant from their normal seated position in effect reducing the head clearance. Therefore, it is important to understand this dynamic variance of head clearance on actual driving condition. Undertaking a volunteer test to study this variance comes with risk of endangering the participant and has other measurement related complexities. Hence, we adopt a simulation-based approach for the same using Human Body Models (HBMs) of different anthropometry, which are proven having high bio-fidelity. The aim of this study is to validate this hypothesis and develop a head envelope for drivers considering dynamic road conditions, thus enabling vehicle manufactures digitally evaluate head clearance during early development phase. A typical driving scenario with various vehicle speeds on different stochastic roads and braking conditions are simulated using MBS vehicle models and the acceleration signatures from the simulations are used to estimate the vertical lift of driver over the seat. The resulting displaced posture is compared with the normal driving posture and various head clearances are analyzed. The outcome of this work will help in validating and (or) updating the static head envelope and use it for specifying the headroom target for driver in the early phase of the vehicle design.
Rajakumaran, Sriram, S, Rahul, Vasireddy, Rakesh Mitra, Nair, Suhas
A Method of Generating a Composite Dataset for Monitoring of Non-Driving Related Tasks2024-01-26404/9/2024
Recently, several datasets have become available for occupant monitoring algorithm development, including real and synthetic datasets. However, real data acquisition is expensive and labeling is complex, while virtual data may not accurately reflect actual human physiology. To address these issues and obtain high-fidelity data for training intelligent driving monitoring systems, we have constructed a hybrid dataset that combines real driving image data with corresponding virtual data generated from 3D driving scenarios. We have also taken into account individual anthropometric measures and driving postures. Our approach not only greatly enriches the dataset by using virtual data to augment the sample size, but it also saves the need for extensive annotation efforts. Besides, we can enhance the authenticity of the virtual data by applying ergonomics techniques based on RAMSIS, which is crucial in dataset construction. This paper presents the process and content of generating a hybrid dataset for the monitoring of driver’s high risk NDRTs monitoring, serving as a potential alternative to existing datasets and addressing their limitations.
Wu, Xian, Gou, Junjie, Shao, Jianwang
Unique curved based seat design for better ride comfort2024-01-25074/9/2024
Designing an automotive seat, it is required to perform a detailed study of anthropometry, which deals with measurement of human individuals and understanding human physical variations. It also requires application-based movement study of driver’s hands, feet’s & overall body movement. It is very difficult to design seat curvatures based on any static manikin-based software. We at VECV, have developed a new concept using mixed reality VR technology to capture all body movements for designing best in class seat curvature to accommodate variety of drivers with different body types. We have designed a specialized static bunk, which has a wide range of seat, steering and ABC paddle adjustments, which are integrated with virtual data. We use to study and capture the data of driving position and other ergonomic postures of wide range of people with different body types on this static bunk according to their comfortable driving posture. In this comfortable driving posture, user is immersed in virtual environment, where we further study different body movements as per different applications. This data is used to design seat curvatures to achieve best driving comfort for long range driving. POC of concept design is completed.
Bhatnagar, Manas, Jain, Nishant, Biswal, Jyotiranjan, Sharma, Ajay
Integrating Machine Learning in Pedestrian Forensics: A Comprehensive Tool for Analysing Pedestrian Collisions2024-01-24684/9/2024
Analysis of pedestrian-to-vehicle collisions can be complex due to the nature of the interaction and the physics involved. The scarcity of evidence like video evidence (from CCTV or dashcams), data from the vehicle's ECU, witness accounts, and physical evidence such as tyre marks, complicates the analysis of these incidents. In cases with limited evidence, current forensic methods often rely on prolonged inquiry processes or computationally intensive simulations. Without adequate data, accurately estimating pedestrian kinematics and addressing hit-and-run scenarios becomes challenging. This research provides an alternative approach to enhancing pedestrian forensic analysis based on machine learning (ML) algorithms trained on over 3000 multi-body computer simulations with a diverse set of vehicle profiles and pedestrian anthropometries. Leveraging information such as vehicle profile, damage, and pedestrian attributes like height and weight, the ML algorithm estimates essential parameters like vehicle impact speed, pedestrian gait, crossing speed, and crossing direction. The proposed ML algorithm was evaluated against real-world data from the UK Road Accident In Depth Studies (RAIDS) and proved to be accurate in predicting impact conditions within an error tolerance of 10%. This ML-based technology provides forensic investigators with vital pedestrian collision parameters early in the inquiry, enabling a focused analysis on a reduced collision parameter set. First responders can swiftly estimate speed characteristics, and forensic analysts can streamline their investigations, potentially aiding legal procedures and enhancing post-impact care through the use of this in-situ tool.
Shrinivas, Vadhiraj, Bastien, Christophe, Davies, Huw, Daneshkhah, Alireza, Hardwicke, Joseph, Neal-Sturgess, Clive, Lamaj, Albi
Effects of Anthropometry and Passive Restraint Deployment Timing on Occupant Metrics in Moderate-Severity Offset Frontal Collisions2024-01-27494/9/2024
There are established federal requirements and industry standards for frontal crash testing of motor vehicles. Consistently applied methods support reliability, repeatability, and comparability of performance metrics between tests and platforms. However, real world collisions are rarely identical to standard test protocols. This study examined the effects of occupant anthropometry and passive restraint deployment timing on occupant kinematics and biomechanical loading in a moderate-severity (approximately 30 kph delta-V) offset frontal crash scenario. An offset, front-to-rear vehicle-to-vehicle crash test was performed, and the dynamics of the vehicle experiencing the frontal collision were replicated in a series of three sled tests. Crash test and sled test vehicle kinematics were comparable. A standard or reduced-weight 50th percentile male Hybrid III ATD (H3-50M) or a standard 5th percentile female Hybrid III ATD (H3-5F) was belted in the driver’s seating position. In the crash test, the frontal airbag and lap and shoulder belt pretensioners deployed on commands from the vehicle’s airbag control module (ACM). In the sled tests, deployments were commanded with either similar timing or 12 milliseconds earlier. Small, measurable differences in occupant kinematics and biomechanical loading were observed. All biomechanical metrics were low compared to injury assessment reference values (IARVs), consistent with the moderate severity of the tests. The variations in parameters in these tests did not result in suboptimal interactions with restraints, such as submarining, belt webbing migration, or bottoming-out of the airbag resulting in direct occupant loading to the steering wheel. These results indicate that the variations in occupant anthropometry and restraint deployment times investigated did not substantially alter the low risk of serious injuries.
Courtney, Amy, Crosby, Charles, Miller, Bruce, Osterhout, Aaron, Walker, James, Gondek, Jonathon
Multi-Objective Optimization of Occupant Survival Space of a Medium-Duty Vehicle under Rollover Condition2024-01-22634/9/2024
Due to the high center of gravity of medium-duty vehicles, rollover accidents can easily occur during high-speed cornering and lane changes. In order to prevent the deformation of the body structure, which would restrict the survival space and cause compression injuries to occupants, it is necessary to investigate methods for mitigating these incidents. This paper establishes a numerical model of right-side rollover for a commercial medium-duty vehicle in accordance with ECE R66 regulations, and the accuracy of the model is verified by experiment. According to the results, the material and size parameters of the key components of the right side pillar are selected as design variables. The response result matrix was constructed using the orthogonal design method for total mass, energy absorption, maximum collision acceleration, and minimum distance from the survival space. A multi-objective optimization of 25 sets of sample points was performed using a multi-factor weight analysis method, with the highest weighted objective being the minimum distance between the pillar and the survival space. The results indicate an 11.3% increase in the minimum distance between the column and the survival space after a rollover, an 18.5% decrease in peak acceleration, and a 13.7% reduction in total body weight. This improves the rollover safety of the entire vehicle.
Zhang, Jiangfan, Zou, Xiaojun, Yuan, Liu-kai, Zhang, Tang-yun, Wang, Tao, Wang, Liangmo
Study and Analysis of Dynamic Seat Pressure Distribution by Human Subjects during Vehicle Running State on Test Tracks2024-26-03541/16/2024
The purpose of this study is to conduct dynamic seat pressure mapping on vehicle seats during its operation on different test tracks under ambient environmental conditions for a defined speed. The test track comprises of pave roads, high frequency track, low frequency track and twist track. The variations in pressure distribution on seat during diverse road load inputs help to understand the seat cushion and back comfort for unique percentiles of human subjects ranging from 50th to 95th percentile population. For conducting the study, a sport utility vehicle (SUV) loaded with leatherette seats has chosen. Totally six participants (human subjects), five male and one female selected for the study based on their BMI (Body mass index) and body morphology. Pressure mats suitable for taking dynamic load inputs and able to log the data at a defined sampling rate mounted on seats and secured properly. The pressure mats should cover the seat cushion, bolster areas and back seat completely. The obtained data analyzed for the load variations from the normal 1g cushion and back load given by the participant in vehicle static condition. The outcome of this study and data analysis provides the inputs to seat design on dynamic load factors to be considered and seat ingress and egress durability test load case improvement, mainly in settle load case of human subject. Because in static seat pressure mapping, apart from ingress and egress, the human subject settle load have no significant variations since the vehicle in static condition.
Arthanathan, Sankaranarayanan
Prediction of Involuntary Knee Engagement on Dashboard Controls to Prevent Potential Accidents for Drivers in a Passenger Car2024-26-00101/16/2024
Ergonomics plays an important role in safety, comfort, and convenience of occupants in passenger cars. Customers come in different sizes; have different preferences and exhibit different seating behaviors while driving a car. With sophisticated interior styling themes aimed at satisfying the increasing customer demands, dashboard packaging and its integration in the vehicle has become a challenging task. This has a deteriorating effect on the driver knee clearance since dashboard has penetrated more into cockpit area to house the complex integration. With drivers having significant workload, their postures are within a presumable range of prediction. However, there still exists ‘out-of-customary’ behaviors while driving a vehicle. Drivers tend to sit in a slouched posture, and this leads to an involuntary knee engagement resulting in activation of critical controls like EPB (Electronic Parking Brake). EPB is an Active Safety feature and on activating it, the vehicle stops immediately. If this is not an intended action, it will potentially result in an accident, especially when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed. Although there are several recommended measurement standards by SAE to measure the design intent of vehicle, these do not directly address the situation explained above. The aim of this research is to prevent the involuntary action of knee engagement with dashboard controls by analyzing driver knee clearance in correlation with the ‘out-of-customary’ behaviors and making necessary corrections in the early design phase of the vehicle. In this study, we represent ‘out-of-customary’ driver behavior in the form of a slouched posture for subsequent assessments. This ‘out-of-customary’ characteristic of driver become more pronounced in autonomous vehicles where driver workload is significantly reduced and there are lot more unconventional driver behaviors that are possible. We aim to arrive at a mathematical model that predicts involuntary knee engagement based on architecture parameters for a given vehicle and a given anthropometry. This model can be deployed in early design phase of a vehicle to develop dashboard metrics. This model will act as a guiding principle to specify the threshold knee clearance of driver necessary to avoid potential accidents arising due to ‘out-of-customary’ behaviors.
Rajakumaran, Sriram, Devan, Rohan Maruti, Manekar, Rahul, Babaleshwar, Vinod, Kunnanath, Jasar
Restraint System Optimizations Using Diverse Human Body Models in Frontal Crashes09-11-02-00189/20/2023
Objective: This study aimed to optimize restraint systems and improve safety equity by using parametric human body models (HBMs) and vehicle models accounting for variations in occupant size and shape as well as vehicle type. Methodology: A diverse set of finite element (FE) HBMs were developed by morphing the GHBMC midsize male simplified model into statistically predicted skeleton and body shape geometries with varied age, stature, and body mass index (BMI). A parametric vehicle model was equipped with driver, front passenger, knee, and curtain airbags along with seat belts with pretensioner(s) and load limiter and has been validated against US-NCAP results from four vehicles (Corolla, Accord, RAV4, F150). Ten student groups were formed for this study, and each group picked a vehicle model, occupant side (driver vs. passenger), and an occupant model among the 60 HBMs. About 200 frontal crash simulations were performed with 10 combinations of vehicles (n = 4) and occupants (m = 8). The airbag inflation, airbag vent size, seatbelt load limiter, and steering column collapse force were varied to reach better occupant protection. The joint injury probability (Pjoint) combining head, neck, chest, and lower extremity injury risks was used for the design optimization. Injury risk curves were scaled based on the skeleton size and shape of each HBM. Results and Conclusions: We observed that tall and heavier male occupants tend to strike through the airbag leading to higher head injury risk; older and female occupants tend to sustain higher chest injury risk, while obese occupants tend to have higher lower extremity injury risk. After design optimizations, the average Pjoint was reduced from 0.576 ± 0.218 to 0.343 ± 0.044. The airbag inflation and venting were found to be highly effective in head protection, while the belt load limit and steering column force were sensitive to chest injury risks. Conflicting parameter effects were found between head and chest injuries and among different occupants, highlighting the complexity of achieving safety equity across a diverse population. This study demonstrated the benefit of adaptive restraint systems for a diverse population.
Yang, Zhenhao, Desai, Amoghsidd, Boyle, Kyle, Rupp, Jonathan, Reed, Matthew, Hu, Jingwen
Comparison of the Knee–Thigh–Hip Response in Small Female ATDs with Female PMHS09-11-02-00139/20/2023
Bilateral knee impacts were conducted on Hybrid III and THOR 5th percentile female anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), and the results were compared to previously reported female PMHS data. Each ATD was impacted at velocities of 2.5, 3.5, and 4.9 m/s. Knee–thigh–hip (KTH) loading data, obtained either via direct measurement or through exercising a one-dimensional lumped parameter model (LPM), was analyzed for differences in loading characteristics including the maximum force, time to maximum force, loading rate, and loading duration. In general, the Hybrid III had the highest loading rate and maximum force, and the lowest loading duration and time to peak force for each point along KTH. Conversely, the PMHS generally had the lowest loading rate and maximum force, and the highest loading duration and time to peak force for each point along KTH. The force transfer from the knee to the femur was 79.2 ± 0.3% for the Hybrid III 5th female, 82.7 ± 0.4% for the THOR-05F, and 70.6 ± 1.7% for the PMHS. The force transfer from the knee to the hip was 60.6 ± 0.5% for the Hybrid III 5th female, 41.4 ± 0.4% for the THOR-05F, and 57.0 ± 3.0% for the PMHS. While the Hybrid III aligned more with the PMHS force transfer ratios, the loading characteristics of the THOR-05F were more similar to the PMHS.
Carpenter, Randolff L., Berthelson, Parker R., Donlon, John-Paul, Forman, Jason L.
The Impact of Seat Belt Pretensioner Deployment on Forward-Leaning Occupants09-11-02-00199/20/2023
Pyrotechnic seat belt pretensioners typically remove 8–15 cm of belt slack and help couple an occupant to the seat. Our study investigated pretensioner deployment on forward-leaning, live volunteers. The forward-leaning position was chosen because research indicates that passengers frequently depart from a standard sitting position. Characteristics of the 3D kinematics of forward-leaning volunteers following pretensioner deployment determines if body size is correlated with subject response. Nine adult subjects (three female), ages 18–43 years old, across a wide range of body sizes (50–120 kg) were tested. The age was limited to young, active adults as pyrotechnic pretensioners can deliver a notable force to the trunk. Subjects assumed a forward-leaning position, with 26 cm between C7 and the headrest, in a laboratory setting that replicated the passenger seat of a vehicle. At an unexpected time, the pretensioner was deployed. 3D kinematics were measured through a nine-camera motion capture system with reflective markers on the left and right glabella, tragus, manubrium, C7, lateral proximal head of humerus, olecranon process, patella, and lateral malleolus. For uniformity, all pretensioners were of the same model made by Autoliv and were dual systems (having deployment in the retractor and outbound anchor). The initial velocity of the trunk (first 50 ms) was dependent on the body size, with smaller subjects getting pulled back quicker. Following the first ~160 ms, there was a slight rebound where subjects briefly moved forward, followed by a period of high intersubject variance in movement. By isolating the effects of pyrotechnic pretensioner deployment on live volunteers, this study fills in an important gap in automotive safety research and may help with evaluating computer models or designing future restraint systems with advanced sensor technology where pretensioners deploy prior to significant vehicle deceleration.
Hellenbrand, Ciboney, Brown, J. Fletcher, Goodworth, Adam
Evaluation of Skin Penetration from Less Lethal Impact Munitions and Their Associated Risk Predictors09-11-02-00119/20/2023
Introduction: The use of less lethal impact munitions (LLIMs) by law enforcement has increased in frequency, especially following nationwide protests regarding police brutality and racial injustice in the summer of 2020. There are several reports of the projectiles causing severe injuries when they penetrate the skin including pulmonary contusions, bone fractures, liver lacerations, and, in some cases, death. The penetration threshold of skin in different body regions is due to differences in the underlying structure (varying degree of muscle, adipose tissue, and presence or absence of bone). Objective: The objective of this study was to further investigate what factors affected the likelihood of skin penetration in various body regions and to develop corresponding penetration risk curves. Methods: A total of eight, fresh/never frozen, unembalmed, postmortem human specimens (PMHS) were impacted by two projectile sizes: a 1″ and 5/8″ neoprene rubber ball in various body regions. Impacted body regions included the thigh, abdomen, anterior torso between ribs, anterior torso on a rib, sternum, scapula, posterior torso on a rib, and lower back for a total of a minimum of 24 shots per PMHS. To achieve both a penetrating and non-penetrating shot for each set of impacts, the impact location was assessed post impact to determine if penetration occurred, and the velocity of the next shot was adjusted to target the alternate outcome on the contralateral side within the same body region. Post-test, each PMHS underwent X-rays to determine if any other additional injuries occurred. Results: A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine which factors (e.g., velocity and energy density) were statistically significant at predicting the risk of penetration. Energy density was utilized as the primary predictor to evaluate the two projectiles’ data together and additional parameters (e.g., skin thickness and BMI) were also tested as co-factors. Statistical significance was obtained with energy density alone for the thigh (p = 0.004), anterior torso between ribs (p = 0.043), lower back (p = 0.04), scapula (p = 0.03), and posterior torso on a rib (p = 0.005). The abdomen region was not significant with energy density alone (p = 0.085) but when BMI was added as a co-factor significance was found to be (p = 0.021). The sternum and anterior torso on a rib were not found to have statistical significance with any of the predictors analyzed. The 50% risk of penetration was found for each region that had statistical significance. The thigh had a 50% risk at 12.62 J/cm2, 22.3 J/cm2 for the anterior torso between ribs, 28.6 J/cm2 for the lower back, 33.3 J/cm2 for the scapula, and 34.3 J/cm2 for the posterior torso on ribs. Conclusion: The results support that energy density is a good predictor for estimating the likelihood of the skin to penetrate and that the risk of penetration varies by body region.
Foley, Sierra, Sherman, Donald, Davis, Andrew, MacDonald, Robert, Bir, Cynthia
Letter from the Special Issue Editors09-11-02-00099/20/2023
Letter from the Special Issue Editors
Mueller, Becky, Bautsch, Brian, Mansfield, Julie
A Parametric Thoracic Spine Model Accounting for Geometric Variations by Age, Sex, Stature, and Body Mass Index09-11-02-00129/20/2023
In this study, a parametric thoracic spine (T-spine) model was developed to account for morphological variations among the adult population. A total of 84 CT scans were collected, and the subjects were evenly distributed among age groups and both sexes. CT segmentation, landmarking, and mesh morphing were performed to map a template mesh onto the T-spine vertebrae for each sampled subject. Generalized procrustes analysis (GPA), principal component analysis (PCA), and linear regression analysis were then performed to investigate the morphological variations and develop prediction models. A total of 13 statistical models, including 12 T-spine vertebrae and a spinal curvature model, were combined to predict a full T-spine 3D geometry with any combination of age, sex, stature, and body mass index (BMI). A leave-one-out root mean square error (RMSE) analysis was conducted for each node of the mesh predicted by the statistical model for every T-spine vertebra. Most of the RMSEs were less than 2 mm across the 12 vertebral levels, indicating good accuracy. The presented parametric T-spine model can serve as a geometry basis for parametric human modeling or future crash test dummy designs to better assess T-spine injuries accounting for human diversity.
Lian, Lihan, Baek, Michelle, Ma, Sunwoo, Jones, Monica, Hu, Jingwen
SAE TOMORROW TODAY: Life-Saving Biometrics Without Wearables134057/25/2023
Imagine a wireless sensor that can automatically alert authorities if an elderly relative has taken a fall or if a child has been left alone in a hot car. One company is doing just that - all without assistance from a wearable device. Founded in 2020, Pontosense is focused on the mission of saving lives through the use of a contactless RF sensor that monitors biometrics with medical grade technology. With 500+ patents, the Pontosense team is comprised of engineers as well as data and AI scientists who are making human-centric technology a reality in both the automotive and smart home markets. We sat down with Alex Qi, Chief Executive Officer, Pontosense, to discuss how the sensors work, the importance of privacy in biometric data collection, and unlocking new opportunities in adjacent markets.
Hineman, Marcie
Motor Vehicle Driver and Passenger Head PositionJ1052_202307 (Current)7/19/2023
This SAE Standard describes head position contours and procedures for locating the contours in a vehicle. Head position contours are useful in establishing accommodation requirements for head space and are required for several measures defined in SAE J1100. Separate contours are defined depending on occupant seat location and the desired percentage (95 and 99) of occupant accommodation. This document is primarily focused on application to Class A vehicles (see SAE J1100), which include most personal-use vehicles (passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks). A procedure for use in Class B vehicles can be found in Appendix B.
Human Accom and Design Devices Stds Comm
Obese Occupant Response in Reclined and Upright Seated Postures in Frontal Impacts2022-22-00026/27/2023
The American population is getting heavier and automated vehicles will accommodate unconventional postures. While studies replicating mid-size and upright fore-aft seated occupants are numerous, experiments with post-mortem human subjects (PMHS) with obese and reclined occupants are sparse. The objective of this study was to compare the kinematics of the head-neck, torso and pelvis, and document injuries and injury patterns in frontal impacts. Six PMHS with a mean body mass index of 38.2 ± 5.3 kg/m2 were equally divided between upright and reclined groups (seatback: 23°, 45°), restrained by a three-point integrated belt, positioned on a semi-rigid seat, and exposed to low and moderate velocities (15, 32 km/h). Data included belt loads, spinal accelerations, kinematics, and injuries from x-rays, computed tomography, and necropsy. At 15 km/h speed, no significant difference in the occupant kinematics and evidence of orthopedic failure was observed. At 32 km/h speed, the primary difference between the cohorts was significantly larger Z displacements in the reclined occupant at the head (190 ± 32 mm, vs. 105 ± 33 mm p < 0.05) and femur (52 ± 18 mm vs. 30 ± 10 mm, p < 0.05). All the moderate-speed tests produced at least one thorax injury. Rib fractures were scattered around the circumference of the rib-cage in the upright, while they were primarily concentrated on the anterior aspect of the rib-cage in two reclined specimens. Although MAIS was the same in both groups, the reclined specimens had more bi-cortical rib fractures, suggesting the potential for pneumothorax. While not statistical, these results suggest enhanced injuries with reclined obese occupants. These results could serve as a data set for validating the response of restrained obese anthropometric test device (ATDs) and computational human body models.
Somasundaram, Karthik, Humm, John R., Yoganandan, Narayan, Hauschild, Hans, Driesslein, Klaus, Pintar, Frank A.
Understanding Head Injury Risks during Car-to-Pedestrian Collisions Using Realistic Vehicle and Detailed Human Body Models2022-22-00066/27/2023
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and long-term disability in road traffic accidents (RTAs). Researchers have examined the effect of vehicle front shape and pedestrian body size on the risk of pedestrian head injury. On the other hand, the relationship between vehicle front shape parameters and pedestrian TBI risks involving a diverse population with varying body sizes has yet to be investigated. Thus, the purpose of this study was to comprehensively study the effect of vehicle front shape parameters and various pedestrian bodies ranging from 95th percentile male (AM95) to 6 years old (YO) child on the dynamic response of the head and the risk of TBIs during primary (vehicle) impact. At three different collision speeds (30, 40, and 50 km/h), a total of 36 car-to-pedestrian collisions (CPCs) were reconstructed using three different vehicle types (Subcompact passenger sedan, mid-sedan, and sports utility vehicle (SUV)) and four distinct THUMS pedestrian finite element (FE) models (AM50, AM95, AF05, and 6YO). We assessed skull stress and brain strains besides head linear and rotational kinematics. Our findings indicate that vehicle shape parameters especially bonnet leading edge height (BLEH), when being divided by the height of the Center of Gravity of the human body, correlated positively to head kinematics. The data from this study using realistic vehicle structures and detailed human body models showed that smaller BLEH/CG ratios reduced head injury criteria (HIC) and brain injury criteria (BrIC) values for the car center to mid-stance walking pedestrian impacts but with low-to-moderate R squared values between 0.2 to 0.5. Smaller BLEH/CG reduced head lateral bending velocities with R squared values of 0.57 to 0.63 for all impact velocities, and reduced HIC with R squared value of 0.62 for 50 km/h cases. In the future, simulations with realistic car structures and detailed human body models will be further used to simulate impacts at different locations and with various body shapes/postures.
Gunasekaran, Kalish, Islam, Sakib Ul, Mao, Haojie
Optimization of Daily Vibration Dose during Different Ride Parameters among Tractor Driving09-11-03-00094/18/2023
This research examined tractor operators’ daily vibration exposure A(8) with different input riding parameters, i.e., average speed (m/s) (2.78, 3.89, 5.0), body mass (BM) (kg/m2) (35.3, 32.6, 25.4), and different terrain types (brick, farm, and tar roads). To arrange the systematic sequence of experiments, Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array has been selected for this study. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is calculated to analyze the overall influence of input parameters over the output parameters. In this study, it is found that A(8) responses exceeded the recommended action value among all the tractor operators according to ISO 2631-1 (1997). The average speeds and various terrain conditions were shown to be the most influential significant variables (p ≤ 0.05), with percentage contributions of 53.71% and 11.53%, respectively. The predicted linear and linear interaction values in a regression model are quite similar to the experimental values, with mean error percentages of 3.89% and 2.27%, respectively. As comfort is essential for the tractor operator, the results of this research may be used in the design of tractor seats to improve comfort. The approach is unique in the Indian context for the comfort of the tractor driver.
Prakash, Chander, Singh, Lakhwinder Pal, Gupta, Ajay
Research on Overload Dynamic Identification Based on Vehicle Vertical Characteristics2023-01-07734/11/2023
With the development of highway transportation and automobile industry technology, highway truck overload phenomenon occurs frequently, which poses a danger to road safety and personnel life safety. So it is very important to identify the overload phenomenon. Traditionally, static detection is adopted for overload identification, which has low efficiency. Aiming at this phenomenon, a dynamic overload identification method is proposed. Firstly, the coupled road excitation model of vehicle speed and speed bump is established, and then the 4-DOF vehicle model of half car is established. At the same time, considering that the double input vibration of the front and rear wheels will be coupled when vehicle passes through the speed bump, the model is decoupled. Then, the vertical trajectory of the body in the front axle position is obtained by Carsim software simulation. According to the established vehicle dynamic model, the body mass is inversely estimated and compared with the rated load to determine whether it is overloaded. The estimated mass is brought into the half-car model built by simulink to obtain the centroid vibration acceleration, which is compared with the Carsim model. The reliability of the method is verified. The results show that this method can realize the identification and detection of overload of heavy vehicles, and improve the recognition accuracy. The average error is 7.3%, which promotes the further research of overload identification.
Zhao, Sihu, Tan, Gangfeng
Loss function curve to quantify customer (dis)satisfaction for second row headroom2022-36-00022/10/2023
During the early phase of vehicle development, one of the key design attributes to consider is the inner comfort for occupants. Internal spaciousness is the pillar that is responsible for user’s comfort and make into customer comfort needs in engineer metrics. Therefore, it is one of the key requirements to be considered during the vehicle design. Certain internal vehicle characteristics such as the size of shoulder room and the knee clearance are engineer metrics that influence the occupants’ perception for comfort. One specific characteristic influencing satisfaction is the headroom, which is the subject of this paper. The objective of this project is to analyze the relationship between the second row’s vehicle headroom with the occupant’s satisfaction under real world driving conditions, based on research, statistical data analysis and dynamic clinics.
Cardoso Santos, Alex, Genaro, Piero, Terra, Rafael, Pádua, Antônio, Zapiello, Gabriel, Rossini, Rafael, Benevente, Rodrigo
Active Safety Pedestrian Test Mannequin RecommendationJ3116_202301 (Current)1/9/2023
The goal of the Pedestrian Test Mannequin Task Force is to develop standard specifications/requirements for pedestrian test mannequins (1 adult and 1 child) that are representative of real pedestrians to the sensors used in Pedestrian Detection systems and can be used for performance assessment of such in-vehicle systems (including warning and/or braking) in real world test scenarios/conditions. This version of the document only includes the pedestrian mannequin for vision, Lidar, and/or 76 to 78 GHz radar based Pedestrian Pre-collision systems.
Active Safety and Driver Support Systems Standards Committee
Research on the Simulation of Human-Seat Interface Pressure with Consideration of the Effect of Seat Cover02-16-03-00161/5/2023
The human body models consisting of bone, soft tissue, and skin were created based on the latest anthropometry data. The mechanical modeling of vehicle seat cover was studied, as well as the simulation of human-seat interface pressure. As a case study, the seat finite element (FE) model was established using the real-vehicle seat geometric data considering the condition with and without seat cover. The seat and body were assembled to conduct the simulation of human-seat interface pressure. By comparing the simulative result with those of the test, the accuracy of the simulation and the important role of cover material in body pressure simulation were validated. The result also showed that the cover material could not be ignored in the simulation of human-seat interface pressure. The method of interface pressure simulation presented in this article is a systematic and useful way of predicting the human-seat interface pressure, which can be further used for functional verification and pre-evaluation of the comfort characteristics of the vehicle seat, and it is of great value for application.
Zhang, Tianming, Ren, Jindong, Qi, Shimin, Yuan, Baoguo, Huang, Hao
CREATION OF CAD ACCOMMODATION MODELS FOR MILITARY GROUND VEHICLE DESIGN2024-01-39628/10/2022
ABSTRACT The objective of this effort is to create parametric Computer-Aided Design (CAD) accommodation models for crew and dismount workstations with specific tasks. The CAD accommodation models are statistical models that have been created utilizing data from the Seated Soldier Study and follow-on studies. The final products are parametric CAD models that provide geometric boundaries indicating the required space and adjustments needed for the equipped Soldiers’ helmet, eyes, torso, knees, boots, controls, and seat travel. Clearances between the Soldier and surrounding interior surfaces and direct field of view have been added per MIL-STD-1472H. The CAD models can be applied early in the vehicle design process to ensure accommodation requirements are met and help explore possible design tradeoffs when conflicts with other design parameters exist. The CAD models are available to government and industry partners and via the GVSC public website once they have undergone Verification. Citation: F. Huston II, G. Zielinski, M. Reed, PhD, “Creation of CAD Accommodation Models for Military Ground Vehicle Design,” In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 16-18, 2022.
Huston, Frank J., Zielinski, Gale L., Reed, Matthew P.
Legal Issues Facing Automated Vehicles, Facial Recognition, and Privacy RightsEPR20220167/28/2022
Facial recognition software (FRS) is a form of biometric security that detects a face, analyzes it, converts it to data, and then matches it with images in a database. This technology is currently being used in vehicles for safety and convenience features, such as detecting driver fatigue, ensuring ride share drivers are wearing a face covering, or unlocking the vehicle. Public transportation hubs can also use FRS to identify missing persons, intercept domestic terrorism, deter theft, and achieve other security initiatives. However, biometric data is sensitive and there are numerous remaining questions about how to implement and regulate FRS in a way that maximizes its safety and security potential while simultaneously ensuring individual’s right to privacy, data security, and technology-based equality. Legal Issues Facing Automated Vehicles, Facial Recognition, and Individual Rights seeks to highlight the benefits of using FRS in public and private transportation technology and addresses some of the legitimate concerns regarding its use by private corporations and government entities, including law enforcement, in public transportation hubs and traffic stops. Constitutional questions, including First, Forth, and Ninth Amendment issues, also remain unanswered. FRS is now a permanent part of transportation technology and society; with meaningful legislation and conscious engineering, it can make future transportation safer and more convenient. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio.
Eastman, Brittany
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