Browse Topic: Vehicle occupants
ABSTRACT This study investigated the effect of an innovative chilling device that intends to make subjects more alert and less sleepy. Tests were conducted using a variety of methods including electric-encephalography (EEG) brain tomography. A series of behavioral tests showed an increase in alertness, changes of body temperatures, and performance indicators after usage of this device. The device chills specific areas of the body and disrupts the body’s ability to self-regulate core body temperature. The induced temperature shifts may reduce the body’s capability to go to sleep. Physiological changes and brain wave indicators of alertness were also reviewed in this paper. A full study of alertness indicators in expanded driver simulations is recommended. As for future application of this device to Human Factors aspects, this device may have the potential to enhance alertness in the human dimension of machine operation of manned and unmanned assets with further improvement
ABSTRACT The need for up-armored vehicles has increased over the years. This has put a greater emphasis on suspensions that can provide improved ride and handling capabilities while facing the additional weight. One of the challenges with these vehicles traditionally has been increased likelihood of rollover. Increased rollover is due to high center of gravity, kinematics of the overloaded suspension, and the low damping that is needed to satisfy 6-Watt ride speed performance criteria. The Lord magneto-rheological (MR) suspension system addresses these issues by improving the ride quality and handling characteristics thereby increasing safety and mission effectiveness. During handling maneuvers, algorithms inside the controller unit apply corrective forces to minimize peak roll angle and peak roll rate. The benefit of this has been tested on a vehicle comparing the stock passive dampers to the MR dampers over NATO Lane change events. Furthermore, the controller has the capability to
ABSTRACT Model based design techniques are being used increasingly to predict vehicle performance before building prototype hardware. Tools like ADAMS and Simulink enable very detailed models of suspension components to be developed so vehicle performance can be accurately predicted. In creating models of vehicle systems, often there is a question about how much component detail or model fidelity is required to accurately model system performance. This paper addresses this question for modeling shock absorber performance by comparing a low fidelity and high fidelity shock absorber model. A high fidelity and low fidelity mathematical model of a shock absorber was developed. The low fidelity shock absorber model was parameterized according to real shock absorber hardware dimensions. Shock absorber force vs. velocity curves were calculated in Simulink. The results from the low fidelity and high fidelity model were compared to shock absorber force vs. velocity test results. New vehicle
ABSTRACT This paper reviews the Army Generic Hull [1-5] as a vital developmental tool for underbody blast modeling and simulation applications. Since 2010, it has been used extensively to help calibrate and validate various numerical software codes and methodologies. These are being used extensively today in the development of underbody armor, as well as mine blast subsystems such as seats, to protect both military vehicles and their occupants. In the absence of easily shareable information in this domain due to data classification, this specially formulated product is a valuable part of any toolset for underbody blast development and product design. Citation: K. Kulkarni, S. Kankanalapalli, V. Babu, J. Ramalingam, R. Thyagarajan, “The Army Generic Hull As A Vital Developmental Tool For Underbody Blast Applications,” In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 16-18, 2022
ABSTRACT Military personnel involved in convoy operations are often required to complete multiple tasks within tightly constrained timeframes, based on limited or time-sensitive information. Current simulations are often lacking in fidelity with regard to team interaction and automated agent behavior; particularly problematic areas include responses to obstacles, threats, and other changes in conditions. More flexible simulations are needed to support decision making and train military personnel to adapt to the dynamic environments in which convoys regularly operate. A hierarchical task analysis approach is currently being used to identify and describe the many tasks required for effective convoy operations. The task decomposition resulting from the task analysis provides greater opportunity for determining decision points and potential errors. The results of the task analysis will provide guidance for the development of more targeted simulations for training and model evaluation from
ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the application of a novel Additive Molding™ process in the design optimization of a combat vehicle driver’s seat structure. Additive Molding™ is a novel manufacturing process that combines three-dimensional design flexibility of additive manufacturing with a high-volume production rate compression molding process. By combining the lightweighting benefits of topology optimization with the high strength and stiffness of tailored continuous carbon fiber reinforcements, the result is an optimized structure that is lighter than both topology-optimized metal additive manufacturing and traditional composites manufacturing. In this work, a combat vehicle driver’s seatback structure was optimized to evaluate the weight savings when converting the design from a baseline aluminum seat structure to a carbon fiber / polycarbonate structure. The design was optimized to account for mobility loads and a 95-percentile male soldier, and the result was a reduction in
Summary Combat vehicle designers have made great progress in improving crew survivability against large blast mines and improvised explosive devices. Current vehicles are very resistant to hull failure from large blasts, protecting the crew from overpressure and behind armor debris. However, the crew is still vulnerable to shock injuries arising from the blast and its after-effects. One of these injury modes is spinal compression resulting from the shock loading of the crew seat. This can be ameliorated by installing energy-absorbing seats which reduce the intensity of the spinal loading, while spreading it out over a longer time. The key question associated with energy-absorbing seats has to do with the effect of various factors associated with the design on spinal compression and injury. These include the stiffness and stroking distance of the seat’s energy absorption mechanism, the size of the blast, the vehicle shape and mass, and the weight of the seat occupant. All of these
Abstract On the Mobile Detection Assessment Response System (MDARS) production program, General Dynamics Robotics Systems (GDRS) and International Logistics Systems (ILS), are working with the US Army’s Product Manager – Force Protection Systems (PM-FPS) to reduce system costs throughout the production lifecycle. Under this process, GDRS works through an Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) process to improve the reliability and maintainability of subsystem designs with the goal of making the entire system more producible at a lower cost. In addition, GDRS recommends substitutions of Government requirements that are cost drivers with those that reduce cost impact but do not result in reduced capability for the end user. This paper describes the production lifecycle process for the MDARS system and recommends future considerations for fielding of complex autonomous robotic systems
ABSTRACT One of the main thrusts in current Army Science & Technology (S&T) activities is the development of occupant-centric vehicle structures that make the operation of the vehicle both comfortable and safe for the soldiers. Furthermore, a lighter weight vehicle structure is an enabling factor for faster transport, higher mobility, greater fuel conservation, higher payload, and a reduced ground footprint of supporting forces. Therefore, a key design challenge is to develop lightweight occupant-centric vehicle structures that can provide high levels of protection against explosive threats. In this paper, concepts for using materials, damping and other mechanisms to design structures with unique dynamic characteristics for mitigating blast loads are investigated. The Dynamic Response Index (DRI) metric [1] is employed as an occupant injury measure for determining the effectiveness of the each blast mitigation configuration that is considered. A model of the TARDEC Generic V-Hull
With increasing emphasis on sustainable mobility and efficient energy use, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) may potentially be utilized to improve vehicles’ energy efficiency by influencing driver behavior. Despite the growing adoption of such systems in passenger vehicles for active safety and driver comfort, systematic studies examining the effects of ADAS on human driving, in the context of vehicle energy use, remain scarce. This study investigates the impacts of a driver speed advisory system on energy use in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) through a controlled experiment using a driving simulator. A mixed urban highway driving environment was reconstructed from digitalizing a real-world route to observe the human driver’s behavior with and without driving assistance. The advisory system provided drivers with an optimized speed profile, pre-calculated for the simulated route to achieve maximum energy efficiency. Participants were instructed to navigate the
In recent years, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have experienced significant sales growth, marked by advancements in features and market delivery. This evolution intersects with innovative software-defined vehicles, which have transformed automotive supply chains, introducing new BEV brands from both emerging and mature markets. The critical role of software in software-defined battery electric vehicles (SD-BEVs) is pivotal for enhancing user experience and ensuring adherence to rigorous safety, performance, and quality standards. Effective governance and management are crucial, as failures can mar corporate reputations and jeopardize safety-critical systems like advanced driver assistance systems. Product Governance and Management for Software-defined Battery Electric Vehicles addresses the complexities of SD-BEV product governance and management to facilitate safer vehicle deployments. By exploring these challenges, it aims to enhance internal processes and foster cross
Road safety remains a critical concern globally, with millions of lives lost annually due to road accidents. In India alone, the year 2021 witnessed over 4,12,432 road accidents resulting in 1,53,972 fatalities and 3,84,448 injuries. The age group most affected by these accidents is 18-45 years, constituting approximately 67% of total deaths. Factors such as speeding, distracted driving, and neglect to use safety gear increases the severity of these incidents. This paper presents a novel approach to address these challenges by introducing a driver safety system aimed at promoting good driving etiquette and mitigating distractions and fatigue. Leveraging Raspberry Pi and computer vision techniques, the system monitors driver behavior in real-time, including head position, eye blinks, mouth opening and closing, hand position, and internal audio levels to detect signs of distraction and drowsiness. The system operates in both passive and active modes, providing alerts and alarms to the
The integration of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication technologies holds immense potential to revolutionize the automotive industry by enabling vehicles to communicate with each other (V2V) and with infrastructure (V2I). This paper investigates the feasibility of V2X and V2I communication, exploring available communication methods for vehicles to communicate. Many a times people like to travel together and it involves more than one vehicle travelling together, in such cases they often get lost the information about fellow vehicles due to the traffic condition and different driving behaviors of the individual driver. In such cases they communicate over phones to get to know the location of fellow vehicle or keep sharing their live locations. In such cases they don’t just follow the destination in maps also they should be continuously monitoring their fellow vehicles position. It is important for vehicles travelling in group to have communication and be connected so that they know
American drivers have long been accustomed to quickly filling up at a gas station with plenty of fuel available, and electric vehicle drivers want their pit stops to mimic this experience. Driver uncertainty about access to charging during long trips remains a barrier to broader EV adoption, even as the U.S. strives to combat climate change by converting more drivers
In an influential essay in 2019, entitled ‘The Bitter Lesson’, machine learning researcher Richard Sutton observed that the main driver of progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is the continued scaling up of computational power1. This view predicts that while manual approaches that embed human knowledge and understanding in AI agents lead to satisfying advances in the short term, in the long run they only stand in the way of developing more general, scalable methods. This provocative conclusion has led to heated debates about the role of human ingenuity, but the ‘bitter lesson’ paradigm has more or less played out in the area of natural language processing. By using scaled-up neural networks and as many text examples from the internet as possible as training data, researchers could solve previously complex problems of producing human language without syntactical errors. Further scaling has produced general-purpose and multimodal models with billions of parameters such as GPT-4
This SAE Recommended Practice establishes uniform procedures for assuring the manufactured quality, installed utility, and service performance of manual automotive adaptive products, other than those provided by the OEM, intended to provide driving capability for persons with physical disabilities. These devices function as adaptive appliances to compensate for lost or reduced performance in the drivers’ arms or legs, or both. Some of the devices are designed to transfer foot functions to the hands, hand functions to the feet, or functions from one side of the body to the other. This document applies only to primary controls as defined in 3.4.1 and in the Foreword. In particular, this document is specifically concerned with those mechanical and hybrid products that are intended by the manufacturer of the adaptive product to: Be installed within the occupant space of the vehicle Be operated by a vehicle driver with a physical disability Be added to, or substituted for, the OEM vehicle
This specification covers a titanium alloy in the form of sheet
Continental's Georg Fässler, executive chair of the 2024 SAE COMVEC, details efforts to future-proof forthcoming vehicles. Severe driver shortages, rising fuel and material costs, escalating demand for freight transport, higher sustainability requirements - there is no shortage of challenges facing the transport sector. Commercial vehicle manufacturers and industry suppliers are devoting significant resources to develop, test and bring to market the technological advances that will help alleviate these pressure points. “The digitalization of commercial vehicles and the whole logistics chain is a necessary response and one of the most important developments in the CV industry in my view,” said Continental Automotive's head of commercial and special vehicles, Georg Fässler, in a recent interview with SAE International
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
The optimization and further development of automated driving functions offers great potential to relieve the driver in various driving situations and increase road safety. Simulative testing in particular is an indispensable tool in this process, allowing conclusions to be drawn about the design of automated driving functions at a very early stage of development. In this context, the use of driving simulators provides support so that the driving functions of tomorrow can be experienced in a very safe and reproducible environment. The focus of the acceptance and optimization of automated driving functions is particularly on vehicle lateral control functions. As part of this paper, a test person study was carried out regarding manual vehicle lateral control on the dynamic vehicle road simulator at the Institute of Automotive Engineering. The basis for this is the route generation as a result of the evaluation of curve radii from several hundred thousand kilometers of real measurement
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