Citation

Yang J, Abdel-Malek K, Nebel. Int. J. Veh. Des. 2004; 37(4): 253-273.

Affiliation

Virtual Soldier Research (VSR) Program, Center for Computer-Aided Design, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA USA; National Automotive Center, US Army TACOM, Warren, MI, USA

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Inderscience Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The design and packaging of vehicle interiors and cockpits has become a science in itself, particularly in recent years where safety is paramount. Significant experimental efforts have been made to study driver reach and barriers as they have a direct effect on performance and safety. This paper presents a rigorous formulation for addressing the reach envelope and barriers therein of a three-point restrained driver and makes a comparison with a lap-restrained driver. The formulation is based on a kinematic model of the driver, which has the upper body and arm characterised as a seven degree of freedom (DOF) for unrestrained and 4DOF for three-point restrained. Those kinematic equations are further developed to address crossability analysis. Visualisation of such barriers and their crossability results within the reach envelope provide significant insight into driver performance and reach zones.