ERL, A CAD-Based Model of Human Occupants

A new CAD-based model of the occupant/driver for interior and seat design has been developed. Unlike traditional automotive iterative design methods that begin with a 2D human manikin in an environment based on the location of H-point, the 3D ERL manikins determine the initial design positions of multiple occupants based on the simulated interactions of seat, driver package, skeletal linkage system and deflected human tissue. The 3D ERL human body representations come from measurements of posturecritical skeletal landmarks on 102 test subjects combined with measurements of "deflected human tissue" data from 60 test subjects. The result is a set of three dimensional, posture-biofidelic manikins that a computer algorithm optimizes the driver's workplace environment to fit the population range of sizes and postural preferences. In summary, this design optimization creates interior specifications for the seat, steering wheel, pedals, and IP in their 3D location for the population of drivers that operate the vehicle.