This paper presents a new model for predicting automobile driving posture. Data was used from a study of 68 subjects in 18 vehicle package and seat conditions, and the model is intended for use in posturing human figure models increasingly used for vehicle interior design. The model uses independent regression models, coupled with data-guided inverse kinematics, to fit a whole-body linkage. A key characteristic of the new model is that is places great weight on prediction accuracy for the body locations that are most important for vehicle interior design: eye and hip location. Model predictions were compared with driving postures of 120 subjects in 5 vehicles. Errors in mean eye location predictions in the vehicles were typically less than 10 mm. Prediction errors were largely independent of anthropometric variables and vehicle layout. Although the average posture of a group of people can be predicted accurately, individuals' postures cannot be predicted precisely due to interindividual posture variance unrelated to key anthropometric variables. Posture prediction models developed in this work can be applied to posturing computer-rendered human models to improve accuracy of ergonomic assessment of vehicle interiors.
Abstract