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Automotive Engineering ›› 2024, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (1): 39-49.doi: 10.19562/j.chinasae.qcgc.2024.01.005

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An Experimental Study on Optimal H-Point and Seat Parameters for Shared Car Drivers

Junnian Wang,Chuantai Cheng,Fei Gao,Tiejun Fu(),Jindong Ren   

  1. Jilin University,State Key Laboratory of Automotive Simulation and Control,Changchun  130022
  • Received:2023-04-14 Revised:2023-06-16 Online:2024-01-25 Published:2024-01-23
  • Contact: Tiejun Fu E-mail:aizaishenghua@sina.com

Abstract:

The shared cars have the characteristics of standardized vehicle models, diverse users, and high frequency of usage. To enhance the efficiency of shared car usage and the driving experience, the development of an intelligent seat that can automatically adjust the comfortable sitting posture based on the driver's characteristics has significant importance. For the issue of subjective and arbitrary seat adjustments that lead to discomfort for drivers, in conjunction with the intelligent seat project for shared cars, bench experiments are carried out taking the four variables of H-point fore-aft position, H-point vertical position, seat cushion angle, and backrest angle as the research factors in this paper. The study examines the impact of seat parameters on seat comfort for drivers at the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles. Firstly, three experimental levels are chosen for each research factor within the reference vehicle range. Orthogonal experimental design is employed to simplify the number of experiments required. The required number of orthogonal groups is determined, and orthogonal bench experiments are conducted. Experimental participants subjectively evaluate the seat comfort for each group. Additionally, pressure mapping on the seat cushion and angle measurements using a digital angle gauge are employed to collect information of participants' pressure distribution and joint angles. Secondly, clustering analysis is conducted to determine the subjective and objective comfort evaluation system employed in this study, using joint angle as the objective parameter. Through the analysis of the orthogonal experiments, it is concluded that different seat parameters have varying effect on seat comfort. Furthermore, the parameters that affect seat comfort also vary with changes in the driver's percentile. Finally, the data obtained from the orthogonal experiments are adjusted and fitted to establish the prediction models for the optimal H-point position and backrest angle of the seat.

Key words: shared-car, seat comfort, orthogonal experiment, comfort evaluation, predictive model