TITLE:
First Stage of Automotive Concept Design; Driver Positions (H-Point)
AUTHORS:
Fuat Ali Paker
KEYWORDS:
Vehicle Occupant Package, Automotive Concept Design, Anthropometrics Vehicle Design, Ergonomics Vehicle Design, Vehicle H-Point Design, Driver Posture Analysis, Driver Comfort Angles
JOURNAL NAME:
Art and Design Review,
Vol.10 No.4,
October
12,
2022
ABSTRACT: For
drivers with different anatomical features in the use of vehicles, the seating
position includes many important variable parameters from safety to comfort,
from cost to customer preferences, from vehicle class to vehicle entry-exit. In
addition, the driver’s height from the ground or the driver’s standing position
(H-Point), which is included in the initial decisions of the automotive concept
design stages, constitutes the anatomy and structure of the vehicle, together
with many ergonomic setups from vehicle class to vehicle weight, from view to
wind resistance. Taking part in the initial decisions of the automotive concept
design stages; driver’s ground clearance or driver’s standing position
(H-Point): from vehicle class to vehicle weight, from visibility to wind
resistance along with many ergonomic installations, it creates the vehicle
anatomy and structure. Therefore, within the discipline of automotive design,
the vehicle structure and character are determined by the driver’s position,
the h-point (the driver’s seat height from the ground and the seat angle). In
the automotive concept design flow, ergonomic decision and analysis methods
determine the vehicle design process and the structural proportion of the
vehicle, as well as direct the vehicle analysis and studies. The ergonomic
decision in question creates important relations that increase efficiency in
the structural model of the vehicle, together with the problems that affect the
resource use of the entire new product development process, the project
structure and time. Ergonomics science due to increasing interdisciplinary
efficiency, has become a common field of study for many disciplines such as
anatomy, medicine, psychology and physiology, especially industrial design,
automotive concept design, industrial design engineering. Therefore, the angle
of view, the steering wheel diameter or the ergonomics of use of the instrument
panel functions, which are affected by the driver’s position in the research
results, constitute the safety elements in vehicle driving. The automotive
industry is one of the areas where ergonomic designs are most needed. In
addition to affecting safe driving, non-ergonomic vehicle designs can cause
many fundamental variables, from discomfort to the driver’s musculoskeletal
system to vehicle accidents. In order to show the expected driver usage
performance from the designed vehicles, analyzing the driver’s position or driving
positions with the help of computer aided programs has important results.