Predicting Overall Seating Discomfort Based on Body Area Ratings 2007-01-0346
For car manufacturers, seating comfort is becoming more and more important in distinguishing themselves from their competitors. There is a simultaneous demand for shorter development times and more comfortable seats. Comfort in automobile seats is a multi-dimensional and complex problem. Many current sophisticated measuring tools were consulted, but it is unclear on which factors one should concentrate attention when measuring comfort.
The goal of this paper is to find a model in order to predict the overall seating discomfort based on body area ratings. Besides micro climate, the pressure distribution appears to be the most objective measure comprising with the clearest association with the subjective ratings. Therefore an analysis with three different test series was designed, allowing the variation of pressure on the seat surface. In parallel the subjects were asked to judge the local and the overall sensation. During the experiment the pressure distribution between test subject and seat was gathered by a pressure mat.
The test series are based on 84 subjects and over 500 measuring results, which include three different settings for seat cushion and backrest.
Citation: Zenk, R., Mergl, C., Hartung, J., and Bubb, H., "Predicting Overall Seating Discomfort Based on Body Area Ratings," SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-0346, 2007, https://doi.org/10.4271/2007-01-0346. Download Citation
Author(s):
Raphael Zenk, Christian Mergl, Jürgen Hartung, Heiner Bubb
Affiliated:
BMW Group, Audi AG, Lehrstuhl für Ergonomie, Technische Universität München
Pages: 10
Event:
SAE World Congress & Exhibition
ISSN:
0148-7191
e-ISSN:
2688-3627
Also in:
Human Factors in Seating Comfort and Driving and Automotive Telematics and Advances in Instrument Panels and Interiors-SP-2104, SAE 2007 Transactions Journal of Passenger Cars: Mechanical Systems-V116-6
Related Topics:
Seats and seating
Pressure
Suppliers
Comfort
Weather and climate
Logistics
Tools and equipment
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