Integration of Comfort into a Driver's Car Seat Design Using Image Analysis

Problem statement: The purposes of this study are twofold: First, to recommend a range of angles for driving posture comfort from measurement of participants and second, to investigate the relationships between drivers' anthropometric characteristics, comfortable postural angles and seat adjustment. Approach: Forty five participants were involved in the study. Both anthropometric data and postural angles were measured and recorded by using the photographic technique and analyzed further using software. During the study, each participant was required to sit on the driver's seat in his or her preferred comfortable driving postures. Images of the participant's driving posture were taken after 5 min he or she has been in the driving position to allow him/her to adapt with the seat environment and fabrics. The seat adjustment data were measured manually after the seat is adjusted for comfort by the participant. Prior to that, 10 anthropometric data of each participant was measured and recorded. Data on comfortable driving postural angles, anthropometry and seat adjustment were analyzed statistically with Pearson correlation using the SPSS software. Results: From the study, a range of angles are proposed based on the participant's perception on comfort. The ranges of comfortable angles for Malaysian citizen proposed shows significant different between Caucasian and Korean populations. The relationships between the comfortable postural angles, anthropometric data and seat adjustment were analyzed and discussed with several outcome shows that taller participants preferred a driving posture with their arms outstretched in order to achieve comfort, participants with bigger body dimension have a tendency to sit farther back from the steering wheels and smaller participants prefer to sit closer to the steering wheels with a slightly greater trunk thigh angle. Conclusion: The result obtained and discussed in this study can be applied in the driver's car seat design and construction to ensure comfort and safety.