Determination of passenger car interior space for foot controls accommodation

Abstract

This study shows that the automobile is still not well enough adapted for human beings, especially in the part of the interior where the foot controls are located. When designing passenger vehicles ergonomically, the anthropometric limitations are as important as the technical limitations. Moreover, exacting contemporary economic and ecological requirements mean that the interior of the standard passenger vehicle must be designed to reduce front surface and air resistance to a minimum. The present authors offer a new method for designing the part of the interior of standard passenger vehicles where the foot controls are located as an indivisible part of the whole interior, with interrelated functional links using anthropometric limitations. These vary according to region and country and change with time. This study uses anthropometric data for drivers from Serbia from 1976 to 2007. The objective was, taking into account vehicle interior height limitations, to accommodate the largest range of anthropometric dimensions, from the fifth-percentile woman to the 95th-percentile man, which was accomplished using a new method for model accommodation optimization. Furthermore, comfort and a safe steering position are assured. The existence of the O point is required as the origin of a coordinate system with x, y, and z axes for the man—vehicle system and this enables the mechanical and mathematical functions to be defined more accurately within the system. By applying the suggested method and processing the data acquired, an optimum space for foot controls was obtained. The space for foot control location lies horizontally along the x axis forward from the O point by 320mm and vertically along the z axis by 230mm. The space height along the z axis is 465mm. The space is determined in four segments by the anthropomeasures of the foot of the 95th-percentile man and the fifth-percentile woman, first starting from the floor line to the point (−320mm, 230mm). Also, it is determined by the height of 465mm of the 95th-percentile man to the point (50mm, 465mm), when the space as far as the lower half of the windshield glass is defined by the fifth-percentile woman. In this way, a larger space is needed for seating of the fifth-percentile woman than would be needed if only the 95th-percentile man were seated.