Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Seat of the driver'

Active safety systems that warn automobile drivers of various types of impending collisions have been developed. How these systems alert drivers when integrated, however, is a crucial component to their effectiveness that hinges on the consideration of human factors. Driversâ ability to comprehend multiple alerts presented through a haptic driver seat was investigated in this dissertation. Twenty-four participants, balanced for age and gender, drove an instrumented vehicle on a test-track while haptic alerts (vibrations in the driver seat) were generated. Driversâ ability to transmit the information conveyed by the alerts was investigated through two experiments. The first experiment investigated the effects of increasing the number of potential alerts on driversâ response performance. The second experiment investigated whether presenting haptic alerts through unique versus common locations in the driver seat affects driversâ response performance. Younger drivers (between the ages of 18 and 25 years old) were found to efficiently process the increased information contained in the alerts, while older drivers were not as efficient. However, it is foreseeable that older driver performance decrements may be assuaged when a crash context is provided. A third experiment evaluated the haptic driver seatâ s ability to alert distracted drivers to an actual crash threat. Drivers that received a haptic seat alert returned their gaze to the forward roadway sooner, removed their foot from the throttle sooner, pressed the brake pedal sooner, and stopped farther away from an inflatable barricade than drivers that did not receive a haptic seat alert. No age or gender effects were found in this experiment. Furthermore, half of the drivers that received the haptic seat alert lifted up on the throttle before returning their eyes to the forward roadway. This suggests these drivers developed an automatic response to the haptic seat alerts through their experience with the previous two experiments. A three-alert haptic seat approach, the intermediate alternative tested, is recommended providing specific design requirements are met.
Ph. D.

Truck drivers spend long, consecutive periods of time seated down, and the truck cab becomes their immediate work environment. Therefore, it is important to make sure that this space is properly adapted to fit the driver’s needs well. The driver seat is something the driver are very much in contact with. The seat can be adjusted in many ways to accommodate for drivers of different heights and body types. However, two of the components which are fixed today are the upper seat belt anchorage position and the headrest. In this thesis project, the aim has been to investigate the adjustment possibilities of these components in terms of desired adjustment range and mechanical solutions. The first part of the project was spent on ergonomic evaluations of the seat, and finding what properties are the most important when designing a truck seat. Both literature reviews as well as interviews and observations helped build the knowledge foundation to base adjustment concepts on. For example, it was found that to minimise the negative effects of sedentary work, the single most important action is to frequently change the sitting position. Therefore, it is of high importance that adjustment procedures are as simple as possible. It was also found that many truck drivers do not use their seat belt at all, and that having a headrest which is adjustable in height is important for the driver’s visual area. Several ideas and concepts were generated and evaluated. The initial ideas included both solutions applicable on the current seat belt design, while some would use other means of securing the driver in a collision. The ideas were compared and evaluated, and three were chosen to develop further; one being easy to implement, and two being mechanical solutions both making use of the current seat belt design. These three concepts were investigated more deeply, and were subsequently also compared using different methods for evaluation. Eventually, a final concept was chosen; a mechanical solution in which the seat belt and headrest can be adjusted separately in one and two directions respectively. This concept was further developed in terms of both mechanical as well as visual design. In the final concept, Hoop, the seat belt is adjusted sideways, as this was proven to give the largest comfortability improvement for the driver. The headrest is adjustable in both height and depth. The mechanisms are locked using ratchets, however, both can be adjusted in what is believed to be the most critical direction without the need to unlock first. The buttons for unlocking the mechanisms are placed directly on the adjustment mechanisms in order to keep the procedure as intuitive and easy to use as possible. The adjustment ranges were determined based on Scania’s anthropometric dataset in order to make sure that the adjustment features will be useful for an as large part of the driver population as possible.
Lastbilschaufförer tillbringar under sina arbetspass många timmar i lastbilshytten, som blir deras direkta arbetsmiljö. Det är därför viktigt att hytten är utformad utifrån föraren och dennes behov. Förarstolen är en av de komponenter som föraren har allra mest kontakt med. Denna kan justeras på många sätt för att möjliggöra för förare av olika längder och kroppstyper att hitta en körposition som passar just dem. Två komponenter som dock inte kan justeras i dagsläget är positionen av den övre bältesomlänkaren och nackstödet. I detta examensarbete har fokus varit att ta fram hur justering för dessa skulle kunna se ut både i form av önskat justerområde och mekaniska lösningar. Projektets inleddes med en ergonomisk undersökning för att hitta de viktigaste fokusområdena för just lastbilars förarstolar. Informationen hämtades dels från litteratur, och utöver detta gjordes även användarundersökningar genom en enkät, kontextuella intervjuer och observationer. En av de viktigaste insikterna från undersökningen var att det absolut viktigaste för att undvika negativa effekter av stillasittande arbete är att kontinuerligt ändra sin sittposition. Ett effektivt sätt att få fler förare att använda justeringsfunktionerna på detta sätt kan vara att placera kontroller väl åtkomliga och göra justeringsproceduren så lättförståelig och lättanvänd som möjligt. Dessutom är det mycket viktigt att ett nackstöd kan justeras inte bara ur komfortsynpunkt, utan här finns det även en stark säkerhetsfaktor kopplad till förarens synfält. Baserat på informationssökningen genererades därefter flera olika lösningsidéer, där vissa låg närmre dagens lösning än andra. Dessa evaluerades sedan med hjälp av bland annat beslutsmatriser, och tre idéer valdes att utveckla vidare till tydligare koncept. Av de tre idéer som valts ut var en lösning enkel att implementera och två var olika mekaniska lösningar, alla applicerbara för den nuvarande bältesformen. Dessa detaljerades och kombinerades samman med hjälp av en morfologisk matris, och jämfördes sedan gentemot varandra. Slutligen valdes ett koncept ut som det slutgiltiga, där bältesomlänkaren kan justeras i en riktning och nackstödet i två. Detta slutkoncept utvecklades ytterligare vad gäller den mekaniska lösningen och dess visuella form. I slutkonceptet, Hoop, kan bältesomlänkaren justeras i sidled, eftersom denna justeringsriktning i den ergonomiska undersökningen visade sig ge störst resultat för förarens komfort. Nackstödet kan justeras både i höjd- och i djupled. Båda mekanismerna låses med hjälp av geometriska spärrlåsningar, men kan justeras i en riktning, den som ses som mest kritisk att snabbt kunna justera i, utan att föraren först behöver låsa upp mekanismen. Knapparna för att låsa upp mekanismerna är placerade i direkt anslutning till området där själva rörelsen sker för att göra användandet så intuitivt som möjligt. Justerområdena har baserats på antropometriska mått hämtade från Scaniafamiljen för att försäkra om att de täcker in så stor del av förarpopulationen som möjligt.

This research is concerned with exploring the relationship between car driving and musculoskeletal troubles and following on from this investigating methods which could aid the automotive industry in the design and evaluation of car seats. The thesis is divided into two parts. Part I describes the development and results of an epidemiological survey undertaken with data obtained from two sample groups. Study 1 was an interview survey (based on the Nordic Questionnaire) of 600 members of the British public, randomly selected within the strata of age and gender. Study 2 used the same interview, but with two carefully chosen groups of police officers (n=200). The results indicated that car drivers (especially those who drove as part of their job) appeared to be at risk in terms of reported discomfort and sickness absence due to low back trouble. Evidence from this and other studies has also indicated that drivers with the most adjustable driving packages may benefit in terms of both reduced discomfort and reduced sickness absence. This provided the background for the subsequent research in Part II and some impetus for car manufacturers to consider health issues in the design of car workstations. Part II involved a series of three experiments designed to investigate methodologies which could be used by manufacturers to predict car seat discomfort The literature was reviewed to identify suitable predictive techniques which would be robust enough to provide information to the automotive industry in 'real world' situations. The technique of interface pressure measurement had already generated interest in some seat manufacturers and was therefore selected for investigation. As a result of the findings in experiment 1, established guidelines for a comfortable driving posture may need to be modified. The other two experiments were designed to create discomfort in subjects firstly by varying foam hardness and secondly by varying posture. A clear, simple and consistent relationship between interface pressure and discomfort in realistic driving situations was not identified. Future studies using this technique should provide information regarding such factors as gender, the body mass index, anthropometric data, posture and foam hardness due to the confounding nature of these variables.

This study conducted a series of road tests in the regular fleet operations of a revenue service to better understand the relationship between vehicle seat design and driver fatigue, improve two newly proposed objective methods for evaluating driver fatigue, and provide design guidelines for evaluating and improving vehicle seat characteristics in terms of driver fatigue. Each driver completed a test session on two seat cushions - one a polyurethane foam cushion and one an air-inflated cushion. Objective measurements of pressure distribution were taken throughout each test session, while subjective measurements were collected using surveys taken at one-hour intervals. Based on these results, we find that the air-inflated seat cushion has advantages in terms of subjective measures of comfort, support, and fatigue. We show that the objective measure aPcrms highlights characteristic differences between seat cushions, as the air-inflated seat cushion provides less area in high pressure regions, thus occluding less blood flow to tissue in the seated area. While we were unable to effectively assess the validity of the proposed measures or improve them further, the characteristic difference between seat cushions is not highlighted by using previously existing objective measures. This implies that aPcrms is a more useful measure and should be considered when evaluating the subjective quality of seat cushion designs under dynamic conditions, such as those existing in commercial truck driving.
Master of Science

An ergonomic driver workspace and interface design is essential to ensure a healthier and comfortable driving experience in terms of driver perceptions, postures, and interface pressures. Developing more effective methods for driver-side interior design and evaluation, hence, requires thorough investigation of: 1) which perceptual responses are more relevant to ensuring ergonomic quality of a design, 2) the interrelationships among perceptual responses and objective measures, and 3) whether current assumptions regarding driver behaviors, and tools for specifying these behaviors, are valid for the design and evaluation. Existing studies, however, have rarely addressed these topics comprehensively, and often have been conducted with unsubstantiated assumptions. In contrast, this work sought to address these topics in a way that jointly considers characteristics of driver perceptions, behaviors, and objective measures to develop an improved design and evaluation methodology for driver workspace and interface, and that can also investigate the validity of implicit assumptions regarding perceptual relevance and driversâ behaviors. The first part of this work investigated driversâ perceptions in relation to driver workspace design and evaluation. Specifically, it examined the efficacy of several perceptual ratings, when used for evaluating automobile interface design. Results showed that comfort ratings were more effective at distinguishing among interface designs, in contrast to the current common practice of using discomfort ratings for designing and evaluating interface designs. Two distinct decision processes to relate local to global perceptions were also identified (i.e., global comfort as an average of local comforts, and global discomfort predominantly influenced by maximal local discomforts). These findings were observed consistently across age and cultural groups. In addition, this work provided empirical support for an earlier hypothetical comfort/discomfort model, which posited comfort and discomfort are complementary, yet independent entities. In order to facilitate the integration of driver perceptions and dynamic behaviors into driver workspace design and evaluation, the second part of this work clarified the relationships between perceptual ratings and various types of driver-seat interface pressure. Interface pressure was found to be more strongly related to overall and comfort ratings than to discomfort ratings, which is also in marked contrast with existing work that has focused on identifying association between discomfort and interface pressure. Specific pressure interface requirements for comfortable driver workspace design and evaluation were also provided. Lastly, this work specified more rigorous driving postures for digital human models (DHMs), based on actual driversâ perceptions, postural sensitivity, and static behavioral characteristics, to facilitate proactive design and evaluation that enables cost/time efficient vehicle development. Driversâ behavioral characteristics observed in this work were applied to the driver workspace design. First, postural sensitivity obtained by using a psychophysics concept has been applied to determination of core seat track ranges. Second, postural data have been used: 1) to review relevant industry standards on driver accommodation, 2) to investigate whether driving postures are bilaterally asymmetric, 3) to provide comfortable joint ranges, and lastly 4) to identify driversâ postural strategies for interacting with a vehicle. Overall, this work identified three important behavioral characteristics, specifically a bilateral imbalance in terms of interface pressure, bilaterally asymmetric joint posture, and postural strategies identified by cluster analysis. Such characteristics can be embedded in DHMs to describe more accurately actual driver behaviors inside a driver workspace, which is deemed to be a fundamental step to improved virtual ergonomic vehicle design and evaluation. In addition, the strategy-based classification method used in this work can be extended to simulate and predict more complex human motions. Practical and fundamental findings of this work will facilitate efficient and proactive design and evaluation of driver workspace and interface, and will help provide a healthier driving experience for a broader range of individuals.
Ph. D.

In vehicles one of the most important components which affect comfort of the driver and the purchasing decision is the driver&rsquo
s seat. In order to improve design of a driver seat in a leader company of automotive sector, a comprehensive analysis of customer expectations from the driver seat is performed with a cross functional team formed by representatives of design, marketing, production, quality and services departments. In this study, collection of customer voice data and development of an exceptional &ldquo
customer satisfaction estimation model&rdquo
using these data are presented. Data are modeled by the help of Logistic Regression. This model is able to estimate how much a given customer is likely to be satisfied with the driver seat at a certain confidence level. It is also explained how this model can be used to identify design improvement opportunities that help increase the probability that a customer likes the driver seat. The modeling and analysis approach used for the particular case is applicable in general to many other cases of product improvement or development.

In recent years increased emphasis has been placed on improving seat comfort in automobiles. This is partly due to research showing that prolonged driving is associated with increased risk of musculoskeletal disorders, but largely because driver comfort is now viewed as an increasingly important aspect of the competitive marketing of vehicles. Driving is firmly cemented as a major part of most people s daily life across the world and people are now spending more time in their vehicles than ever before. As urban congestion continues to rise, commuting distances and durations will progressively increase, subjecting drivers to the risks of long duration driving more often. Consequently the automotive industry has invested in designing seats that perform better under increased usage durations and ergonomics has played a vital role in the design of new seats. However, the ability to design a successful seat relies heavily on the capacity to accurately evaluate the comfort of a vehicle seat and one major issue that has been highlighted with the current state of automotive ergonomics research is the standardisation of comfort evaluation techniques. This research aimed to tackle these issues by investigating the effects of long duration driving on discomfort and the range factors associated with driver discomfort. Furthermore, the ultimate goal of this research was develop and evaluate a novel objective measure of driver discomfort that focused on driver seat fidgets and movements (SFMs) with the aim of standardising discomfort evaluation within the automotive industry. Three laboratory studies and one field observation were conducted to address these aims whereby subjective and objective evaluations of discomfort were conducted during long term driving (ranging from 60 - 140 minutes). The results determined that a measure of driver SFMs can be effectively implemented into long duration driving trials to evaluate the effects of long term driving and vibration exposure on driver discomfort and subsequently used to make accurate predictions of overall discomfort. Large positive correlations have been determined between measures of SFMs and subjective ratings of overall discomfort (r2 > 0.9, P < 0.05) and the SFM method has been successfully repeated under a range of driving conditions. Driver seat fidget and movement (SFM) frequency is shown to significantly increase congruently with subjective ratings over the duration of a long term drive as drivers seek to cope with increased discomfort. It is proposed that drivers will record movements in the vehicle seat when discomfort reaches a threshold that is consciously or unconsciously perceived and as the duration of driving accrues, drivers will reach this threshold with increased frequency. A measure of both SFM frequency and total accumulative SFMs have been shown to accurately predict discomfort ratings and provides the basis for discomfort evaluations to be made via remote monitoring, removing the need for subjective assessment. During a long term drive, there becomes a point upon which improvements in seat design become ineffective as extended duration driving will result in discomfort regardless of how well the seat has been designed. It was shown that drivers will move in the vehicle seat to cope with increased discomfort and in addition, another method of combatting the negative effects of long term driving was investigated. Subjective and objective evaluation determined that breaks from driving will reduce discomfort both immediately and upon completion of a long term drive. Furthermore, these benefits were increased when drivers left the vehicle seat as discomfort was reset when drivers took a 10 minute walk. Walking during a break from driving can be considered the ultimate SFM. Drivers are recommended to plan breaks from driving when conducting a long duration journey in order to minimise discomfort and when taking a break, drivers should take a walk rather than remain seated in the vehicle.

If you have to wear a seat belt when you drive, are you safer? Intuitively, it may seem that the answer is yes. After all, if you are wearing a seat belt and get in an accident, you are half as likely to die, and 62% of fatal accident victims were not wearing seat belts at the time of accident. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration, the Governors' Highway Safety Administration, and many other organizations highly recommend wearing seat belts. The NHTSA claims that in 2010 alone, approximately 12,500 deaths were prevented by seat belt use alone. Seat belt laws clearly reduce the chance of death to vehicle occupants in a given auto accident. In response to these findings, the federal government has made the release of highway funds to states contingent on the passage of state laws mandating seat belt adoption. Laws mandating seat belt use, along with extensive campaigns to raise public awareness, have caused seat belt use to rise from 69% in 1998 to 88% in 2009. As of this writing, laws mandating the use of seat belts when driving have been passed in every state save New Hampshire. Intuitively, this should make roads safer because seat belts make an accident more survivable. Does wearing a seat belt, however, make that accident more likely to occur in the first place? If a driver wears a seat belt now and I didn't before, does he feel safe enough to take more risk? In this paper, I examine this question using insurance premiums as a proxy for the likelihood of an accident. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 offers background information, including a framework with which to interpret a driver’s actions and a review of the relevant literature. Section 3 contains details on the data analyzed. Section 4 covers the results of my preliminary data analysis, model specifications, and robustness checks. Section 5 concludes.

The thesis presents an investigation of pregnant women s safety and comfort needs during car travel. A survey is used to investigate all aspects and problems of car travel. This survey is a comprehensive examination of the entire driving activity with much detail of reported difficulties from pregnant women that forms a novel resource for the automotive engineers. The survey results are used to generate guidelines for the automotive industry. A series of sled tests are presented that investigate seat belt use in pregnancy including the use of lap belt positioners. The peak abdominal pressure results clearly agree with current guidelines that the lap belt should be positioned across the hips and not across the abdomen. This research includes a novel anthropometric dataset for 107 pregnant women including measurements especially selected for the field of automotive design and to describe the changes of pregnancy. This includes investigation of pregnant driver s proximity to the steering wheel. A novel measurement of knee splay is used to define the pregnant women s preference to sit with their knees widely spaced instead of knees together, in both normal sitting and in a car. Comparison is made between the pregnant women's measurements and the available data in the literature for non-pregnant women and males, and this shows that pregnant women can be excluded from designs if the accommodation does not consider their needs. The pregnant women's anthropometric data is presented as a novel website in order to make the data available to the automotive industry. This website is generated for use by automotive engineers and is designed to suit their usability needs and the general trends within the industry, in order to make the site more user-friendly and more likely to be used as a reference for pregnant occupant's needs.

Entitlement to drive is now viewed by many people as an essential component in the maintenance of independence (Box et al, 2010). Private motor vehicles are considered a key component in many aspects of contemporary life and are particularly important for people with a limitation in personal mobility. The driving task involves the smooth integration and coordination of a number of cognitive, perceptual and physical elements (Hoffman and Snyder, 2005). Testing tools designed to evaluate the effect of cognitive impairment upon driving are available but many perform poorly when evaluating both older individuals and people with a diagnosis of dementia (Molnar et al, 2006). This research project aimed to give voice to the experience of people with dementia, carers and health professionals in the construction of an effective and clinically useful prototype screening tool, specifically for use in predicting the safety of drivers with a diagnosis of dementia. A participatory action research approach was taken with two separate groups formed from a dementia volunteer support group and a health professional dementia special interest group. The key findings of the research identified characteristic driving behaviours associated with a decline in driving safety and these were used to develop a dementia and driving screening tool. Additionally, a comprehensive information guide for the monitoring and management of driving with dementia was constructed through the action of group meetings. The experiences of both research groups strongly suggested that early consideration and planning is essential in the successful management of driving and eventual driving cessation for people with dementia.

This thesis was performed in cooperation with Uniti Sweden, an emerging electricalvehicle manufacturer in Sweden. Uniti Sweden is developing a new vehicle, with aprototype slated for a Q3 2017 release. This thesis is about the driver's seat in the Uniti vehicle. The aim of the thesis was todevelop the seat partly by creating a design manual for future use. Data for the project was gathered using triangulation, using interviews,benchmarking, literature searches from different perspectives. Six different aspectswas studied, regulation, comfort and discomfort, aesthetics, biomechanics andergonomics, design and anthropometrics. The seat was developed using QFD anddiscussions with Uniti personnel, however, the development part was put on hold dueto Uniti's schedule, and greater emphasis was put on design manual. The designmanual featured three parameters, fit, feel and support. The project concluded with a technical report, featuring the design manual, theresults from the product development, a checklist and a thesaurus.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 67).
A continuing goal in the automobile seat drive industry is to design lighter, smaller, more economical seat drives that offer excellent long-term performance. The way to achieve this goal is to minimize the number of parts and part complexity while meeting all safety and functional requirements. Current seat drives which use motorized lead screws are large and heavy. An alternative solution that the industry is exploring to replace the lead screw seat drive is a simple linear actuator. The goal of this project is to design an inchworm motion linear actuator that may be used as part of the seat drive system to provide fore-aft motion. The resulting final design is a simple system that consists of two modules, an actuation module and a clamping module. The actuation module is a simple motor-wobble plate assembly and the clamping module consists of spring-loaded jamming plates. The final prototype succeeded in inching the shaft forward in one direction, but failed at shifting directions. This failure can be remedied in future work by the introduction of an actuation guide plate as well as the more accurate and detailed machining of components.
by Chun hua Zheng.
S.B.

The biggest shift in the automotive industry lies ahead. Autonomous vehicles create both curiosity and skepticism among drivers and people around. Autonomous vehicles, more specifically trucks, will not be utterly self-driving overnight. The whole transformation will take place in different phases. When a vehicle does not need a driver behind the wheel, new needs will arise. This is where this project comes into play. On behalf of Scania, a new driver’s seat shall be developed for new needs from the drivers for autonomous trucks of type 4. The project was carried out at Scania’s design department for cabin interiors. The project aimed to develop new needs for the future autonomous level 4 trucks in order to develop a driver’s seat that meets these needs. The project began with a planning phase in which the goals and the time frame for the project were set up. The project was then implemented in four different phases inspired by CDIO (n.d.). The work began with a benchmarking on existing trucks and passenger cars, but also on the future visions of different competitors regarding autonomous vehicles. Much work was put into understanding theories and interpreting relevant information. The users were used early in the project in the form of interviews, observations, and a survey that reached 299 truck drivers. The work then continued with various forms of brainstorming both within the project group and together with engineers from the group at Scania. The final work contained a CAD model of both prototype, CAID models of the final design, and a prototype scale of 1:1. The final result of the project is a new driver’s seat with the possibility of pushing the seat almost three times further back than the current seat. It can now be done when the driver’s seat is part of the bed. During the user study and the brainstorming, new needs were taken from the perspective of the sun being able to adapt to three different positions; rest, drive, work. The new driver’s seat now gives the drivers this opportunity. The result of this project may be more effective in driving the driver, which benefits both Scania and the customers in the form of the drivers being able to drive longer than previously allowed.
Det största skiften inom fordonsbranschen ligger framför oss. Autonoma fordon skapar både nyfikenhet och en skepsis bland förare och människor runt omkring. Autonoma fordon, mer specifikt lastbilar, kommer inte bli helt självkörande under en natt. Hela för- vandlingen kommer ske i olika faser. När ett fordon inte behöver en förare bakom ratten kommer nya behov uppkomma. Det är här det här projektet kommer in i bilden. På uppdrag av Scania, ska en ny förarstol utvecklas för nya behov från förarna för autonoma lastbilar av typen nivå 4. Projektet är ett examensarbete gjort av två studenter vid utbildningen civilingenjör inom teknisk design med inriktning produktutveckling, vid Luleå tekniska universitet. Projektet genomfördes på Scanias konstruktionsavdelning för hyttint- eriör. Målet för projektet var att ta fram nya behov för framtidens autonoma nivå 4 lastbilar för att sedan utveckla en förarstol som uppfyller dessa behov. Projektet började med en planeringsfas där målen och tidsramen för projektet sattes upp. Projektet genomfördes sedan i fyra olika faser inspirerade av CDIO (n.d.). Arbetet började med att en benchmarking gjordes på befintliga lastbilar och personbilar men även på olika konkurrenters framtidsvisioner gällande autonoma fordon. Mycket arbete lades på att förstå teorier och tolka relevant infor- mation. Användarna användes tidigt i projektet i form av intervjuer, observationer och en enkät som nådde ut till 299 lastbilsförare. Arbetet fortsatte sedan med olika former av brainstorming både inom projektgruppen och tillsammans med ingenjörer från gruppen på Scania. Slutgiltiga arbetet innehöll CAD-modeller av både prototyp, CAID-modeller av slutgiltig design samt en prototyp i skala 1:1. Det slutgiltiga resultatet av projektet är en ny förarstol med möjligheten att skjuta bak stolen nästan tre gånger längre än vad som tidigare var möjligt. Det kan nu göras då förarstolen är en del av sängen. Under användarstudien och brainstormingen togs nya behov fram i from av att solen ska ha möjlighet att anpassas till tre olika lägen; vila, köra, arbeta. Den nya förarstolen ger nu förarna den här möjligheten. Resultatet av det här projektet kan komma att effektivisera föraryrket, vilket gynnar både Scania och kunderna i form av att förarna kommer kunna köra längre än vad tidigare varit tillåtet.

The thesis deals with design of a semiactive seat suspension system for an agriculture machines and design of dynamic model of the system, which includes real parameters of a magnetorheological (MR) damper. The dynamic model is a single degree of freedom model and it is made in program Matlab. In the model, response time of the MR damper and three control algorithms are implemented (two-state Skyhook, Skyhook linear approximation damper control and Acceleration Driven Damper control). Based on the results of the simulations, the damping characteristics are defined, and the MR damper is modified to achieve fast response time. A test seat is designed to test transmission of vibrations to the driver. The simulation results provide a comparison of efficiency of the seat suspension depending on the response time and control algorithm, as well as a comparison with a passive suspension system. On the designed test seat with MR damper with a fast response time, the vibration transmission is reduced up to 25 % compared with the best passive seat suspension setup.

Road trauma is recognized as a major public health problem worldwide (particularly for younger drivers), and risky driving has been identified as an important contributor to road crashes. It is often assumed that similar factors influence all risky driving behaviours, although direct and systematic examination of the differences between risky driving behaviours in terms of precipitating factors is lacking. The present thesis sought to undertake a systematic investigation of relevant factors in the prediction of four key risky driving behaviours (speeding, drink-driving, driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts). Four versions of a Risky Driving Questionnaire were developed to assess beliefs, personality factors and behavioural intentions, in relation to each of the four behaviours. Four versions of the Implicit Association Test were developed to assess attitudes toward each of the four behaviours, without reliance on self-report (in terms of the relative strength of pairs of associations). Data were collected from a student sample (N=215: Study 1), as well as urban (N=587) and rural (N=422) general population samples (Study 2), and regression models were examined for each of the four behaviours, with interaction terms to assess moderations involving perceived risk. Mediations involving gender were also assessed. Results indicate that different risky driving behaviours are predicted by different factors. For example, in the urban sample, speeding was predicted by driver anger and illusory invulnerability, drink driving was predicted by peer influence, driving while fatigued was predicted by the perceived benefits of not driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts was predicted by the (sensation seeking x illusory invulnerability) interaction. Results also suggest that different predictors of risky driving behaviours are relevant for different driver populations. For example, speeding was predicted by authority rebellion in the urban sample, and by sensation seeking in the rural sample. Observed moderations of perceived risk suggest that relationships between perceived risk and risky driving may differ for males versus females, and for low versus high sensation seekers. Findings suggest that future road safety interventions should be based on research of the determinants of individual risky driving behaviours, and in specific driver populations.

Safety belt reminder systems are ubiquitously present in most, if not alI automobiles sold in the United States. Past research has found that the effectiveness of these reminder systems have shown minimal social benefit in the effort to increase safety belt use. The current investigation was conducted to determine if modified reminder systems could improve safety belt use. This research used an electronically equipped research vehicle sponsored by General Motors Corporation. The vehicle's research equipment allowed for the manipulation of different auditory reminder stimuli (i.e., chime, buzzer, and voice), temporal factors (e.g., presentation delays and second reminders) I and the measurement of the driver's safety belt use. Three modifications were explored: the presentation of a Delayed Reminder, Second Reminder, and comparisons of different auditory stimuli. The vehicle also permitted a single subject repeated measure design and methodology that provided process analysis. The results showed that the Delayed Reminder appeared ineffective at increasing belt use, whereas the Second Reminder was found to increase two out of nine subjects' safety belt response rates. The differential effects between the three auditory stimuli (i.e., Chime, Buzzer, & Voice) were inconclusive, though for two subjects the Buzzer and Voice were associated with safety belt increases.
Master of Science

Through the Dust is a novel that takes place in the city of my birth: Istanbul. Using an earthquake as a driving force, the novel explores several themes: the ability to ‘know’ fictional characters and by extension real people, the role memory plays in how we view the world and each other, fate vs. free will, and isolation. Book One entitled ‘The Failure of Ali’ takes place before the earthquake and tells the story of Ali Toz who has hyperthymesia, a condition which prevents him from forgetting and often pulls him into the past. Each chapter alternates between the past and present, allowing us to follow Ali’s youth, his strained relationship with his mother, his time at the ‘school for the gifted’ and his marriage to Mina, while watching his present self wander through Istanbul. It is only when the past catches up with the present that we understand why Ali has come back to Istanbul after 20 years even after vowing never to do so, and why he is so desperate to find five old schoolmates. Book Two entitled ‘The 24th of July’ follows Ali’s five schoolmates through the twenty-four hours before the earthquake happens. Kerim is a surgeon who is having a particularly bad day. Elif is a telemarketer who has been played by her boss and is hated by everyone in her office. Ayse is cheating on her husband in an effort to find the love he promised her she would feel. Omer is going to propose to the love of his life and Didem is stuck in a bar-tending job so she can be with an emotionally destructive man. As the characters go through their day, completely immersed in their own problems, the earthquake strikes the city. Book Three entitled ‘Mary Was Here’ takes place the day after the earthquake and tells the story of Mary, a young woman who has a fatal brain tumor that is making her forget everything. In a parallel voyage to Ali’s, Mary arrives in Istanbul by hitching a ride on an aid bus coming in from Bulgaria. We don’t know why she has come to the city or who she is looking for, but she seems to believe that whoever it is may be able to help her. Early into her arrival, Mary loses her belongings and finds herself alone in the city. One by one, she encounters the five characters from Part Two. It is with Kerim that she creates a real bond and in the midst of all the chaos Mary gets swept along and ends up working as a nurse in a make-shift burn unit by the Golden Horn. The critical element of the thesis, entitled “In The Driver’s Seat: Decoding the Narrative Style of Muriel Spark” focuses on the narrative style of Muriel Spark in the eeriest of her novels. Through an investigation of The Driver’s Seat, I will endeavor to show the narrative and thematic complexity that lies within this seemingly simple and much overlooked novel, and how her techniques influenced my own work.

During the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase by postsecondary institutions in providing academic programs and course offerings in a multitude of formats and venues (Biemiller, 2009; Kucsera & Zimmaro, 2010; Lang, 2009; Mangan, 2008). Strategies pertaining to reapportionment of course-delivery seat time have been a major facet of these institutional initiatives; most notably, within many open-door 2-year colleges. Often, these enrollment-management decisions are driven by the desire to increase market-share, optimize the usage of finite facility capacity, and contain costs, especially during these economically turbulent times. So, while enrollments have surged to the point where nearly one in three 18-to-24 year-old U.S. undergraduates are community college students (Pew Research Center, 2009), graduation rates, on average, still remain distressingly low (Complete College America, 2011). Among the learning-theory constructs related to seat-time reapportionment efforts is the cognitive phenomenon commonly referred to as the spacing effect, the degree to which learning is enhanced by a series of shorter, separated sessions as opposed to fewer, more massed episodes. This ex post facto study explored whether seat time in a postsecondary developmental-level algebra course is significantly related to: course success; course-enrollment persistence; and, longitudinally, the time to successfully complete a general-education-level mathematics course. Hierarchical logistic regression and discrete-time survival analysis were used to perform a multi-level, multivariable analysis of a student cohort (N = 3,284) enrolled at a large, multi-campus, urban community college. The subjects were retrospectively tracked over a 2-year longitudinal period. The study found that students in long seat-time classes tended to withdraw earlier and more often than did their peers in short seat-time classes (p < .05). Additionally, a model comprised of nine statistically significant covariates (all with p-values less than .01) was constructed. However, no longitudinal seat-time group differences were detected nor was there sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that seat time was predictive of developmental-level course success. A principal aim of this study was to demonstrate—to educational leaders, researchers, and institutional-research/business-intelligence professionals—the advantages and computational practicability of survival analysis, an underused but more powerful way to investigate changes in students over time.

Introduction: This study moves to examine the prevalence of risky driving behaviors and deficiency of communication pertinent to topics related to safe driving among adolescents in central Appalachia. Even though plenty of research displays the consequences associated with driving, drivers continue to take part in risky behaviors such as texting while driving, riding in a vehicle without wearing a seatbelt, and riding in a vehicle with someone who has been drinking. Methods: Participants of the study included three high schools in Southwest Virginia consisting of 385 11th and 12th grade students. Students were administered a paper-pencil survey either during homeroom or last period with questions taken from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. Results: The results of the study indicate the frequent occurrence of young drivers engaging in risky driving behaviors associated with texting while driving and not wearing a seatbelt as both passenger and driver in a vehicle. Additionally, the results of the study indicate that there is a lack of healthcare provider communication related to risks associated with driving. This information is crucial because the data demonstrates the missed opportunity to provide better education to adolescents on how they can prevent harm to their lives or the lives of other citizens while driving. Conclusion: After analyzing these results, it becomes evident that more education about safe driving behaviors is crucial for benefiting the young drivers of this region. Because road injury is the leading cause of death among adolescents, it is paramount to provide educational resources to young drivers to decrease the impact of injuries and deaths related to risky driving behaviors. There resides a missed opportunity to educate adolescents about behaviors that may risk their lives or those of their peers and loved ones. In addition, researchers can conduct further studies to examine effective safe driving education programs to decrease the risk behaviors commonly engaged in by adolescent drivers.

The subject of this thesis is to design safety components for the Formula Student car. The aim is to handle the driver’s safety proposals regarding the competition rules. The main point of interest is focused on the impact attenuator issue, which is designed and tested by appropriate method. In addition are designed other security features such as seat belts, seat belts installation and driver equipment are.

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата технічних наук за спеціальністю 05.22.02 – автомобілі та трактори. – Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут", Харків, 2019 р. Дисертація присвячена поліпшенню експлуатаційних властивостей колісного трактора в агрегаті з напівпричепом при русі на транспортних режимах за рахунок обладнання переднього моста комбінованою пневморесорною підвіскою та визначення її раціональних параметрів. Для вирішення поставленої задачі в роботі проаналізовані сучасні тенденції використання колісних тракторів під час перевезення вантажів, котрі є основною сільськогосподарською продукцією, а також продукцією призначеною для забезпечення виробничих процесів сільськогосподарських підприємств. Визначено основні вимоги, які висуваються до конструкції тракторів, які застосовуються в якості транспорту в сільськогосподарській галузі. Розглянуто тенденції розвитку конструкцій систем підресорювання колісних тракторів з урахуванням виконання вантажоперевезень із підвищеними транспортними швидкостями. Виконано аналіз методів і конструктивних засобів поліпшення плавності ходу й зниження динамічної навантаженості ходових систем. Визначено експлуатаційні вимоги, які висуваються до підвісок колісних тракторів. А також встановлені шляхи поліпшення показників плавності ходу на основі вдосконалення систем підресорювання. У рамках дослідження складена узагальнена математична модель поздовжньо-кутових, вертикальних і поздовжніх коливань машино-тракторного агрегату на базі колісного трактора з напівпричепом, яка дозволяє досліджувати плавність ходу й динамічну навантаженість ходової системи. Складена математична модель доповнена математичними моделями пневматичної шини, пневматичного гумово-кордового пружного елемента й тяглово-зчіпного пристрою. Це дозволяє врахувати наявність демпфірування в пневматичній системі комбінованої пневморесорної підвіски, найбільш повно оцінити вплив нелінійності пружних і дисипативних характеристик шини та пневмобалона, а так само наявність зазору в тяглово-зчіпному пристрої на показники плавності ходу й динамічну навантаженість ходової системи колісного трактора. Для найбільш повної оцінки плавності ходу й динамічної навантаженості ходової системи колісного трактора обладнаного різними типами систем підресорювання математична модель реалізована в детермінованій постановці з мікропрофілем, який відповідає різним дорожнім покриттям. Для зниження динамічної навантаженості ходової системи й поліпшення параметрів плавності ходу машино-тракторного агрегату на базі колісного трактора та напівпричепа, була розроблена комбінована пневморесорна підвіска, яка встановлена на передній міст трактора. При розробці регульованої пневморесорної підвіски використовувалися серійні вузли та деталі підвіски з листовими металевими ресорами. Пневморесорна підвіска розміщена в габаритних розмірах серійної підвіски, та складається з листових металевих ресор й двохсекційних пневмобалонів з додатковими повітряними резервуарами. Для збільшення демпфування в підвісці, в трубопроводі на вході до додаткових резервуарів було встановлено дроселі. При зростанні статичного навантаження на передній міст регулятор положення рами за допомогою клапану автоматично забезпечує надходження стисненого повітря до пневмобалонів по трубопроводах, а при її зменшені – випуск повітря до атмосфери. Таким чином забезпечується підтримання постійного зазору між пружним упором стискання та переднім мостом. З метою найбільш повної оцінки властивості конструкції розробленої пневморесорної підвіски та її досконалості при використанні трактора проведено експериментальні дослідження машино-тракторного агрегату в різних експлуатаційних умовах. Результати отримані під час проведення натурного експерименту дали можливість підтвердити достовірність теоретичних досліджень, та оцінити адекватність математичної моделі використовуваної для вивчення взаємозв’язків між параметрами конструкції підвіски та її експлуатаційними показниками. Також була запропонована методика проведення експериментальних досліджень по визначенню демпфування в пневматичній системі комбінованої пневморесорної підвіски, методика визначення параметрів плавності ходу та динамічної навантаженості ходової системи машино-тракторного агрегату при виконанні транспортних робіт. Під час проведення натурного експерименту визначено ступень дисипації в пневморесорній підвісці при різних прохідних перетинах дроселя, а також при різних об’ємах додаткових резервуарів, та визначено раціональний діаметр перехідного перетину дроселя. Проведена оцінка плавності ходу та динамічної навантаженості ходової системи машино-тракторного агрегату обладнаного серійною ресорною підвіскою, комбінованою пневморесорною підвіскою з гідравлічними амортизаторами та без гідравлічних амортизаторів, при русі трактора по дорозі з асфальтним і ґрунтовим покриттям, а саме проведена порівняльна оцінка пневматичного й гідравлічного демпфірування, порівняльна оцінка плавності ходу трактора із серійною та пневморесорними підвісками, шляхом визначення параметрів низькочастотних коливань у характерних точках трактора. Також визначена динамічна навантаженість ходової системи трактора оснащеного різними системами підресорювання. Для вимірів результатів експерименту, а саме для реєстрації параметрів низькочастотних коливань використовувався вимірювальний комплекс, що складається з вібровимірювальної апаратури. Для реєстрації динамічного навантаження передніх й задніх коліс трактора використовувалися тензодатчики, наклеєні на рукавах мостів, при цьому тензометричні датчики збиралися в тензометричні мости сигнал з котрих надходив до фіксуючої апаратури. На підставі аналізу отриманих даних встановлено, що застосування комбінованої пневморесорної підвіски з гідравлічними амортизаторами в порівнянні із серійною ресорною підвіскою дозволяє знизити величини середньоквадратичних прискорень у характерних точках трактора й знизити динамічне навантаження, що діє на колеса машино-тракторного агрегату. Проведено теоретичні дослідження, які дозволили дати об'єктивну оцінку впливу типу підвіски та її конструктивних параметрів на плавність ходу й динамічну навантаженість ходової системи колісного трактора. Визначено шляхи вдосконалення системи підресорювання й розроблені рекомендації з вибору раціональних параметрів підвіски. На підставі аналізу проведених експериментальних досліджень динамічних процесів, які виникають під час руху колісного трактора в агрегаті з напівпричепом, встановлено, що результати теоретичних розрахунків якісно й кількісно відображають характер зміни та рівень показників плавності ходу й динамічної навантаженості ходової системи машино-тракторного агрегату. Також підтверджені рекомендації щодо обраних раціональних параметрів системи підресорювання переднього мосту колісного трактора. Згідно рекомендацій найкращі показники плавності ходу та динамічної навантаженості ходової системи колісного трактора з шарнірно-зчленованою рамою на транспортних роботах досягаються при наступних обґрунтованих основних конструктивних параметрах комбінованої пневморесорної підвіски: діаметр прохідного перетину дроселя 9 мм, що забезпечує максимальне повітряне демпфірування в пневматичній системі та коефіцієнт загасання ψ=0,21; об’єм додаткових резервуарів Vd =40·10ˉ³ м³ на сторону; тиск у пневматичній системі 0,27 МПа; величина коефіцієнта загасання гідравлічного амортизатора ψа=0,21.
The dissertation for obtaining a scientific degree of Candidate of Science (Technology) on the specialty 05.22.02 – automobiles and tractors. –National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute", Kharkiv, 2019. The dissertation is devoted to improving the operational properties of a wheeled tractor in an aggregate with a semi-trailer during the driving in transport modes, due to the equipment of the front axle with a combined air spring suspension and determining its rational parameters. To solve this problem we have analyzed the current tendencies in the application of wheeled tractors in the transportation of the main agricultural products, as well as products intended to support the production processes of agricultural enterprises. The basic requirements for the construction of tractors used as a transport in the agricultural sector have been defined. The tendencies of development of designs of suspension systems of wheel tractors with consideration of performance of cargo transportation with the increased transport speeds have been considered. The analysis of methods and constructive approaches of improving the smoothness of the course and reducing the dynamic load of the running systems have been performed. The operational requirements for suspension wheeled tractors have been defined. There are also ways to improve the smoothness of the course based on the improvement of the suspension systems. In the framework of the study a generalized mathematical model of longitudinal-angular, vertical and longitudinal oscillations of a machine-tractor unit based on a wheeled tractor with a semi-trailer, which allows to investigate the smooth running and the dynamic load of the running system, is drawn up. The mathematical model is completed with mathematical models of pneumatic tire, pneumatic rubber-cord elastic element and traction coupling. This allows to take into account the presence of damping in the pneumatic system of the combined pneumatic spring suspension, to fully assess the influence of nonlinearity of the elastic and dissipative characteristics of the tire and the pneumatic cylinder, as well as the presence of a gap in the traction-coupling device on the trajectory of smooth running and dynamic load. For the most completed evaluation of the smooth running and dynamic loading of the running system of a wheeled tractor equipped with different types of suspension systems, a mathematical model is implemented in a deterministic formulation with micro-profiles corresponding to different road surfaces. To reduce the dynamic load of the running system and improve the parameters of the smooth running of the machine-tractor unit based on the wheeled tractor and semi-trailer, a combined pneumatic spring suspension have been developed, which was mounted on the front axle of the tractor. Developing the adjustable pneumatic spring suspension we used serial units and suspension parts with sheet metal springs. The pneumatic spring suspension is housed in the overall dimensions of the serial suspension, and consists of sheet metal springs and two-section pneumatic cylinders with additional air tanks. In order to increase the damping in the suspension, throttles were installed in the pipeline at the inlet to the additional tanks. As the static load on the front axle increases, the regulator of the frame position by means of a valve automatically ensures the supply of compressed air to the air cylinders through the pipelines, and with its reduction – the release of air to the atmosphere. This ensures that there is a constant gap between the elastic compression stop and the front axle. With the purpose of the most complete evaluation of the design properties of the developed pneumatic spring suspension and its perfection when using the tractor, experimental studies of the machine-tractor unit under different operating conditions have been performed. The results obtained during the full-scale experiment made it possible to confirm the validity of theoretical studies and to evaluate the adequacy of the mathematical model used to study the relationship between the suspension structure parameters and its performance. Also, a method of conducting experimental studies to determine the damping in the pneumatic system of the combined pneumatic spring suspension, the method of determining the parameters of smooth running and the dynamic load of the running system of the machine-tractor unit in the performance of transport works was also proposed. During the full-scale experiment, the degree of dissipation in the pneumatic spring suspension was determined at different throttle cross-sections, as well as at different volumes of additional tanks, and the rational diameter of the throttle cross-section was determined. The estimation of the smoothness of the course and the dynamic loading of the running system of the machine-tractor unit equipped with a serial spring suspension, combined pneumatic spring suspension with hydraulic shock absorbers and without hydraulic shock absorbers, when driving the tractor on the road with asphalt comparative estimation of the smooth running of the tractor with serial and pneumatic spring suspensions, by determining the parameters of low-frequency oscillations at the characteristic points of the tractor. The dynamic loading of the running gear of the tractor equipped with various suspension systems is also determined. To estimate the results of the experiment, namely to record the parameters of low-frequency oscillations, a measuring complex consisting of vibration measuring equipment was used. To register the dynamic load of the front and rear wheels of the tractor were used strain gauges glued to the sleeves of the bridges, while the strain gauge sensors were collected in the strain gauge bridges signal from which came to the fixing equipment. Being based on the analysis of the obtained data, it has been found out that the application of a combined pneumatic spring suspension with hydraulic shock absorbers in comparison with the serial spring suspension allows to reduce the magnitude of the rms acceleration at the characteristic points of the tractor and to reduce the dynamic load acting on the wheels of the machine-tractor. Theoretical researches allowed to give an objective estimation of influence of a type of a suspension bracket and its design parameters on smoothness of a course and dynamic loading of a running system of a wheel tractor are carried out. Ways to improve the suspension system were identified and recommendations were made for choosing rational suspension parameters. Based on the analysis of the experimental studies of the dynamic processes that occur during the movement of a wheeled tractor in a semi-trailer unit, it is established that the results of theoretical calculations qualitatively and quantitatively reflect the nature of the change and the level of smoothness and dynamic load of the running gear of the machine-tractor system. Recommendations for the selected rational parameters of the front axle suspension system of the wheeled tractor have been also confirmed. According to the recommendations, the best performance of smooth running and dynamic loading of the running system of the wheeled tractor with the articulated frame on the transport works are achieved with the following substantiated basic design parameters of the combined pneumatic spring suspension: diameter of the throttle cross-section 9 mm, which provides the maximum air damping in the pneumatic system and attenuation coefficient ψ=0,21; volume of additional tanks Vd =40·10ˉ³ m³ per side; pressure in the pneumatic system 0,27 MPa; the value of the damping coefficient of the hydraulic shock absorber ψа=0,21.

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата технічних наук за спеціальністю 05.22.02 – автомобілі та трактори. – Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут", Харків, 2019 р. Дисертація присвячена поліпшенню експлуатаційних властивостей колісного трактора в агрегаті з напівпричепом при русі на транспортних режимах за рахунок обладнання переднього моста комбінованою пневморесорною підвіскою та визначення її раціональних параметрів. Складено узагальнену математичну модель поздовжньо-кутових, вертикальних та поздовжніх коливань машино-тракторного агрегату на базі колісного трактора в агрегаті з напівпричепом, яка дає змогу дослідити плавність ходу та динамічну навантаженість ходової системи з урахуванням нелінійності пружних та дисипативних характеристик підвіски, а також конструктивних характеристик тягово-зчіпного пристрою. Виконано теоретичні дослідження, котрі дозволили дати об'єктивну оцінку впливу типу підвіски та її конструктивних параметрів на плавність ходу й динамічну навантаженість ходової системи колісного трактора. Визначено шляхи вдосконалювання системи підресорювання та її раціональні параметри. На основі експериментальних досліджень підтверджено достовірність математичної моделі руху машино-тракторного агрегату на транспортних швидкостях, та підтверджено рекомендації щодо вибраних раціональних параметрів системи підресорювання переднього моста колісного трактора.
The dissertation for obtaining a scientific degree of Candidate of Science (Technology) on the specialty 05.22.02 – automobiles and tractors. –National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute", Kharkiv, 2019. The dissertation is devoted to improving the operational properties of a wheeled tractor in an aggregate with a semi-trailer when driving in transport modes, due to the equipment of the front axle with a combined air spring suspension and determining its rational parameters. A generalized mathematical model of the longitudinal-angular, vertical and longitudinal oscillations of a machine-tractor unit based on a wheeled tractor in an aggregate with a semi-trailer has been compiled, which allows us to study the smoothness and dynamic loading of the running system with taking into account the nonlinearity of the elastic and dissipative characteristics of the suspension, as well as the structural characteristics of the towing device. Theoretical studies have been carried out, which made it possible to give an objective assessment of the influence of the type of suspension and its design parameters on the smoothness and dynamic loading of the wheeled tractor running system. Ways to improve the suspension system are identified and recommendations for the selection of rational suspension parameters are developed. Based on experimental studies, the reliability of the mathematical model of the movement of a ma-chine-tractor unit at transport speeds is confirmed. The recommendations regarding the selected rational parameters of the suspension system of the front axle of the wheeled tractor are also confirmed.

Professional truck drivers are highly exposed to fatigue and work related injuries. Truck drivers are common victims of musculoskeletal disorders, frequently suffering from pain symptoms particularly in the neck, shoulder and lower back. This situation is believed to be a contributor to the high absenteeism in this job category. A high percentage of this problem is due to the adoption of an unhealthy driving posture resulting from inappropriate seat design. This incorrect and poor design is owing to the insufficient and obsolete anthropometrical data which has been used for decades for arranging and positioning components in the driver environment. The main objective of the present study was to create and construct a mathematical model which clarifies and predicts the drivers’ comfortable sitting posture and position. It was hypothesized that the length and height characteristics of some body segments as well as the body weight and waist circumference of the driver have a great impact on the selection of a specific sitting posture. The steering wheel positions as well as the pedal/floor locations were hypothesized to be highly correlated to the driver’s selected posture and the corresponding comfort. The effect of the seat position on posture selection and related comfort assessments constituted the other hypothesis of the study which received extra attention. A laboratory experiment on a Scania truck cab mock-up was conducted. The seat track travel along a vertical as well as horizontal forward-backward path was obtained by mounting the seat on the motorized rigid frame which allowed unrestricted vertical and fore-aft travel. The seat cushion angle and backrest angle were adjusted by pivoting the entire seat and backrest around a lateral axis and independently. The pedal components were mounted on a motorized platform, thus allowing unrestricted fore-aft and height travel without any changes in the pedal angles. The steering wheel was mounted on the instrument panel by two independent pneumatic axes which allowed a wide range of adjustments including tilting and moving along the sagittal plane for adjusting the height and distance. The test plan called for 55 international highly experienced heavy truck drivers. The drivers were recruited to span a large range of body weight and stature, in particular to ensure adequate representation of both the extreme as well as the normal group of drivers. The drivers filled in a general information questionnaire before undergoing the anthropometrical measurements and thereafter the test trials. The experiment contained a subset of test conditions with five different trials using random selection sampling procedure. Drivers were asked to adjust the components in a wide range of trajectory according to a written protocol. A sparse set of threedimensional body landmark locations and the corresponding comfort assessments were recorded. As the main part of the result, the mathematical models using multiple regression analyses on selected body landmarks as well as anthropometrical measures were developed which proposed a linear correlation between parameters. The differences between the observed data and the corresponding predicted data using the model were found to be minimal and almost dispensable. Additionally, the drivers preferred to sit in the rearmost position and at a rather high level relative to the rest of the available and adjustable area. Considering the normal adjustable seat area of the cab, only a very small part of the observed Hpoint data lies within this area while a large remaining amount of data lies outside of it. Moreover, the difference between the observation (plotted H-point data) and the neutral H-point was found to be significant. Furthermore, and since some of the data lies almost on the border of the adjustable area, it may indicate a reasonable tendency for even more seat adjustment in the backward direction. A conceptual model consisting of four different parameters was developed and presented in the end. These parameters of the model suggest being as key factors which play a central role on process of decision making regarding the selection of a desirable sitting posture. Any eventual modifications and adjustments for elimination or minimizing discrepancies, biases or obscured factors affecting the quality of the mathematical model would be a case for future study. The investigation of a complete assessment of comfort should be supplemented with an analysis of how many truck drivers are satisfied with the comfort in the end.
QC 20100824

CORRELATES OF SEAT BELT USE AMONG TURKISH FRONT SEAT OCCUPANTS SimSekoglu, Ö
zlem M.S., Department of Psychology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Timo Lajunen June, 2005, 79 pages This thesis included three separate studies, which were observational, interview and survey studies, on seat belt use among Turkish front seat occupants. The observation study investigated occupant characteristics and environmental factors affecting seat belt use. Seat belts were used significantly more among females and older occupants than among males and younger occupants
and on intercity roads, at weekends and in the afternoons than on city roads, at weekdays and in the evenings. The interview study investigated the common reasons for using and not using a seat belt in different trip types, qualitatively. Safety, situational conditions, habit and avoiding punishment were the commonly reported reasons for using a seat belt, while situational conditions, not believing the effectiveness of seat belt use, discomfort and no habit of using a seat belt were the commonly reported reasons for not using a seat belt, for most of the trip types. In the third study, seat belt use both on urban and rural roads were explained with the basic and extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) models and Health Belief Model (HBM), using Structural Equation Modeling. Basic TPB model showed a good fit to the data, while extended TPB model and HBM showed a low fit to the data. Within TPB constructs, attitudes and the subjective norm had a positive and significant relation to intentions to use a seat belt. Results were discussed for their implications to traffic safety in Turkey, along with limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies.

Thesis (MScIng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A rough road vibration stimulus was reconstructed on a shaker platform to assess the dynamic comfort of seven seats by six human subjects. The virtual seat method was combined with a paired comparison procedure to assess subjective dynamic seat comfort. The psychometric method of constants, 1-up-1-down Levitt procedure and a 2-up-1-down Levitt procedure were compared experimentally to find the most accurate and efficient paired comparison scheme. A two-track interleaved, 2-up-1-down Levitt procedure was used for the subjective dynamic seat comfort assessment. SEAT value is an objective metric and has been widely used to determine seat vibration isolation efficiency. There was an excellent correlation (R2 = 0.97) between the subjective ratings and estimated SEAT values on the seat top when the values are averaged over the six subjects. This study suggests that the SEAT values, estimated from averaged seat top transmissibility of six carefully selected subjects, could be used to select the best seat for a specific road vibration input.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ses persone het deelgeneem aan ‘n eksperiment, om die dinamiese ritgemak van sewe stoele te karakteriseer. ‘n Rowwe padvibrasie is vir die doel op ‘n skudplatform geherkonstrueer. Subjektiewe ritgemak is bepaal deur die virtuelestoel metode met ‘n gepaarde, vergelykingstoets te kombineer. Die psigometriese metode van konstantes, die 1-op-1-af Levitt procedure en die 2-op- 1-af Levitt procedure is vergelyk om die mees effektiewe en akkurate vergelykingstoets te vind. ‘n Tweebaan, vervlegde , 2-op-1-af Levitt prosedure het die beste resultate gelewer en is gekies vir die subjektiewe evaluasie van dinamiese ritgemak. SEAT-waarde is ‘n objektiewe maatstaf, wat gebruik word om te bepaal hoe effektief ‘n stoel die insittende van voertuigvibrasie isoleer. Daar was ‘n uitstekende korrelasie (R2 = 0.97) tussen subjektiewe dinamiese ritgemakevaluesies en SEAT-waardes in die vertikale rigting op die stoelkussing as die gemiddelde oor die ses persone bereken word. Uit die resultate van hierdie studie blyk dit dat SEAT-waardes, wat bereken is vanaf die gemiddelde sitplektransmissie van die ses persone, wat verteenwoordigend van die teikenbevolking is, gebruik kan word om die beste stoel vir ‘n spesifieke vibrasieinset te kies.

Present thesis will concentrate on the attention to reduce the input of whole-body vibrations transmitted to test drivers in durability tests. On behalf of Volvo Cars, the purpose has been to develop a concept solution on the driver's seat. Solving this problem is significant due to test driver’s safety and theirs ergonomically conditions. This project is conducted as a Bachelor of Science thesis for the Innovation & design engineer program at Karlstad University.    The assignment is in collaboration with the research and development department Proving Ground Testing Group located outside Borås on their test facility, Hällered Proving Ground (HPG). Where they perform endurance tests on rough roads with complete vehicles. The main goal of this project is to increase the time drivers can actively drive the test cars each day, as well as reduce the exposure of whole-body vibration transmitted to test drivers.   The project has been carried out through the Engineering Design Process, which is a substantial model for working with creativity during product development. The report consists of a pre-study in areas like dynamic systems of vibration, ergonomics, previous research, benchmarking and seat structure. This was achieved by identifying the problem areas in an early stage. A number of concepts solutions were evaluated and compared according to implementability and realizability. The final decision was made on a concept, resulted in changing the current foam in the seat. Thereafter, it presents the evaluation of materials throughout the material database CES EduPack and through product research.     The last part of the report presents results from laboratory testings and a field test. The objective was to determine which arrangement provided the best isolation throughout different combinations of materials/products and material thicknesses. The result of the test showed that an increase of material thickness was the optimal solution. Polyurethane (PUR) foam is best suited for this and factors such as material properties and combination of materials has less or none impact on reducing whole-body vibrations. Therefore, the current foam can maybe be enough, but it needs to be evaluated further. This solution doesn't do any major changes to the cars specification and therefore the cars can be evaluated as before.   Further development is to build a prototype with thicker dimensions and implement it in a test vehicle. Subsequently verifying a decrease of exposure from whole-body vibrations, in the form of a real-life test. The solution is intended solely for test vehicles at Volvo’s endurance track facility at Hällered. The assignment was to facilitate working conditions for test drivers and make the work more efficient. The thesis purpose was to achieve a sustainable solution, according to Volvo Cars` requirements to reduce exposure from whole-body vibrations and this project is therefore fulfilled. It was important that the solution was easy to implement and can be applied on all platforms, correspondently be used on future test cars from Volvo.

Whole-body vibration is an important problem facing operators of off-road vehicles. Research has shown that operators exposed to low-frequency whole-body vibration can experience temporary and even permanent injuries. One solution to this problem is to develop an active seat capable of canceling the vibrations felt by the operator. Several passive, semi-active, active, and fully active seats have been designed and built to address this problem. Furthermore, controllers have been developed to optimize the seat performance. Vibration cancellation seating systems seem to be a promising and practical way to reduce the effects of whole-body vibration. To extend developments in this area, a Hyper-Active seat has been designed and built at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The seat utilizes a 3 Revolute-Prismatic-Revolute (RPR) parallel manipulator design which allows for the independent control of the vertical, horizontal and pitch angle directions. The seat is powered using three hydraulic actuators which are controlled using MATLAB's Simulink, xPC Target, and Real-Time Workshop. Controllers were developed to control the position of the seat, as well as cancel unwanted vibration. To test the performance of the Hyper-Active seat, the system identification of the seat was undertaken using open-loop forcing functions. The seat was evaluated in each degree of freedom to understand the potential of the seat to cancel harmful vibration. In addition to reducing harmful vibrations, the seat can double as a safety seat to reduce injuries during a frontal collision. If the front edge of the seat bottom can be raised very quickly, then the forward motion of the passenger can be reduced during a crash. An optimal method for performing this motion is developed.

Children are more vulnerable in vehicles compared to adults in collisions. Two main reasons are the different body structure between these two and vehicles are more designed to fit adults. Children’s head is larger relative to their body mass and their neck muscle ligaments are still not fully developed. Children are therefore in need of a restraint system that match their anatomy to make them protected during transportation in vehicles. Crash tests have shown that if children up to the age of five use rear-facing child car seats are the chances reduced of injuries by five times compared to front-facing. This report describes the development project of a concept which enables to fasten a rear-facing child car seat with the car seat belt. The objective was to design the fastening components for a rear-facing child car seat that suits children up to five years and considering the regulations, ECE R44, and the Swedish Plus test. This is a Master thesis that has been in collaboration with Company Xand Havd Group in Gothenburg. The project aimed to deliver a digital concept of the fastening components with information about the material, manufacturing methods, product costs, and design form. Also, was the aim to gather information through the project on what it takes to develop a rear-facing child car seat. The project consisted of five phases: planning, pre-study, ideation, detailed design and at last presentation of the result. The first phase was to plan and coordinate the project. A pre-study was then made investigating the products on the market, interviews with both users and experts regarding safety for children in vehicles, relevant literature for developing a child car seat was also collected and regulations were studied. The ideation phase developed ideas and three concepts were taken forward for development. One concept was chosen after decision making and the concept was more detailed designed in CAD.The result is presented through a CAD model which illustrates the design form and chosen material. The result is a concept that fastens the car seat belt with two hooks which can be connected to the child car seat base. In the base is two buckles designed to connect with the hooks, which uses the same fastening way used in the vehicles to fasten passengers. This is supposed to increase the usability of the installation. Material, manufacturing methods and product costs have been considered and are presented with the result.

The goal of this project was to build a model and a controller for the seat heater and steering wheel heater on the SAAB cars. SAAB manufactures two different car models 9-3 and 9-5. The goal is to control the seat heater in both car models without any temperature sensor in the seat, this due to cost reduction. Several tests have been carried out booth in climate chambers and during road tests. These tests have in the end lead to a mathematical model for the temperature dependence and this model has been used to design an open loop controller for the seat heater.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Currently there is a lack of assistance in automobile usage for the older people of our society. In an attempt to combat this problem, this thesis designs and builds a working conceptual model of a handicapped car lifting seat. An initial cost analysis is performed, an apparatus is designed, all necessary materials are gathered, an apparatus is constructed, and the device is tested. The result was the successful completion of a device that successfully assists in the lifting of up to a 300 lb. person out of their car. With some further development, this handicapped car lifting seat could hopefully be used in real life.
by Sean A. Schoenmakers.
S.B.

Humans have always been fascinated by the thought of bringing non living objects to life. Wewanted to explore the possibilities of trying to create an artefact that the audience wouldconsider possess emotional states and have a life of its own.TaS is a interactive chair that functions as a social entity. The idea is to try and enhance thebond between human and artefact, based upon the emotional connection. We try and produce,enhance and maintain this bond through curiosity based interaction.Bachelor thesis in Interaction Design by Andreas Eriksson, Johanna Lund and Fredrik Lundh,spring term 2008, Malmö University, K3 School of Arts & Communication.

This thesis work is focused on the design of a mechanism for the passenger’s seat of a Volvo S80. This mechanism will facilitate the problems arised when somebody with limited mobility, either permanent or temporal, is entering or exiting the vehicle. The main aim is to obtain an affordable device that enhances the life of those with reduced mobility, but paying special attention to those who do not receive any kind of economical help from the government. The idea is to be able to move the seat to the outside of the car so that one can seat with no special effort. Then, the mechanism, manually, performs the movements to bring it back to the inside. The concept of being manual is to avoid electronic devices that will surely increase the cost. In this project, a possible design solution has been developed. A model was created with Autodesk Inventor 2012. The three basic positions of the mechanism were studied to determine the structural behavior of the product. For these studies, a load compensating the weight of a human was applied and the stresses and the deformation were analyzed by Finite Element Methods and the study was concluded when the safety factor was over 2.

'Never Forget Your First' presents the story of Gillian - a young woman who, from a young age, expresses an attraction to violence. Following an encounter with her father - in the course of which he suffers a fatal injury - Gillian begins her journey towards her first murder. Never Forget Your First aims to illustrate how contemporary authors can deviate from narrative norms in regard to representing female violence. Complementary to this, the critical portion of this thesis, Violent Women: Representations of Female Violence in Muriel Spark's 'The Driver's Seat', Virginie Despentes's 'Baise-Moi', Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl', and C.S. Barnes's 'Never Forget Your First', discusses how depictions of female violence in fiction remain heavily gendered. Through an analysis of three novels- Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat (1970), Virginie Despentes's Baise-Moi, trans. by Bruce Benderson (1993), and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl (2012)- this essay aims to highlight that even innovative narratives of female violence remain, to some extent, governed by gendered expectations. This analysis also draws on feminist theory, above all on Betty Friedan's and Judith Butler's work. The critical essay highlights problems with the gendered representation of violence in fiction and calls for a revision of literary tropes governing the representation of violence.

Full time wheelchair users are at a height disadvantage during many function activities, such as transferring or reaching. Retrieving objects from the ground or a higher shelf while seated in the wheelchair can be both difficult and unsafe. Lateral transfers between surfaces at different heights can be difficult and unsafe. Sit-to-stand transfers are made simpler with a higher seat. This research project seeks to assist reach and transfers by designing a system to raise and lower a wheelchair seat over a 4'' range. The project included several needs assessment: 1) by conducting interviews and surveys, identify design needs from different stakeholder groups; 2) analysis of stakeholder groups' feedback and synthesis into design criteria; and 3) creation of design concepts for the adjustable height wheelchair seat; 4) evaluation of the design by setting up heuristic evaluation criteria and perform user testing; 5) design revision design based on user's performance and feedback. The design process included fabricating and testing of various concepts, validating design through user testing, and addresses technology transfer of the device.

Väldigt få av dagens skogsmaskiner har dämpning vid hjulen. Detta resulterar i att den enda dämpning operatören har tillgång till för att dämpa vibrationer och stötar från marken, är den som sitter under sätet, det dämpande underredet. Tyvärr håller dagens undereden icke måttet, då de är främst designade att användas i en helt annan miljö, oftast i lastbilar och bussar. Förutom problemet med kort livslängd, så finns problemet med att man ej kan få optimal dämpning vid lägsta och högsta positionen, på grund av hur konstruktionen är utformad. I detta examensarbete så görs ett försök att hitta en annan typ av dämpnings- och höjdläges-funktion som gör att höjd och dämpning ej är beroende av varandra, vilket skall resultera i optimal dämning oavsett höjd. Förutom detta så skall designen också hålla längre samt dämpa vibrationer och rörelser åt fler håll än bara vertikalt.Den resulterande konstruktionen analyserades sedan digitalt, för att ta fram de optimala dämpnings- och fjäder- konstanterna, samt egenfrekvenserna. Slutligen ges rekommendationer för design, analyser och övrigt fortsatt arbete som behövs för att kunna tillverka en prototyp.
Very few of today’s forest machines have damping at the wheels. The only damping that the operator has to shield him from the vibrations and shakes is the seats undercarriage. Unfortunately, today’s undercarriage do not measure up to the task, as they are often designed for trucks and busses, not to be used in a harsh environment as a forest. Except the short lifespan problem, there is also the issue of optimal damping. Today’s design does not allow for optimal damping at the maximum and minimum height positions.This Master´s Thesis project aim at creating a new and improved design that would separate height adjustment and damping, with the purpose to provide optimal damping within the entire height adjustment range. All this and at the same time making the design sturdier, with a greater lifespan, and to be able to damp vibrations and motions in more than one direction. The resulting design was then digitally analyzed to find out the optimal damping and spring coefficients, as well as the natural frequencies. Finally recommendations are given for design, analyses and further work that are needed to manufacture a prototype.