the pedal box design. It is recogni

the pedal box design. It is recognized that in order to
achieve this aim attention needs to focus on 2 aspects:
• We need to understand the relationship between
the driver’s actual response, i.e. what the driver
actually does in terms of positioning, posture and
adjustments to posture, pattern and amplitude of
movements required to complete the driving task,
and the driver’s perception of comfort, i.e. the
subjective response;
• We need to assess the relationship between the
pedal design and other relevant engineering
attributes (as inputs) and the driver’s actual and
perceived response.
This analysis clearly suggests that the ability to
objectively measure what the driver actually does is key
to achieving the ultimate aim of correlating pedal design
attributes with driver’s perceived comfort. The work
described in this paper aimed to design and develop an
ergonomic data measurement system for driver–pedals
interaction that would support both of the tasks outlined
above.
A design requirement set for the system was to be able
to collect ergonomic data both statically and
dynamically, i.e. during actual journeys. The system
must be therefore portable and minimally intrusive to the
driver’s personal comfort and the driving task.
An initial assessment of the system requirements
pointed to the following factors that need to be
measured and monitored during a test:
Ergonomic factors:
• Subject anthropometrics (Leg Segments, Foot
Length, Stature, Soft Tissue);
• Driver positioning (Seat Position Fore/Aft, Seat
Recline Angle);
• Driver movements (Hip, Knee and Ankle Joint
Angles);
• Contact surface interaction (Buttocks on Seat, Heel
Contact Location on Floor, Contact Between the
Foot and Pedals);
• Longer term (i.e. over an extended drive task)
physiological effects (e.g. muscle fatigue in the
lower leg).
Vehicle and Environmental factors:
• Vehicle controls (acceleration and brake pedal
positions, vehicle speed and gear position);
• Driving situation (road type, traffic & weather
conditions).
This paper presents the development work for the
ergonomic data measurement system for driver pedal
interactions, and covers a description of the system
architecture and a validation exercise to demonstrate the
capability and performance of the system.