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Correlation of Driver Head Posture and Trapezius Muscle Activity as Comfort Assessment of Car Seat

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Intelligent Human Systems Integration 2019 (IHSI 2019)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 903))

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Abstract

Car design must very care comfort and driving pleasure. Nonetheless, the design choices are tested with subjective evaluations. In the present research, an objective measurement equipment for driving comfort assessment is proposed. The muscles activity of the driver in different maneuvers is considered the gauge of her/his feeling with the car. The activity of trapezius muscles of both shoulders is monitored by electromyography (EMG), through electrodes applied to her/his skin. The driver posture is monitored with a robust device for head tracking, using two 9-axis orientation sensors, including gyroscope. Real driving experiments are performed both with a luxury SUV and a high-end car. As expected, the first resulted more comfortable. The proposed equipment proved to be effective in assessing the driving comfort for different seat designs and car layouts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge NCS Lab Srl, Carpi, Italy, for supporting the research with an effective test system and with precious knowledge.

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Correspondence to Alberto Vergnano .

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Vergnano, A., Pegreffi, F., Leali, F. (2019). Correlation of Driver Head Posture and Trapezius Muscle Activity as Comfort Assessment of Car Seat. In: Karwowski, W., Ahram, T. (eds) Intelligent Human Systems Integration 2019. IHSI 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 903. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11051-2_37

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