Cars have become Americans’ second homes. We spend a lot of time there–millions of driver-hours every year going from point A to point B.
Longer commutes, especially, have forced the auto industry to rethink car interiors and add such entertainments as VCR screens with earphones and Lego Playstation for kids and such accommodations as cupholders for today’s “meals on wheels.”
Even outside businesses have gotten into the act–books on tape, for example, became a growth industry because of longer drive times. And Internet access with e-mail is on its way to a sedan near you.
More vehicle time, however, also can mean more discomfort as the average American driver is beginning to feel like long-distance truckers, who spend 8 to 10 hours a day in their rolling “offices.”
But, also, as the car manufacturers have all but ceded the design of vehicle interiors to their suppliers, car seatmakers and interiors specialists such as Johnson Controls Inc. and its new Comfort Lab are getting to the bottom of car-seat comfort.
Anybody who has driven from Chicago to Florida and felt their lower back, legs, thighs and hips numb or painful by northern Georgia can be assured that help is on the way.
Here in a western suburb of Detroit, auto supplier Johnson Controls does scientific study on the tangible and intangible aspects of comfort for driver’s and passenger’s posteriors in its Comfort Lab.
“Interior comfort is a top priority among car-buyers–one that differentiates vehicles, affects purchase decisions and strongly influences overall customer satisfaction,” said John Barth, executive vice president for Johnson Controls, a leading automotive supplier
That’s why Johnson Controls spent $3.5 million to develop the Comfort Lab, a 3,200-square-foot facility with a staff of 17 that works with as many as 30 interior programs for vehicles under development by global automakers.
Comfort Lab opened in 1998 as a tool to study “seating systems” and the comfort they provide to people who spend increasing time in their vehicles.
The focal point of the comfort study center is a driving simulator that replicates the sights, sounds, forces and vibrations drivers and passengers experience under all road, traffic and weather conditions. A driver and passenger, seated in a vehicle interior, take a “virtual ride” while Johnson Controls engineers monitor and record their experience.
“Pilots in training use flight simulators,” says Kuntal Thakurta, manager of the Comfort Lab. “Applying a similar approach in a scientifically controlled environment, engineers creating the automotive interiors of the future can use our high-tech driving simulator.”
Thakurta says the driving simulator is similar to a “Star Tours” stationary ride at Disney World, where the seats move in concert with what is being shown on a screen. It’s also like a 1950s drive-in theater except the screen is not only in front of the driver but also on both sides to fill the viewer’s peripheral vision with proportional images.
And, the driver’s rearview mirror emits a projection of what is “seen” as the vehicle passes through simulated roadways.
“We’re measuring long-term comfort. We’re basically having people drive for a half-hour, two hours, four hours and looking at how comfortable the seats are over a period of time,” Thakurta said.
“The second thing we’re looking at from the seating side is how good are the vibrations.
“We have different types of road surfaces also created in a virtual environment. As the person drives they’ll drive over a series of different types of road surfaces. [Everything from concrete, dirt, brick, bumpy and potholed to urban, highway and suburban roads can be simulated.] Being in a simulator, we can also replicate even road surfaces in Europe and South America and know exactly how the seat will feel in these areas.”
The Comfort Lab measures not only the reactions of industry professionals, such as engineers, researchers and the occasional race-car driver, but also “focus group” volunteers culled from the public.
Then there are the electronic mannequins, including a family of three-dimensional, computer-generated models developed by Johnson Controls and Michigan State University, that replicate the shape, size and movements of human bodies. A motion analysis system measures occupant motion and vehicle movement in various seat designs.
“Most of the engineers in the lab have specialization in biomechanics, ergonomics, vibration, even physiology and psychology. Our job is to relate how good, bad or wonderful the experience is for the passenger,” Thakurta points out.
And there’s no technology that these wizards won’t throw at the problem, including “pressure mapping,” in which engineers using special sensor-equipped pads built into an experimental car seat take a “thermal image” of how a person’s back, buttocks and legs interact with the seat.
That produces an infrared-type image showing the most significant “pressure points.” And, of course, new-generation seats are then designed to more comfortably disperse such pressure more equally across those common passenger-to-seat contact points.
Several production vehicles, including the 1998 Chrysler 300M and the 2000 Lincoln LS luxury car, have car seats that incorporate Comfort Lab technology. In particular, the 2000 Lincoln LS has seats that offer massage; heating, cooling and ventilation; “intelligent” self-adjustment for optimal comfort; and advanced lumbar support.
“A typical test is about two hours long,” Thakurta said. “Vibration, pressures, motion-and-movement are being measured.”
And car-buying experiences have driven research. Thakurta says one reason Japanese cars took off in popularity with American women in the 1980s and ’90s is that those Toyotas and Hondas were designed for Japanese men, who have a similar physical “morphic profile” in terms of average height and weight distribution as Western women.
Thakurta said the lab discovered by coincidence that the build of the 50th percentile of Japanese men matches that of the 50th percentile of U.S. women.
That was one of several factors that caused the shift toward import sales and forced the Detroit automakers to research otherwise overlooked car-purchase factors such as seat comfort.
Seat design was not a priority before the import invasion. Bench seats held sway almost until the Chrysler mini-van ushered in the captain’s chair in 1984. The individual seat drove interest in seating and interior comfort, with memory and heated seats in the first wave of technological advances.
That’s when it became apparent that seating comfort could be a sales tool, said Thakurta.
And the Comfort Lab doesn’t stop with seats. “From the interior side, there are a lot of things we’re measuring like display systems–even things like the color and texture of the displays,” Thakurta said.
“We’re looking at location and accessibility of the ergonomics of the interior. Like a person’s reach for the radio control knob, or how far do they have to reach for the cupholders? Or to open the glovebox? Or their reach for the overhead sunglass compartment–how good are those locations while they’re driving?
“Being in a simulator, we don’t have to worry about them hurting other things while being tested.”
MORE WAYS YOU CAN SIT BACK AND RELAX
This year Johnson Controls Inc. has introduced three prototype automotive seating systems that will be on production vehicles within two to five years, the supplier says.
“Our consumer research has consistently shown that interior comfort is a top priority among vehicle buyers,” said Bob Ellis, vice president of product marketing and brand development for Johnson Controls.
Here’s a look at Johnson Controls’ next-generation seating systems, developed at its Comfort Lab research center:
Comfort Cools. This technology uses two specially designed fans to create a vacuum in the seat that can draw a small amount of compartment air through the occupant-to-seat contact surface.
The Comfort Cools seat removes heat and moisture and comfortably cools the occupant’s back and thighs, while keeping clothing dry and wrinkle free.
Comfort Massages. This seat features electronic vibrating motors in specific areas to create adjustable massage rhythms and intensity.
Comfort Massage focuses on the back and legs and allows the driver to select the pattern and intensity that best suits or her needs.
The technology works to reduce the fatigue of extended travel by stimulating blood flow to ease muscle tension and stress.
Comfort Renews. This seating technology incorporates a pair of air bladders or cushions under an occupant’s buttocks that inflate and deflate to impart a natural walking-type movement.
The periodic and subtle movements keep the lower body in motion. They also can increase ciruclation of blood and other bodily fluids, which could reduce an occupant’s fatigue, discomfort, aches, numbness, lower back pain and stiffness.
Ellis describes the human body as a load-bearing structure that is not designed to sit in one position for long periods of time. These technologies, he says, will help improve an occupant’s tolerance for sustained sitting in increased drive time.
In model year 2000 alone, Johnson Controls will supply interior products for more than 23 million vehicles worldwide.
AT A GLANCE
Here’s a look at Johnson Controls’ Comfort Lab:
Location: Johnson Control’s Plymouth, Mich., automotive headquarters
Opened: 1998
Size: 3,200 square feet
Cost: $3.5 million
Staff: 17 full-time employees
Slogan: “We’ve got `just right’ down to a science.”
Miles of “virtual roads” in driving simulator: 65
Centerpiece: A six-axis, hydraulic shaker table with a car “buck” built on top that simulates over-the-road motions and vibrations.
Vehicles: Cadillac DeVille, Chevrolet S10, Chrysler 300M, GMC Sonoma, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Lincoln LS and Volkswagen Beetle
Web site: www.johnsoncontrols.com
