Occupant based design method for an automotive vehicle
First Claim
1. A method for vehicle design on a computer having processor and a memory in which an occupant and at least one vehicle system are electronically represented with respect to a common reference point in a three-dimensional representation of a portion of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- orienting an occupant representation with respect to the common reference point in the computer;
representing the at least one vehicle system with reference to the common reference point;
determining at least one occupant interaction between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system; and
reporting the at least one occupant interaction.
16 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer based system and method for designing an automotive vehicle orients an occupant representation, in electronic form, with respect to a three-dimensional electronic representation of a portion of the vehicle. At least one vehicle system is represented, also in electronic form, with respect to a common reference point, at least one human factors study is electronically performed to determine occupant interaction with at least one vehicle system, and an outcome of that study is reported to a vehicle designer. The designer then has an option to vary, or alter, the occupant orientation, the location of the vehicle system, or both, so that the design meets a predetermined criteria of the study. However, the designer may opt to retain the design despite non-compliance with the criteria. If a parameter change is made, the system and method automatically rebuild every other effected dimension, and vehicle systems to satisfy the regenerated design are automatically selected from an electronic parts library so that packaging alternatives can be quickly studied. A geometric representation of occupant interaction relative to a vehicle system may be displayed to allow a designer to visually assess compliance with a particular criteria. The occupant representation, vehicle, vehicle system, and geometric representation of the interaction may be rendered and animated in three-dimensions permitting views from various perspectives. The method and system can quickly provide accurate human factors studies for a vehicle design while allowing system packaging flexibility.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1. A method for vehicle design on a computer having processor and a memory in which an occupant and at least one vehicle system are electronically represented with respect to a common reference point in a three-dimensional representation of a portion of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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orienting an occupant representation with respect to the common reference point in the computer; representing the at least one vehicle system with reference to the common reference point; determining at least one occupant interaction between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system; and reporting the at least one occupant interaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18)
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12. A method for vehicle design on a computer having processor and a memory in which an occupant and at least one vehicle system are electronically represented with respect to a common reference point in a three-dimensional representation of a portion of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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orienting an occupant representation with respect to the common reference point in the computer; representing the at least one vehicle system with reference to the common reference point; performing at least one human factors study between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system; and reporting an outcome of the at least one human factors study. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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19. A method for designing a portion of an automotive vehicle on a computer system in which an occupant position and at least one vehicle device are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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selecting a value for at least one occupant position parameter defining the occupant position; determining an occupant interaction between the occupant position and the at least one vehicle device; and comparing the occupant interaction to a predetermined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for designing vehicle on a computer having a processor and a memory in which an occupant representation and at least one vehicle system are electronically represented with respect to a common reference point in a three-dimensional representation of a portion of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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orienting the occupant representation with respect to the common reference point in the computer; representing the at least one vehicle system with reference to the common reference point; and determining at least one occupant interaction between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for designing a portion of an automotive vehicle in a computer system in which a vehicle design, an occupant representation, and a group of systems are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) selecting a set of generic parameters for describing occupant position in the vehicle passenger compartment and occupant interaction with respect to at least one vehicle surface within the vehicle environment; (b) selecting a value for each of the set of generic parameters; (c) generating at least one occupant-vehicle geometric representation based upon a predetermined occupant reach criteria and the set of generic parameters having the values selected in step (b); and (d) displaying the at least one occupant-vehicle interaction representation so as to create a plurality of occupant zones.
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32. A method for packaging an integrated system on an automotive vehicle using a computer system in which a vehicle, an occupant representation, and a group of systems are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) orienting the occupant representation within a passenger compartment of the vehicle; (b) selecting an initial package location for each of at least one of the group of systems having a system location on the vehicle; (c) determining an occupant interaction between the occupant representation and each of at least one of the group of systems; and (d) comparing the occupant interaction of each of the at least one of the group of systems to a predetermined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A method for designing an automotive vehicle in a computer system in which a vehicle design, an occupant representation, and a group of systems are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) selecting a vehicle design from a vehicle platform including locating each of a group of systems on the vehicle at a system location; (b) orienting an occupant representation within a passenger compartment of the vehicle; (c) determining an occupant interaction between the occupant representation and each of the at least one of the group of systems; (d) comparing the occupant interaction of each of the at least one of the group of systems to a predetermined criteria; and (e) varying the system location of the at least one of the group of systems with respect to the occupant representation based upon a set of predefined rules until the occupant interaction meets the predetermined criteria.
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35. A method for designing an automotive vehicle in a computer system in which a vehicle, an occupant representation, and a group of systems are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) orienting the occupant representation within a passenger compartment of the vehicle; (b) determining an occupant interaction between the occupant representation and each of at least one of a group of systems having a system location on the vehicle; (c) comparing the occupant interaction of each of the at least one of the group of systems to a predetermined criteria; and (d) varying a location of at least one of the group of systems, the occupant representation, or both so as to meet the predetermined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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39. A computer aided method for designing a portion of an automotive vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing in the memory of a computer system a first set of data representing an occupant position within a passenger compartment in the vehicle; (b) storing in the memory a second set of data representing a position for at least one occupant interactive vehicle system within the passenger compartment; (c) generating a third set of data representing an occupant interaction between the first set of data and the second set of data; (d) comparing the third set of data to a fourth set of data representing a predetermined occupant-vehicle interaction criteria to determine if the criteria is met. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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- 48. A portion of a vehicle satisfying a predetermined set of occupant based ergonomic criteria made from a design achieved by electronically representing on a computer an occupant representation and at least one vehicle system with respect to a common reference point, orienting the occupant representation within the vehicle, determining an occupant interaction between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system having a system location on the vehicle, and comparing the occupant interaction to the ergonomic criteria.
Specification