Method and system for vehicle design using occupant reach zones
First Claim
1. A method for designing an automotive vehicle in a computer system in which a portion of a vehicle, an occupant representation, and at least one occupant interactive vehicle surface are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) orienting the occupant representation within a passenger compartment in the vehicle;
(b) positioning the at least one occupant interactive vehicle surface within the passenger compartment;
(c) generating at least one occupant reach surface based upon a predetermined occupant reach criteria; and
(d) displaying said at least one surface so as to divide the passenger compartment into at least one occupant reach zone.
16 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer based system and method 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 reach study is electronically performed to determine occupant reach with respect to the 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 vehicle, the occupant orientation, the location of the vehicle system, or any combination thereof, so that the design meets the reach criteria of the study. However, the designer may opt to retain the design despite non-compliance with the reach 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 reach relative to a vehicle system may be displayed to allow a designer to visually assess compliance with a particular reach criteria. The occupant representation, vehicle, vehicle system, and geometric representation of the occupant reach may be rendered and animated in three-dimensions permitting views from various perspectives. The method and system can quickly provide accurate human factors reach studies for a vehicle design while allowing system packaging flexibility.
43 Citations
76 Claims
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1. A method for designing an automotive vehicle in a computer system in which a portion of a vehicle, an occupant representation, and at least one occupant interactive vehicle surface are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) orienting the occupant representation within a passenger compartment in the vehicle; (b) positioning the at least one occupant interactive vehicle surface within the passenger compartment; (c) generating at least one occupant reach surface based upon a predetermined occupant reach criteria; and (d) displaying said at least one surface so as to divide the passenger compartment into at least one occupant reach zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer aided method for designing an interior of an automotive vehicle having a passenger compartment in which an occupant representation and at least one vehicle component are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a three-dimensional electronic reference frame for an interior portion of the vehicle; (b) selecting a location for the at least one vehicle component within the passenger compartment in the reference frame; (c) orienting the occupant representation within the passenger compartment; (e) generating at least one occupant reach surface based upon a predetermined occupant reach criteria between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle component; and (f) displaying the at least one reach surface so as to divide the passenger compartment into at least one occupant reach zone. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer aided method for designing an interior of an automotive vehicle in which an occupant representation and at least one occupant interactive system are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) orienting the occupant representation within the interior of the vehicle; (b) positioning at least one occupant interactive system in a system position within the interior; (c) generating at least one occupant-system geometric representation based upon a spatial relationship between the occupant representation and the at least one occupant interactive system; and (d) varying the system position of the at least one occupant interactive system so as to meet a predetermined occupant-system interaction criteria. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 26)
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23. A computer aided method for designing a portion of an interior of an automotive vehicle in which an occupant position and at least one vehicle device are electronically represented, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) selecting a value for the at least one occupant position parameter; (b) determining a spatial relationship between the at least one occupant position parameter and the at least one vehicle device; (c) comparing the spatial relationship to a predetermined criteria; and (d) determining a locational change for the at least one vehicle device so that the spatial relationship meets the predetermined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 27, 28)
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29. A computer aided method for designing an instrument panel of an automotive vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a three-dimensional vehicle reference frame for a portion of the vehicle; (b) packaging at least one integrated system within the instrument panel in the vehicle reference frame; (c) positioning at least one occupant interactive vehicle surface within a vehicle passenger compartment in the vehicle reference frame; (d) orienting an occupant representation within the passenger compartment; (e) generating at least one human factors reach surface based upon a predetermined human factors reach criteria between the occupant representation, the at least one occupant interactive vehicle surface, and the at least one integrated system; and (f) displaying said at least one surface so as to divide the passenger compartment into a plurality of occupant zones. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. A computer aided method for designing an interior portion of an automotive vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) selecting a set of generic parameters for describing an occupant position in the interior portion of the vehicle and occupant interaction with respect to at least one device within the vehicle; (b) selecting a value for each of the set of generic parameters; (c) generating a spatial relationship between the occupant position and the at least one occupant device; and (d) determining a parameter change for at least one of the set of generic parameters so that the spatial relationship meets a predetermined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. 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 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 a reach distance 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 reach criteria; and (e) varying the second set of data until the third set of data meets the predetermined occupant reach criteria. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. 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 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 a spatial relationship 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 stored in the memory representing a predetermined occupant-vehicle interaction criteria; and (e) varying the second set of data until the third set of data meets the predetermined occupant-vehicle interaction criteria.
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45. A system for designing a portion of an automotive vehicle, the system comprising:
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(a) first code means for representing an occupant position within a passenger compartment in the vehicle; (b) second code means for representing a position for at least one occupant interactive vehicle system within the passenger compartment; (c) third code means for generating a spatial relationship between the occupant position and the at least one occupant interactive vehicle system; (d) fourth code means for comparing the spatial relationship to a predetermined occupant-vehicle interaction criteria; and (e) fifth code means for varying the position of the at least one occupant interactive system to meet the predetermined occupant-vehicle interaction criteria. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A computer aided vehicle design system for designing a portion of an automotive vehicle, the system comprising:
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(a) parameter selection code means for selecting a value for at least one occupant position parameter; (b) spatial code means for determining a reach distance between the at least one occupant position parameter and at least one vehicle device; (c) comparison code means for comparing the reach distance to a predetermined reach criteria; and (d) adjustment code means for determining a locational change for the at least one vehicle device so that the reach distance meets the predetermined reach criteria. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A vehicle design system on a computer in which an occupant representation and at least one vehicle system have a common reference point, the system comprising:
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occupant representation means for orienting an occupant representation with respect to the common reference point in the computer; vehicle system representation means for representing in the computer at least one vehicle system with reference to the common reference point; reach study means for performing at least one human factors reach study between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system; and outcome communication means for reporting an outcome of the at least one human factors reach study.
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62. A vehicle design system 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 system comprising:
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occupant representation code means for orienting an occupant representation with respect to the common reference point in the computer; vehicle system representation code means for representing the at least one vehicle system with reference to the common reference point; reach study code means for causing the processor to perform at least one human factors reach study between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system; and outcome communication code means for reporting an outcome of the at least one human factors reach study.
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63. An occupant accessible instrument panel for an automotive vehicle made by:
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(a) orienting an occupant representation within a passenger compartment of the vehicle; (b) determining a spatial relationship between the occupant representation and each of at least one of a group of systems having a system location on the instrument panel vehicle; (c) comparing the spatial relationship of each of the at least one of the group of systems to a predetermined criteria; (d) varying the system location of each of the at least one of the group of systems with respect to the occupant representation based upon a set of predefined rules; and (e) performing steps (b) through (d) until the spatial relationship meets the predetermined criteria so that the instrument has systems which are accessible by an occupant in the vehicle.
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64. 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 reach interaction between the occupant representation and the at least one vehicle system; and reporting the at least one occupant reach interaction. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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Specification