Effect of Non-conventional Seating Position on Driver Injuries in the Case of a Self-driving Car

Abstract

Today the automotive industry is making great strides toward driverless driving. Vehicle manufacturers, as well as well-known development service providers, have already developed a large number of concepts and design studies for fully automatic vehicles. In the future, there will be no more limits to driverless driving. However, a fully autonomous vehicle must also protect its occupants in the event of an accident. The driver becomes a passenger, no longer having to take part in driving the vehicle. The big challenge for the future is how the seat that can be rotated in the front row of a car will have an impact on the future passenger safety system. The aim of the research is to build a simulation model that will allow us to study the area. It is absolutely necessary to use a real test to validate the simulations. To investigate the influence of swivel seats on the restraint systems, the seat positions to be analyzed must first be narrowed down. The area examined extends from 0˚, which corresponds to the current driver’s seat position, to the 180˚ position, in which the driver’s view is directed towards the rear. In order to limit the number of variants that are examined, the angle steps are limited. As part of this research, the 0˚, 30˚, 60˚, 90˚, 135˚, 180˚ positions of the seat are examined in more detail and examinations are carried out on the basis of these variants.