Development and application of the new pedestrian dummy 2001-06-0048

A new pedestrian dummy, called ""POLAR'' has been recently developed. It can be used as a tool not only for the investigation of the mechanism of pedestrian accidents, but also for the assessment of vehicle aggressiveness to pedestrians. This dummy is modified from "'THOR,'' new- generation occupant dummy, in its body structure to reproduce human body kinematics in the event of collision with a vehicle more precisely.

Its knee has a human-like structure, with condyles which shape is similar to that of human knee, meniscus, cruciate ligaments and collateral ligaments. Tibias of Polar are made of urethane which bending characteristic is that of human tibia. These features not only make the lateral bending and shearing responses of the leg and knee more human-like but also the whole body kinematics more human- like.

The dummy is installed with the on-board data acquisition system (DAS) which allows conducting a full- scale test without any connection to the ground, which may affect the kinematics of the dummy. It also makes it possible to measure more data channels and to assess more kinds of pedestrian injuries.

Certification tests of the leg proved that the bending and shearing characteristics of the leg were almost in the corridors derived from PMHS leg impact tests. And full- scale certification tests indicated that the dummy can well reproduce the kinematics of a pedestrian in the event of a collision with a vehicle.

Full-scale tests with various shapes of vehicles were conducted. Kinematics of the dummy and measured values were compared, and the result proved the possibility of the dummy in assessing the effect of vehicle shape on pedestrian injuries.