Search Results

Challenges that persons with disabilities face with current modes of transportation have led to difficulties in carrying out everyday tasks, such as grocery shopping and going to doctors’ appointments. Autonomous vehicles have been proposed as a solution to overcome these challenges and make these everyday tasks more accessible. For these vehicles to be fully accessible, the infrastructure surrounding them need to be safe, easy to use, and intuitive for people with disabilities. Thus, the goal of this work was to analyze interview data from persons with disabilities, and their caregivers, to identify barriers to accessibility for current modes of transportation and ways to ameliorate them in pick up/drop off zones for autonomous vehicles. To do this, interview subjects were recruited from adaptive sports clubs, assistive living facilities, and other disability networks to discuss challenges with current public transit stops/stations.

Since the 1960's, automotive seats have been designed and evaluated with tools and procedures described in the SAE Recommended Practice J826. The SAE J826 design template and testing manikin each have a torso with a flat lower back shape and with a single joint at the H-point. The JOHN models provide a more anatomically detailed representation of human shape and movement. The articulations of the JOHN torso (pelvic, lumbar, and thoracic) segments are coupled so that their relative positions are determined by a single parameter related to spinal curvature. This paper describes the development and use of the JOHN biomechanical models for seating design.