A Study of Ergonomic Vehicle Design by DFSS Considering Driver Body Types

Objective: The aim of this study is to suggest ergonomic vehicle design method through optimization of driver’s space about various driver body types (tall, middle, short) Background: Recently, many drivers consistently demand ergonomic factors as well as driving performance when they choose their vehicle. So, there have been a lot of efforts to improve habitability and comfortability through optimizing vehicle interior in advanced design stage. Method: The procedure of this study is as follows. (1)VOC: Driver’s needs of vehicle interior system are collected to select the factors which determine driving posture. (2)QFD: The VOC is converted to engineering words to optimize driving posture in QFD stage. (3)Pugh: The pugh matrix is used to determine optimal concept based on the priority about vehicle interior items. (4)Robust Design: The robust design method is used to select the most compromised group of design factors to minimize discomfort level that is simulated by RAMSIS. And vehicle interior items are optimized to satisfy various body types in this process. Results: The result of optimization from robust design satisfy DFSS target except extremely tall body type (German man 95percentile). Conclusion: It is reasonable to use DFSS in package design stage for ergonomic vehicle. Application: The results of the vehicle design considering driver’s body types can help to determine composition of vehicle interior systems and develop new vehicle.