Seat Design For Neck Protection in Autonomous Car Crashes

Abstract

It is expected that autonomous vehicles will be sold more in the coming years, and this may cause new problems in restrictive protection systems which are called restraint systems. Because uncommon seating positions may put passengers at greater risk. For example, in a frontal crash scenario, a person traveling in a rearward turned seat may suffer more neck injury. When US NCAP crash test conditions are taken into account, statistically, frontal crashes occur at higher intensities than rear-end crashes.

Sudden movement of the head relative to the upper body in rear-end crashes creates a high risk of neck injury. This sudden movement typically causes discomfort and pain in the head and neck system. This neck injury can be prevented in cases where the seat and head restraint work together effectively to absorb the energy of the crash. This is achieved by restricting the neck movement during the crash.

Autonomous vehicles can include swivel, tilt and expandable seating plans. Current restraint protection systems in use are optimized for conventional sitting positions. A change in sitting position requires different restraint systems.

In this thesis, new and effective restraint protection systems are designed for non-conventional sitting positions. Since these restrictive protection systems will be integrated with the passenger seat, the studies are gathered under the title of seat design.