Adaptive Vehicle Seat Contour Control for Occupant Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle seats lack advanced mechanisms to adapt to the comfort and safety needs of occupants, particularly in varying orientations and conditions such as automated driving or sleeping positions, and do not effectively prevent undesirable movements during navigation or accidents.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat with a matrix arrangement of independently activatable actuators, combined with sensor systems for object detection and a control unit that adjusts the seat contour based on occupant shape and position, allowing for adaptable rigidity and position adjustments to enhance comfort and safety, including anticipatory activation for navigation and accident scenarios.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a vehicle seat uses a traditional fixed contour design, then the manufacturing complexity is low, but the adaptability to different occupant shapes and positions is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle seat is divided into multiple independently controllable actuator elements arranged in a matrix pattern. Each actuator can be controlled individually to adjust the seat contour, allowing the seat to adapt to different occupant shapes and positions while maintaining manageable system complexity through modular control
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle seat transitions from a fixed static contour to a dynamic adaptive contour that can change in real-time based on detected occupant characteristics. The actuators enable continuous adjustment of the seat surface to match the occupant's body shape, providing optimal support and comfort
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle seat uses a reclined position for sleeping, then the comfort for sleeping positions is improved, but the stability against rolling motion deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor system detects the sleeping position in advance, and the control unit pre-activates specific actuators to create stabilizing contact points before rolling motion occurs. This preliminary action prevents the occupant from rolling by establishing counteracting forces ahead of time
Solution Approach 2:
The actuator rigidity parameters are dynamically adjusted based on the detected sleeping position and detected rolling motion. When rolling is detected, the rigidity of actuators in contact with the occupant is increased to provide stabilizing resistance, while maintaining comfort in non-contact regions
3Ease of operation
If the actuators are activated to adapt to occupant contour, then the comfort is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of activating all actuators uniformly, the control unit selectively activates only the actuators in regions where occupant contact is detected. This localized activation provides necessary comfort and support while minimizing energy consumption by leaving inactive the actuators in unused regions
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by activating only the minimum necessary actuators to achieve adequate contour adaptation. The sensor system identifies critical contact regions, and the control unit activates actuators in those specific regions rather than the entire seat surface, reducing overall energy consumption
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat, including a plurality of actuators that can be activated independently of one another and that are arranged in a matrix-like manner, at least one sensor system for detecting an object on the vehicle seat, and at least one control unit for activating the actuators. The control unit may be configured to activate the actuators as a function of a detected contour of the object, so that the contour of the vehicle seat adapts to the contour of the object, and to a method for adapting a vehicle seat to a vehicle occupant.