Heidi (Wren) Peak

A History of Automotive Ergonomics 1886 - 2023 into the FUTURE A History of User Experience Design Wren Peak UX DESIGNER May 1886 Karl Benz built the first motor car, and named it the Benz PatentMotorwagen Where It All Began 1886 In Michigan, Henry Ford builds his first automobile 1894 A foot pedal to operate the band brake first appeared in Benz Velo 1895 Michelin created the first pneumatic tire for cars The brake system for very early selfpowered vehicles consisted of a wooden block pressed against one of the wheels using a hand-operated lever & the steering was done from a tiller, like a small boat. The foot-operated pedal could exert greater force than a hand brake and allowed a driver to use both hands to hold a steering wheel. The tires were made out of reinforced rubber & inflated with compressed air. wheel designed to replace A round steering wheel, the steering tiller, turned by muscle power and easier to hold, was first introduced 1908 The Ford Motor Company debuted the first Model-T automobile 1910 Gauges for mechanical & driving conditions were added, such as speedometer 1912 Late in the year Guages became dashboards The Model T gained the nickname “Tin Lizzie.” Oil-pump gauges were the first instruments installed inside vehicles, allowing drivers to confirm the oil flow and when more was needed. Early vehicles, signaled the intention to turn using a winker, a mechanically operated arm or flag that extended from the side of the vehicle. The instrument panels were installed separately from the bulkheads & became dashboards. 1912 Cadillac Makes the Engine Crank Obsolete 1913 The Ford Motor Company began using the first moving assembly line for building cars The starter eliminated the need for drivers to hand-crank cars to life—a process that led to broken arms and other injuries due to engine kickback. Determined to “build a motor car for the multitude,” pioneering American car maker Henry Ford implements the first moving automotive assembly line for his Model T, Producing 146 cars per hour. Ford instituted $5-a-day, 40-hour work week, sparking a mass migration of job seekers to Ford’s gates in Detroit. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford builds 15 million Model T’s, T’s changing the very fabric of industrial and agricultural America. 1914 Dodge introduce a car body that was made completely of steel 1918 250 all steel Dodge Brothers touring cars, the first all metal production vehicles. Sold for $785.00 Standards on license plate illumination devices where also established in this year. 1918 SAE issued standards on tail lamps 1921 Four-wheel brakes were invented, making it easier to stop safely SAE issued standards on stop lamps also 1920s The Dawn of Automotive Human Factors Design 1930s Continued improvements to the automotive human design During these two decades, the basic controls & displays of the motor vehicle continued to evolve. Labels first appeared on controls and on the surface of instrument panels. Prior to that, they had to be memorized. Horn buttons began to be installed in the center of the steering wheel. Gauge clusters appeared. Grouping gauges allowed drivers to read them at a glance and were placed in the center of the instrument panel. The seat-sliding mechanism, adjusts the driving position, appeared. It allowed drivers with different body sizes to find a reasonable distance between the pedals and the seats Speedometers and other instruments began to be installed directly in front of drivers to improve their visibility Turn-signal switches or turn-signal lever was also being installed in the steering column by the late 1930s 1934 Chrysler Airflow & its emphasis on aerodynamics as an example Consequently, auto cabs shrunk & the car body became more rounded 1934 Cab design started focusing on the cab layout fitting the human body size and providing increased seating comfort while maintaining outward visibility while driving. Efforts were made to design the cab layout 1935 The Delaware Company devised the first flashing turn signal Also numerous features were designed & implemented to ease the driving task, such as synchronized gears and improved windshield wipers, as well as switchable low & high beams. beams 1938 Volkswagen started producing the Beetle in Germany 1939 1940s Establishment of Human Factors as a Field of Endeavor American & European automobiles started being equipped with a shift lever on the steering column. column The Weather Eye was a trade name for a Nash Motors-designed fresh-air system for automobile passenger compartment heating, cooling, and ventilating. The Nash “All-Weather Eye” was the first automobile air conditioning system for the mass market. The first air conditioning system was added to autos by the Nash Motor Company 1948 Passive-safety technology was introduced The instrument panel was covered with sponge rubber in American automobiles by Tucker. 1948 From the Ashes of World War II Comes the Tail fin 1948 Cadillac’s purely decorative tail fins spark a car design phenomenon 1950 America’s finned flourishes reach near-ridiculous proportions by late 1950s 1950s First Decade of Human Factors Research Harley Earl, the father of modern auto styling, took his team to Michigan air base to see the P-38 Lightning fighter before World War II. - Anthropometry studies focus on values for use in auto cab layout SAE published data that included 5th& 95th-percentile values for use in cab layout. Human body measurements and vehicle dimensions started being researched. An engineer at Daimler Benz, invented the non deformable passenger cell and in later years, the crumple zone and collapsible steering column. Cruise control was invented by a blind man named Ralph Teetor 1956 Ford Motor Company established the Human Factors Engineering Department American Motors also equipped their automobiles with head rests to avoid neck injury in rear-end collisions. Power steering wheel was invented & added to cars for ease of use. The position of the gauge cluster was raised to be closer to the normal line of sight & easier to read. - The SAE Manikin Subcommittee began developing an easy-to-use tool for ergonomic design Published based on anthropometric data. The SAE two-dimensional manikin (2DM) and three-dimensional manikin (3DM) were codified in SAE J826, When traveling by car became the means of transport to work or work tools, ergonomics entered the field of motorization. Car manufacturers focus on development of car interiors, comfortable & to prevent weariness to users. Human Factors Research Activity in 1960s became The Decade of Anthropometry 1962 The hippoint “H-point,” was the origin on the human body for automotive cab design 3 important factors were: dashboards, seat shape & adjustments, & noise level. The H-point was defined in this standard together with specific measurement procedures. Frontal-crash test procedures to protect occupants were. 1960s Manufacturers 1961 saw that anthropometric data could be relied on for designing the car interiors To ensure that the driver: (1) could see the road, traffic signals, & other vehicles outside of the cab, (2) could see controls & displays inside cab (3) would be able to reach controls. Driving simulators were developed to study vehicle dynamics and to analyze driving behavior. What drivers of widely varying body sizes would be able to see could be examined using the eyellipse 1962 Wisconsin becomes the first state to create a seat belt law Based on the anthropometric research, the driver’s eye position was defined in SAE J941, & the concept of the eyellipse, which specified the range of the driver’s eye position, was developed. It called for the seatbelt to be a standard requirement in automobiles. 1964 Lee Iacocca 1965 unveil the Ford Mustang at the New York World’s Fair Designed as an affordable answer to European sports cars, The Mustang phenomenon quickly birthed the “pony car” 1967 GM developed collapsible steering columns to reduce chest impact injuries. Music options enhanced by adding eight-track tape players in cars 1968 A shift in human factors research began to focus from physical to cognitive characteristics 1968 Driving Simulator of Mechanical Engineering Laboratory of AIST 1968 Florida Man Pioneers Airbag Tech, Makes a Fortune 1969 Automatic transmissions with three speeds debuted & quickly became standard. 1970 Cassette decks began appearing in some American automobiles 1974 General Motors cars were fitted for the first airbags 1975 A Driving simulator using a linear rail was developed at Virginia Tech In the 1970s Human Factors Research: Establishing Crash-Safety Assessment & Occupant Comfort came into the forefront of automotive design 1970 The antilock braking system (ABS), first introduced in 1970, marked the formal beginning of active-safety technology. 1974 Symbols added to controls and levers of cars because they didn’t require reading & were intended to be intuitive, standardized by SAE J- Driving simulators were used to investigate the driver’s evasive behavior. 1979 Various standards were prepared to design controls & seating comfort. 1979 Crash dummies were used by the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) in the USA. 1983 Chrysler introduced their first family minivans which became a lasting trend 1984 The first car CD players were installed 1985 Anti-lock braking systems became available on U.S. cars In the 1980s Human Factors Research: Computer-Aided Design for Automobiles, Cab Comfort, Rollovers, & Assessment Methods & the Age of the Computer Computer technology reduced design time, made handling complex data easier, questionnaire & the secondary-task methods were established for mental-workload measurement based on models from psychology. 1980s Center located, high-mounted break lights required as result of researches research study findings. 1980s Era of driver information and driverassistance systems. Found centerline deviation increased CRT touch screen use. 1980s Digital computers & software use in human factors research, including digital human models for cabin design, thermal manikin evaluation for comfort in the cabin, & video systems for measuring drowsiness by models from psychology. Measurement methods & driving-simulator technology become useful tools for intelligent vehicles & connected vehicles for decades. 1990s The Ford Explorer the first SUV was introduced to America 1990s Birth of the SUV & Supercar culture 1990s Backup monitors using the navigation system display used to reduce crashes In the 1990s Human Factors Research: The Era of Intelligent Vehicles and Connected Vehicles Driver Information Systems and Driver Distraction Research on automotive human factors reached a turning point with the introduction of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), 1990 Navigation system installed inside the vehicle, removing the need for use of paper maps & stops to wayfind their destinations. When a navigation system was installed inside the vehicle, the system indicated where to turn, & the navigation task could be performed in parallel with driving. 1990 Electronic stability control (ESC) & vehicle stability control (VSC) came into widespread use & on board digital diagnostics. 1990 Adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems, allow a vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle automatically by maintaining a preset time gap, were introduced. - External Driver Communications to the Vehicle— Network Service, Mobile Phones, & Internet Access While Driving Rising costs of gasoline & global climate change, bring zero-emission electric vehicles to auto showrooms 1997 Toyota Prius Becomes FuelSipper Supreme In the 1990s Human Factors Research: The Era of Intelligent Vehicles and Connected Vehicles Driver Information Systems and Driver Distraction Research on automotive human factors reached a turning point with the introduction of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), 1994 In-vehicle navigation systems spread after GPS became available. The first on-board installed navigation system including a GPS unit & map was delivered by BMW using a color-TFT display & button-operated software menu. 1995 Cellular phones spread rapidly based on the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) standard, & people used phones while driving. Hands-free systems for vehicles have since been introduced & have been shown to be less distracting 1997 Toyota Prius — Just in time for the 21st century.” But the fuel-saving, shoebox-shaped Toyota sparks a sales sensation. - Hybrid motors that combined combustion & electric engines were rolled out in the Toyota Prius Adjustable pedals introduced in the U.S. market on light truck products 2002 Reversing cameras were added to the Nissan Primera for the first time In the 2000s Human Factors Research: With an increase in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) being designed for cars comes a logical emergence of studies that critically examine the influence these have on driver/user behavior and attitudes towards risk and safety. Introduction to Automotive Ergonomics 9 2000s The introduction of lane-keeping systems to help drivers stay in the lane, & the collision-mitigation braking systems, which intervene with braking when distance-sensor data indicates that a collision is unavoidable. Lane-change decision-aid systems, which provide warnings when drivers begin to change lanes, & another vehicle is in the adjacent lane. An important human factors element of ADAS as assistive technology is the relationship between the driver & the system & especially the human-machine interface. - Ford introduced “sync” to connect cell phones & iPods & other USB-based systems Rear seat entertainment systems with display screens available for rear passengers were added 2010 Capacitive touchscreen technology introduced in vehicle displays In the 2000s Human Factors Research: With an increase in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) being designed for cars comes a logical emergence of studies that critically examine the influence these have on driver/user behavior and attitudes towards risk and safety. Introduction to Autonomous Transportation 2003 The first Intelligent Parking Assist system was added to some vehicles by Toyota & Smart headlamps to luxury vehicles. 2008 A Robotic Prius Delivers Pizza Prius-based “Pribot” executes the first drive on public roads, which hatched Google’s StreetView & greatly advances the science of autonomous transportation. 2013 Auto Crash Automobile Evasion System 2014 IEEE Transaction of Intelligent Transportation Systems 2014 Elon Musk debuted the first autopilot technology on his Model S In the 2010s Human Factors Research: Elon Musk’s first car is the Tesla Roadster, based on a Lotus Elise chassis, heavily re engineered to run on electricity. But the Model S sedan is the world changer: With its slinky shape, moonshot acceleration and revolutionary tech, Musk’s upstart has global automakers tearing up product plans & realizing that electric cars are the future, not a fad. 2011 Plug-in electric vehicles sold in the U.S. with power consumption gauges. 2013 Auto Crash Automobile Evasion System uses an intelligent micro controller based Crash evasion system that uses ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and their distances. 2014 IEEE: Smart driving system evaluated in on-road driving trials to measure beneficial changes in driving performance. Key findings showed improvement in fuel efficiency & driving behaviors on real roads with real users. Future Future Future In 2020 Google announced a plan to debut a self-driving car, which became Waymo Waymo Summary Vehicles have transformed amazingly since 1886 when Karl Benz first put his name on a car. As auto technology has advanced over the decades, the way people use cars & drive has also morphed. While the first cars were engineering feats of the day, the cars rolling off the assembly lines today are also impressive feats of engineering & technology. The electrical & electronic systems on board today’s vehicles have revolutionized driving to the point that drivers are having much less to do behind the wheel than they once did. Safety features also have improved dramatically through the years, making today’s cars and trucks much stronger & safer, avoiding accidents & withstanding them when they happen. 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