Seat Pressure Mapping
XSENSOR’s X3 LX210 Series from Interface Force Measurements
Automotive Seat Pressure Mapping
Comfort and durability are achieved by design, and for the automotive industry, it’s the seat that is the centre of customer comfort. Pressure distribution is the indicator that allows engineers to capture data on these metrics, analysing the way people ride and enter and exit the vehicle.
XSENSOR’s X3 Technology’s pressure mapping systems map the contact area on the back and base of the seat, measuring pressure and pressure distribution. Using these pressure maps, engineers and testers can monitor the patterns of how people sit to quantify comfort and analyse seat performance.
Pressure data is recorded like a video at typically 45 to 55 frames per second, pc dependent. The back and seat cushions can be measured individually or together, and the pressure maps are easy to understand: the hotter the colours, the higher the pressure. The higher the pressure, the more pressure this applies to the skin and blood vessels, which adds to driver discomfort.
AUTOSEAT PRESSURE OVERLAY
Pressure mapping informs manufacturers on pressure distribution to improve the overall design and comfort of the seat. The greatest comfort can be assured by getting the average pressure as low as possible and over as large an area as possible. The same applies to the back of the seat, where lumber design can be improved.
Beyond comfort design, the XSENSOR X3 LX210 Series allows engineers to complete highly accurate ingress/egress analysis. Capturing complex data on how drivers and passengers enter and exit the vehicle, engineers can minimise wear and tear and guarantee seats last long past warranty.
XSENSOR seat pressure mapping technology is a flexible polymer material made up of internal crossed strips which, once pressure is applied, allows a current to move between the two sides of the grid. The material’s flexibility makes it comfortable to sit on and it conforms to irregular shapes, such as car seats.
Recording pressure data at 45 to 55 frames or more per second, measurements are dynamic, giving manufacturers a complete picture of how drivers and passengers move on the seat when entering, inside and exiting the vehicle.
PRESSURE DATA RECORDING
From the sensor, there is a 64-way connector with a cable that is plugged into a sensor pack (analogue-digital converter unit) that goes into a smart hub. Up to 4 sensors can be plugged in to deliver all the data and feed it to the user’s computer. This process translates the sensors reading data into manageable information engineers can view and manipulate via XSensor’s fully featured Pro V8 software. Data can be exported into other software packages to match with data from other sources. Or it can be exported as AVI, PNG, or JPG for viewing or as CSV files for processing and integration in other data management systems. This data can be displayed sensor point by sensor point, offering a frame-by-frame grid of numerical data for finite data analysis.
Pressure imaging sensor accuracy – why you should care about it – read more here