Ford's new robot kicks butt in comfort wars
New robotic bottom simulates how humans move in and out of car seats to improve comfort and durabilityCar seats can lose their comfort factor in a short amount of time, but Ford is ready to robutt this.
The car manufacturer has invented an industrial robot it has dubbed the ‘Robutt’.
It’s designed to simulate how our bottoms are able to move in and out of cars in an effort to improve the comfort and durability of future car seats.
The quirky human bottom-shaped device was used as part of a testing process for the new Ford Fiesta and replicates the wear and tear of a 10-year-old car seat.
“From the first moment we get into a car, the seat creates an impression of comfort and quality”, said Ford Europe’s Durability Engineer Svenja Froehlich.
“Previously, we used pneumatic cylinders that simply moved up and down. With the ‘Robutt’, we are now able to replicate very accurately how people really behave”.
As part of Robutt’s development, Ford asked people to enter and exit a car with pressure sensors on the driver's seat.
As the people motioned to sit down and stand up, the sensors recorded how much weight their butts put on the seat.
The engineers used the recorded information to create an average sitting and standing pattern, called the "perch pattern”.
The Robutt has the ability to sit on a car seat 25,000 times in three weeks, reflecting the effect of 10 years of use.
The test is currently being rolled out for all Ford vehicles in Europe and car seats which pass are deemed ready for production.
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