Intelligent gestural control and ergonomic analysis in barrier-free car seat design

Abstract

Without effective transportation services, the travel, economic activity and mobility of citizens is dramatically impacted, especially the lives of senior citizens. However, none of the research studies to date has designed an ergonomic car seat device for supporting the passenger to ingress or egress the vehicle, as well as in sitting and standing. In this present work, ergonomic concepts were applied to design an ergonomic car seat with gestural recognition. Moreover, 22 healthy subjects volunteered to test the effects of stand-up assistant function in the designed ergonomic car seat. The result showed that the potential of Tibialis Anterior, Gastrocnemius, Trapezius, and Rectus Abdominis muscles in stand-up assistant function reduced. However, the potential of the Erector Spinae and Tensor Fasciae Latae muscles increased. The root mean square of center of pressure in both anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions using assistant function was smaller than in normal stand-up sequences.