Assessment of Ride Quality at Lane Change Maneuver Using Virtual Human Driver Model

The occupant kinematics occurring at a lane change maneuver affects the local ride quality. The precise analysis of the occupant kinematics requires a comprehensive understanding of the physiologic response to human body as well as the vehicle kinematics. A series of vehicle-based tests also confirmed that the alertness level of vehicle occupants is one of the important biomechanical elements. Therefore, it is necessary to have a virtual human body model (HBM), an occupant surrogate at CAE design process, with active muscle forces to represent the reflexive response of human beings. An active human body model that produces joint torques with PID closedloop control as mimicking a bracing action to keep the sitting posture against the external jerk has been developed. In this study, this active human body model is validated against the subject test by simulating the similar occupant kinematics at a single lane change maneuvers. To further verify the use of active HBM as a design tool, an artificial lane change maneuver with a reduced lateral jerk is fabricated and good matching occupant kinematics are predicted.