Toyota Motorsport and Dassault Systèmes improve driver comfort24.02.2005

Toyota Motorsport and Dassault Systèmes improve driver comfort

Toyota Motorsport GmbH and Dassault Systèmes have today announced that Toyota will develop F1 racecar cockpits that optimise driver comfort, safety and ergonomics with its CATIA V5 Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution for virtual product development.

The CATIA V5 Human Modeling Solutions will enable Toyota Motorsport GmbH designers to minimize the physiological demands placed on its drivers from heat, noise, vibration and the car's safety restraints. Using cutting-edge CATIA V5 Human Modeling ergonomics tools, Toyota Motorsport GmbH engineers will simulate driver behavior and measure key criteria such as reach, visibility, comfort, posture, biomechanics, strength and anthropometrics. This analysis will enable the team to make driver-oriented decisions about cockpit design, while respecting the overall aerodynamics of the racecar body.

To optimize cockpit ergonomics, engineers will first create a digital model of each driver using a combination of laser scanning and manual anthropometrical techniques. The resulting virtual models will be used to analyze and improve specific accommodation issues such as driver comfort and security, and accessibility and serviceability of components inside the cockpit during pit stops—without the need to involve the actual drivers.

"The cockpit is the nucleus of a racecar," said Waldemar Klemm, IT manager, Toyota Motorsport GmbH. "It's a very confined space that protects the vital elements of the car, most importantly the driver. An improved cockpit, with a comfortably and safely installed driver brings us closer to success at every race. The integration of the CATIA V5 Human Modeling ergonomics tools within our PLM product development platform allows us to manage ergonomics data in an efficient and intuitive manner within the overall development process of the entire car."

"We are particularly pleased that Toyota Motorsport GmbH has decided to use the CATIA V5 Human Modeling Solutions as part of their PLM deployment," said Mark Morrissey, general manager, Ergonomic Solutions, Dassault Systèmes. "Toyota Motorsport GmbH's commitment to integrate their design process, including ergonomics studies for the driver environment, is the type of user scenario we envisioned when we integrated the SAFEWORK human modeling technology into the CATIA V5 architecture."

The first phase of the CATIA V5 Human Modeling Solutions implementation was recently completed when 2005 F1 drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were measured and laser-scanned at the headquarters in Cologne in order to create the digital models that will be used to simulate and optimize their comfort and performance within the TF105 racing car.