Evaluating crash test dummy motion from internal sensors in a whiplash test use case
2026 (English)In: ESV Proceedings, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , 2026Conference paper, Published paper (Other academic)
Abstract [en]
Crash test dummy kinematics is commonly obtained from high-speed video recordings or other optical methods which are processed to provide displacements as functions of time. This study presents an open-source software that can provide motion data from sensors in the dummy. Sensors needed for this analysis are a combination of gyros and accelerometers. The evaluation was done using the crash tests dummies SET v0.2 50F and 50M, developed for low severity rear impacts and equipped with gyros at four locations, one inside the head and at three locations along the spine. The tests were done in two different seats in 16 km/h rear impact sled tests. The analysis showed good agreement between high-speed film analysis using Tema and the motion from the sensors. The motion in focus in this study is the loading to the neck caused by the head and the torso (the first thoracis vertebrae). Motion data from sensors could provide a more direct approach to identify which seats provide the lowest load on the neck, in testing, due to relative motion between the head and the torso, without requiring time-consuming camera setup and manual analysis. Furthermore, sensors have the potential to provide higher resolution results and measurements of movements that are difficult to capture through optical methods.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , 2026.
Keywords [en]
Crash tests, Injury prevention, Dummy instrumentation, Dummy motion analysis, Gyros, Sensor analysis software
National Category
Vehicle and Aerospace Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:vti:diva-22671OAI: oai:DiVA.org:vti-22671DiVA, id: diva2:2069965
Conference
28th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV), Toronto, Canada, May 12-15, 2026.
Note
Funding for performing the seat tests was provided by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, VTI, and Folksam Insurance.
2026-06-112026-06-112026-06-11Bibliographically approved