To be able to model the interior of the car firstly we needed a model of a human, using Grab Cad . (check out this site for downloadable models- links to my downloadable models). We downloaded a model of a man (could be a woman…) loaded into power-shape cad modeller and checked the height of the model man. It was 6 foot 3″ so we scaled it to both 5foot 7″ and 6foot.

Grabcad model of a man in the new sitting position

The original model of the man was standing up, no use for driving a car. We modified him to sitting position adding work-plane centers at all his joints so the he could be re-positioned to suit the car as we modeled the interior around him.

Starting with the seat cushions and mapping out a rough shape for them, deciding that they will be 2″ thick foam. Therefore a 2″ deep pocket would be required for the foam to sit into start……this evolved…

The purple guy is 6 foot and the Brown guy is 5foot 7″

Adding in the guys to the model showed that the best way to allow different sized humans to drive the car without any seat adjustment will be to produce different seat foams for the different height drivers and use an adjustable pedal box assembly. The area around the seat foam is to be produced using a hard surface molding maybe covered in material (leather etc). At this point the roll cage assembly was redesigned a little, mainly moving forward so that it  comes though the seat foam area. As the car will need seat belts (4 point style) the finishing molding around the roll bar was designed complete with a badge area for the car name. This molding also doubles as the top seat belt mounting points and will be tied into the chassis eventually.

This is a rough idea for the interior which has proved out that humans can fit into the car and drive it. We are going to taking sections of the seat model to make up a full size model of the seat to see how the shape work when you sit in it, before the chassis design is finally built.

The next blog will continue on the seating before we go back to the chassis.

Summary

Article Name

Do human fit in the design?

Description

Part of the 3d Cad Hotrod Design Blog series-- Designing the Type214 Roadster, styled around the look of a 32 Roadster. This blog shows the use of a modeled man to design the interior seating and check to see how well humans fit into the car design............

Author

Andrew Mark

Publisher Name

Hotrod-Products

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