Abstract
Keywords: Virtual vehicle development, VR ergonomic test bench, AR research vehicle, concept development, ergonomy
For Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, one of the main factors in the success of a vehicle is optimum and high-quality vehicle ergonomics for drivers and passengers alike. Increasing functional performance in relation to safety, comfort, and communication requires cohesive design both in terms of visibility and operation so that the driver is not overburdened. Yet as a directly opposing force to the constantly increasing development demands incurred by the growing complexity of the vehicles, model cycles are becoming ever shorter. To meet these demands, and to secure long-term competitiveness, not only innovative products are needed but also optimised product creation processes. To achieve this, virtual development tools are being applied more and more in product creation at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
On top of those techniques already well established to a very large degree, such as for example the simulation of rigidity values, aerodynamics, etc, and to work with virtual threedimensional vehicle models for the purpose of data acquisition, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is also using virtual techniques for assessing ergonomic comfort.
To this end, the Virtual Reality Ergonomics Test rig (Virtual Reality Ergonomy Prüfstand, VREP) and the Mobile Augmented Reality Platform (MARP) have been developed.
The central component of the VREP is virtual reality goggles (HMD, Head-Mounted- Display), in which the user sees a complete vehicle interior and virtual surroundings. This allows the user to sit in a stationary body structure within an ergonomic environment corresponding to the vehicle being visualised, and to move and interact freely in the virtual scene, i.e. in the virtual vehicle. This in turn enables assessments to be made of visibility conditions, operating situations and activity sequences in a virtual environment. The MARP extends the operational spectrum of the VREP by providing the possibility of ergonomics evaluation in the moving vehicle. A key part of the MARP is again an HMD. In this case, however, the user also sees his real surroundings as a video image with a positionally-correct virtual vehicle interior blended into it. But in contrast to the VREP, the user sits in a modified and drivable vehicle and, thanks to the combination of real surroundings, real vehicle impressions and virtual vehicle interior, the driver is given the impression that he is driving the virtual vehicle.
The two tools, VREP and MARP, are presented in detail in this talk, and a number of application examples put forward. From this and on the basis of results from acceptance analyses, the general implementation capability of these tools is demonstrated.