Suguru Yoshida

Development of Simulation Model and Pedestrian Dummy

Honda has been studying ways of improving vehicle design to reduce the severity of pedestrian injury. Full-scale tests using a pedestrian dummy are an important way to assess the aggressiveness of a vehicle to pedestrians. However, from test results, it is concluded that current pedestrian dummies have stiffer characteristics than post mortem human subjects (PMHS). Also, the dummy kinematics during a collision are different from that of a human body. Because of the limitations of current dummies, it was decided to develop a new pedestrian dummy. At the first stage of the project, a computer simulation model that represented the PMHS tests was developed. Joint characteristics obtained from the simulation model were used in building a new pedestrian dummy named Polar I. The advanced frontal crash test dummy, known as Thor, was selected as the base dummy. Modifications were made for the thorax, spine, knee, and other joints. Component tests were conducted to obtain and check the characteristics of each part. An initial series of full-scale tests was conducted, and the kinematics of the dummy were compared with PMHS test results.

Development of a Vehicle Structure with Protective Features for Pedestrians

A new vehicle structure was developed that reduces pedestrian head injury in traffic accidents. This paper describes the technological features of the structure in detail. The vehicle areas where changes were implemented are the hood, hood hinge, fender, cowl top, wiper and dashboard.

Microwave Measurement of Heart Beat and Analysis Using Wavelet Transform

Microwave reflectometric measurement is applied to diagnose vital signal of a human. The reflectometer signal is processed by a quadrature phase detector in order to obtain both phase and amplitude components of the signal. The phase component is analyzed by using fast-Fourier transform and wavelet transform to evaluate the frequency spectrum of the heartbeat and respiration. Various applications of the microwave measurement are discussed.