Crash course
Toyota develops new virtual crash test dummies to improve vehicle safety
James Scoltock in News.
- Published in News.
Dummy test: Toyota's new virtual crash test dummies will aid research into internal injuries
Toyota has developed two new virtual crash test dummies that will be used to evaluate both vehicle occupant and pedestrian safety.
The 153cm female and 189cm male models will be used, in conjunction with the current 179cm average build male variant, to analyse internal injuries in the event of an accident, allowing researchers to take into account different body sizes.
Toyota's Total Human Model for Safety is used to research injuries including bone fractures and severed ligaments by simulating the shape of the body, skeletal structure and skin.
“The dummies are the result of a cooperative development arrangement with Toyota, universities and other external research institutes to take detailed measurements of the human body's internal structure using a high-precision computed tomography scanner,” said Toyota.
The precise models of various internal organs including their positions and how they interconnect, contain up to 14 times more information than previous versions of the OEM's virtual crash test dummies. This increased detail gives researchers a greater understanding of how damage is applied to internal organs during a collision.
Previous iterations of the OEM's virtual crash test dummies allowed researchers to simulate the effect on a human's skeleton and the brain.
Toyota is planning to introduce a child and an elderly person model, diversifying the range of testing further.
