Roozendaal Tjark, Verwaal Martin, Buso Alice, Scharff Rob B N, Song Yu, Vink Peter
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628 CE Delft, The Netherlands.
Bioinspired Soft Robotics Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genoa, Italy.
Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Mar 20;13(3):477. doi: 10.3390/mi13030477.
Sitting comfort is an important factor for passengers in selecting cars, airlines, etc. This paper proposes a soft robotic module that can be integrated into the seat cushion to provide better comfort experiences to passengers. Building on rapid manufacturing technologies and a data-driven approach, the module can be controlled to sense the applied force and the displacement of the top surface and actuate according to four designed modes. A total of 2 modules were prototyped and integrated into a seat cushion, and 16 subjects were invited to test the module's effectiveness. Experiments proved the principle by showing significant differences regarding (dis)comfort. It was concluded that the proposed soft robotics module could provide passengers with better comfort experiences by adjusting the pressure distribution of the seat as well as introducing a variation of postures relevant for prolonged sitting.
乘坐舒适性是乘客选择汽车、飞机等交通工具时的一个重要因素。本文提出了一种软机器人模块，可集成到座垫中，为乘客提供更好的舒适体验。基于快速制造技术和数据驱动方法，该模块能够被控制以感知施加的力和顶面的位移，并根据四种设计模式进行驱动。总共制作了2个模块原型并集成到一个座垫中，邀请了16名受试者测试该模块的有效性。实验通过显示在（不）舒适方面的显著差异证明了该原理。得出的结论是，所提出的软机器人模块可以通过调节座椅的压力分布以及引入与长时间坐着相关的姿势变化，为乘客提供更好的舒适体验。
