This Robot Is Taught To Copy Motion Of Human Bum To Ensure Seats Are Built To Last

*Robotic bottom learns to get into cars the same way as real driver and passengers“

*Robutt” sits on seat 25,000 times to test a decade of use in just three weeks on new Ford Fiesta car seats.

A robot nicknamed Robutt,has been created to move like a human bottom and perfectly simulate how drivers and passengers get in and out of their car seats.

Engineers used pressure maps to establish a “perch pattern”, the data enabling them to test the wear and tear of materials using the robotic bottom or “Robutt”,to mimic the most common paths.

Watch the “Robutt”

“From the first moment we get into a car, the seat creates an impression of comfort and quality,” said Svenja Froehlich, a durability engineer, at Ford’s European HQ, in Cologne, Germany.

“Previously, we used pneumatic cylinders that simply moved up and down. With the ‘Robutt’, we are now able to replicate very accurately how people really behave.”

Old cars used humans to test seats

Seats in early generation Fiestas were tested by actual humans getting in and out of the car.
But while it’s accurate, the thought of sitting in and out of a car thousands of time is torture, plus a killer for your back.

Based on an average-sized large man, the “Robutt” was used to simulate ten years of driving in just three weeks as part of testing for the new Fiesta,by sitting down and getting up 25,000 times.

The new test is now being rolled out for all Ford vehicles in Europe.

Credits: ford europe