Alternative movement identification in the automobile ingress and egress for young and elderly population with or without prostheses

Abstract This paper presents a panorama of ingress/egress movement strategies adopted by young and elderly persons with or without prosthesis(es). The experiments were conducted within the national French project HANDIMAN (RNTS 2004) that aims at integrating the phase of discomfort evaluation in the ingress/egress movement for elderly and/or disabled population. The HANDIMAN project experimental protocol aimed to gather kinematic and dynamic data of the ingress/egress movement of 41 test subjects. The movements were realized on four stripped vehicles covering a wide range of the vehicle types present in the trade. Two big families of ingress and egress movements were identified, whether the subjects enter (or leave) a vehicle by laying on one foot or by laying on two feet. Eight ingress and egress movement strategies were identified within these two families (5 ingress strategies and 3 egress strategies). Four of our strategies are similar to the ones identified by Andreoni et al. [1997. New approaches to car ergonomics evaluation oriented to virtual prototyping. EURO-BME Course on Methods & Technologies for the Study of Human Activity & Behaviour, Italy, March]. This paper will specify these identified strategies with respect to the implied population and to the tested vehicles. No strategy can systematically be assigned to a specific person. However, there were some dominating trends for some subjects. Relevance to industry This study can aid ergonomists and car manufacturers to understand and to evaluate the ingress/egress movement ease and discomfort for young and elderly persons with or without prosthesis(es). The vehicle dimensions could be adapted according to the ingress and egress movement strategies identified for the targeted population. The identified strategies can also enhance digital human models (DHMs).