The Use of Electromyography for Fatigue Evaluation of Automotive Seats

자동차 시트의 피로도 평가를 위한 근전도 평가를 위한 근전도 측정기의 사용

The ride comfort is one of the most important indices which decide the quality of automotive seats. A subjective evaluation is the general method for comfort evaluation of automotive seats. But the subjective evaluation assess the individual sensibility using questionnaire. Therefore, a need to develop methodologies to obtain objective measurements of the fatigue evaluation is evident. In an effort to monitor muscle activity during driving electromyography (EMG) was employed. In an experimental setting the subjective evaluation was conducted using questionnaire under the static conditions (8 subjects) and the fatigue was induced in muscles using EMG under the dynamic conditions (2 drivers). The resultant EMG signals were then sampled for three different muscles. In test involving 2 subjects of similar size and build, utilizing four different automotive seats, test results support the use of EMG to quantify muscular fatigue as a viable means of objective evaluation for the different automotive seats.