Seats Form Factor Concepting

Ownership

Research

Outline of Goals and Specific Points to Conduct Research

Safety Criteria:

• Adhere to all the safety specifications as listed by ASC

• Accommodate a five point safety harness

  • will likely have openings in the seat

  • similar to race bucket seats (Corbeau racing seats were used in MS12)

    • research into this (where to place openings etc.)

• integration of head, shoulder and side containment features into the seat

  • prevent lateral movement of the body

  • must ensure this does not interfere with egress and peripheral vision of the driver

    • have head restraints more near the cheek bone to lower jaw

      • thus not obstructing as much peripheral vision

• seat belt passthrough should be right at the shoulder height of the driver

Lightweight

• materials w/ high strength to weight ratio

• construction that does not use solid pieces

  • rather interconnecting tubes and members

• look into construction of race bucket seats

  • or construction into seats used in coupes and consumer sports cars

Comfort

• look into how to support the human body and spine

  • i.e. lumbar support, neck support etc.

• also conduct preliminary research into padding

  • should research a bit to understand which materials will fit into the final design

  • to work better with materials and manufacturing DRI

• research into how seats are kept ventilated

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Research

Racing Car Seat Assembly:

Construction

• seat frame is less of just a skeleton and more encompassing

  • instead of large gaps filled w/ wire frame for the back and bottom cushion there is a frame there

  • weight reduction is achieved with weight reduction holes

Open

• great video on construction process of a bucket seat in the above style Webisode # 5 Aluminum Seat Fab

  • NOTE: 5052 Aluminum was used

• carbon fibre or carbon fibre reinforced plastics are more liberally used as the entire seat frame

Open

• great video on manufacturing process of a carbon fibre based seat: Status Racing - The Making of a Ring Seat 

• video on pouring a foam insert for a bucket seat: Making A Custom Foam Insert for the Race Seat 
  
  

• Misc.

  • seems that padding is directly glued / adhered onto the frame

    • some padding is velcroed on

      • seat pan

      • not sure about the robustness of this

  • seat covering is stitched on after

  • Sample dimensions of existing bucket seats:

Ergonomics:

NOTE:

• Ensure there is enough space for occupant to turn when inside the seat

• OCCUPANTS MUST BE ABLE TO GET IN AND OUT EASILY (in the event of an emergency)
  
  

• Because the seat will be tilted backwards, the posture of the occupant will be more akin to the diagram shown below

  • though with the heels not flat but rather angled as well

  • in the second and third picture is the seat curvature of another solar car w/ similar seat setup as MS14

    Features / Design choices to enable an ergonomic and comfortable chair

• backrest lumbar support

  • extra support towards the lower back

• form should be contoured to the natural ‘S’ shape of the spine

  • prevents slumping and reduces stress on the spine and pelvis

• head rest

  • supports back of head and upper neck

• seat pan (bottom) length

  • allow for 1-4” (25.4mm - 101.6mm) of space between edge of seat pan and back of knee

  • allow for blood flow

• seat pan should incline towards the back

  • creates a hammock that prevents the pelvis from sliding forward and ensures natural spine position

• chart for common causes of discomfort and reasons for them

•  

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Archived Research

ARCHIVED - Conventional Car Seat Assembly:

Construction:

• seat frame

  • provides the structure of the seat (“skeleton”)

  • made of machined metal

• NOTE: as seen in the top of the seat frame, those two cylinders allow for inclusion of head rest

• look into alloys / inform Sheila

• in some cases even made of carbon fibre

  • BMW i3 seats

• to reduce weight look into weight reduction cuts

  • circular cuts in the following frame

• Wire frame

  • provide a structure for the padding/foam 

  • seen by those thin, wavelike metal wires

• Overview of structure

ARCHIVED - Mounting:

• Aftermarket bucket seat consists of two components

  • bottom frame

  • side frame

• bottom frame mounts DIRECTLY to the chassis

  • with four mounting holes on the bottom

  • IMPORTANT: ASK/RESEARCH IF THERE IS ANY ROLL CAGE MEMBER BEHIND THE SEAT TO HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL MOUNTING POINTS

    • this improves safety as there is additional mounting points to secure the seat

• side frame connects the seat (WHICH SHOULD HAVE MOUNTING HOLES) to the bottom frame

• Below is equipment used for side frame to seat mount

  • Metric 10.9 bolts and spacers (top)

  • Nylock nut and fender washer (bottom)

  • Loctite / threadlocker

• Great video on bucket seat installation: How to Install Racing Seats 

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Sketching

CAD Concepting

Screenshots

File links or locations