Seats
- Robin Pearce
Overview
| Project team: | Interiors |
| Project supervisor(s): | |
Stakeholders: | |
| JIRA Link: |
Vision
Background Information
Passenger seats tend to either be quite heavy and large or very uncomfortable. The aim of MSXIV seats are to be neither. The seats in MSXIV should be lightweight, small, and comfortable. This trio can be achieved through clever design such as the photo below. The seats are extremely thin but the majority of the weight is applied to the small rigid frame.
By having a thin seat you can also have a seat that easily wicks away sweat, using a mesh material such as the chair below can help achieve this goal.
To ensure the chair is still structurally sounds it will require intelligently placed support members. I recommend taking all three of the chairs shown in the photos as reference for how to support a chair in a clever way while minimizing weight and space.
This is what Eindhoven did in their 2017 car, more photos can be found here https://photos.app.goo.gl/jwR6BREPAebiQEGe8
Goal
Design and manufacture lightweight and comfortable seats that impress whoever sits in the car while minimizing space used
Project Requirements
Rayce Regulations
ASC 2018
10.3.B Occupant Seats
10.3.B.1 Single-occupant solar cars shall only have one seat.
10.3.B.2 Multi-occupant solar cars shall be designed to carry more than one occupant.
10.3.B.3 Each solar car occupant must have a seat that faces forward at an angle less than 10 degrees
from the forward direction of travel.
10.3.B.4 Each seat must have a back and a head restraint Reg. 10.3.G.8. The distance from the hip
point to the top of the head restraint must be at least 800 mm for front seats and those of a singleoccupant
solar car and at least 750 mm for rear seats. (49 CFR 571.202a - Standard No. 202a; Head
restraints). The hip point may be approximated as shown in the diagram below. Any additional seat
padding must be included in this measurement.
Figure 10.1 – Hip Point Definition
10.3.B.5 Each occupant’s heels must be below their hip point.
10.3.B.6 The angle between each occupant’s shoulders, hips and knees must be more than 90 degrees.
10.3.B.7 Any additional seat padding must be positively secured to the seat.
Internal Requirements
One seat must weight less than 5lbs and support the weight of a 250Lb person falling 100mm into the seat.
The occupant ballast must be held below the leg portion of the seat.
Soft requirements
Make the majority of the seat be made from wicking fabric that minimizes the occupant back/leg sweat.
Make the seat from two parts, a leg support and a back support, the majority of the occupant weight can then be applied directly to the floor pan.
Deliverables
- Have a preliminary seat design by
- Have a finished seat design by
- Kick off manufacturing and molds by