June 2011

Ford to Design Digital Child Crash Dummies

In an effort to enhance safety research, Ford is beginning to develop one of the world’s first digital human models of a child for computer crash testing.
 
According to industry research, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 1 and 34. Children are also more vulnerable in crashes than adults. By developing a comprehensive digital model from child MRIs and CAT scans, researchers hope to further study what happens to a child’s body in a crash. The digital child model will include lifelike recreations of skeletal structure, internal organs and the brain.
 
“A child’s body is very different from an adult’s,” said Dr. Steve Rouhana, Senior Technical Leader for Safety, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, in a press release. “Building a digital model of a child will help us design future systems that offer better protection for our young passengers.”
 
So what makes a digital model or digital crash dummy different from a physical crash dummy? Digital models are only used for research purposes and not in vehicle development like their physical counterparts. Physical crash dummies measure the effects of forces on the body while digital models are used to improve the effectiveness of restraint systems through a heightened understanding of how the body is injured in a crash.  
 
When it comes to building digital models of the human body, Ford has been down this road before. It took researchers more than a decade, from 1993 to 2004, to perfect current adult digital models, which feature a very high-level of detail.
 
Constructing a digital model is a complex process, to say the least. After analyzing medical scans and anatomical texts, researchers build the model section by section, moving through different regions of the body such as the brain, skull, neck, ribcage and upper and lower extremities. Eventually, these renderings are transferred to a virtual human body where researchers can study both the effects of a crash and the pressure of a restraint system on the body.
 
While scientific data on the adult human body is readily available, obtaining similar data for the body of a child can be challenging. Therefore, Ford has partnered with Tianjin University of Science and Technology in China to get basic information and geometry on the child body from MRIs and CAT scans provided by volunteers.
 
Children are often the most valuable cargo drivers will ever transport in their vehicles. Ford is committed to making both adults and children as safe as they can be whenever they’re on the road. Crashes can happen, and their effects on children and adults are very different. Take comfort in the fact that Ford researchers are diligently investigating the science behind this difference and are taking the necessary steps to keep families safe.