General Motors recently unveiled its latest crash test dummies--or anthropomorphic testing devices--as they are affectionately known by GM's test engineers.
The new generation of dummies is smarter than they look. They can now provide status reports up to 10,000 times per second. That's because each is furnished with 70 to 80 sensors. And these dummies represent a wide range of potential passengers—everything from full-sized males to toddlers. Granted, they have almost picture-prefect model physiques, but in all other respects they represent our human physiological attributes and sensitivities to motion and impact. And that's how engineers want them.
In 1966, Alderson Research Laboratories produced the first dummy manufactured specifically for the auto industry. It was used by GM, Ford, and the National Bureau of Standards. In 1977, GM developed a biofidelic measurement tool, which allowed crash test dummies to behave like human beings. In 1997, GM's crash test dummies officially became the industry standard for testing to comply with government frontal impact regulations and air bag safety.
Today's crash test dummies realistically represent the way drivers and passengers sit in vehicles. They replicate the overall weight, size and proportion of various sizes and genders of humans. Their heads will respond like those of a human's in a crash. Their foreheads deflect like a human's would in a collision. A human-like chest cavity features a steel rib cage that caves in to steering wheels and columns like a human chest would in a crash. The rubber neck bends and stretches biofidelically. Even the knees are crushable like human knees to the impact of lower dashboards and firewalls. The vinyl skin is laced with accelerometers, potentiometers and load cells, which accurately measure the acceleration, deflection and impacts during a crash.
Alex A. Kecskes has written hundreds of published articles on health/fitness, "green" issues, TV/film entertainment, restaurant reviews and many other topics. As a former Andy/Belding/One Show ad agency copywriter, he also writes web content, ads, brochures, sales letters, mailers and scripts for national B2B and B2C clients. Please see more of his blogs and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
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