Industrial - Bachelors

Customisable Seating for Autonomous City Vehicles

Advancing autonomous vehicle technology is reopening the door to automakers to create smaller and more compact vehicles for city commuters. Without the need for mainstay interior elements, such as a steering wheel or pedals, a new type of seat can be introduced to these vehicles to optimise both their smaller package, and their newfound space compared to traditional vehicles.

Jack Wright

The Research

This project started by researching how commuters get to and from Brisbane City using either private or public transport. Through the use of two research methods, data was gathered on how commuters use different modes of transport.

Initially, a survey was used asking residents of Brisbane and its surrounds about their use of private and public transport as well as their satisfaction with these transport methods and what they believe could be improved in the future. The survey yielded 30 respondents from across multiple areas of Brisbane, allowing for a wide range of responses in regards to how residents feel about their transport from different parts of Brisbane.

This survey was then followed up by three observations in which data on how Brisbane uses public transport was collected. This was done across three of Brisbane’s busiest public transport stops being Central Station, Roma Street Busway and North Quay Ferry Terminal. Data collected at these locations included number of passengers arriving and departing, and how late or early the public transport arrived at each stop.

Design Opportunities

From these transport methods, five main design opportunities were identified, with two for private vehicles and three for public transport. These opportunities were:

Private Vehicles:

• Reduced Vehicle Size : Reducing vehicle size to alleviate issues related to parking or traffic in the inner city.
• Emerging Power Sources : Use of emerging power sources will allow for the longevity of these vehicles in the market well into the future.

Public Transport:

• Frequency : Increasing the frequency of public transport services will allow for the service to become more reliable to customers.
• Accessibility : Increasing the breadth of the network will allow the service to become more accessible to currently unreached customers.
• Emerging technologies : The final criteria is to employ emerging technologies to future proof the public transport system.

The full research report can be seen below.

Name
Research Report
File Type
application
File Size
10 MB
Download File

Initial Concepts

From the research, five initial concepts were created: two focusing on private transport and three focusing on public transport.

1. Autonomous Bike
2. Microcar
3. Maglev Metro
4. Autonomous Bus
5. High Speed Transit

Product Direction

Taking into consideration the research conducted and the initial concepts created, the direction for this project was upon. This direction was to focus on the interior space – in particular the seating – for a new type of city micro car.

The vehicles these seats were designed for a level 5 autonomous vehicles. These vehicles are the top tier of autonomous driving technology, in which the vehicles are able to drive themselves with no human intervention, hence, no need for usually standard equipment found in the interior of a vehicle such as a steering wheel, pedals and dash.

This design will be used to optimise the compact packaging of these new wave of vehicles – roughly the size of Citroen Ami, Fiat Topolino or Microlino Lite (pictured) – whilst having a four occupant capacity rather than the standard two.

Product Development

Prototyping

Prototyping was conducted to both create some of the aesthetics for this product and play with the mechanisms that will be employed in the design. This was initially done through cardboard and foam prototyping.

From these models, an initial CAD model was created and 3D printed to better understand the form of the model as well as prototype cushioning on this design.

Final Design

Renders

Final Models

Jack Wright

Jack is a designer studying both an industrial design and mechanical engineering degree, hoping to combine in the pursuit of a career in automotive design. Through his degree, he has gained skills in aesthetic and technical CAD modelling, as well as high fidelity prototyping and model making.