Pluridisciplinary research association aiming at elaborating a biomechanical model of the locomotor apparatus.
Osteobio
College of Biomechanics applied to Osteopathy
The seat is a component of comfort above all else; when one asks public transport users what contributes to comfort, they firstly and systematically mention it. Besides, the seat, as designed with existing specifications, does not always provide the user with optimal comfort in certain use situations, depending on the travelling time, the morphology of the users or the geometry of their spine… We play a part in 3 steps of the manufacturing of the seat: the drawing up of requirements, the analysis of the existing seats and we help designing/assessing the new prototypes.
Our research work allowed us to develop and then validate new experimental solutions meeting specific problematics, among others:
• It was made possible for the first time to establish a database of posture morphologies encompassing the whole of the "sound" population categories and of kinematics.
• Physiological and biomechanical comfort criteria were identified and ways to assess them were defined.
• A database of kinematics and, in particular, of their evolution depending on a seat's parameters and their interactions was also established.
• A new biomechanical model was defined according to spine categories. Thus, it will be possible to work out personalized or category-dependent models from the protocol and the morphological database established.
The recent results already helped to better define the requirements of the seat and tools and methods to assess discomfort. Regarding manufacturers, our advice led to an optimization of the seat in terms of:
