Fig. 1 Examples of retractable door handles1. Introduction2. Evaluation methods for emotional value3. VR evaluation environment construction*Customer and Vehicle Performance Engineering Division Customer Performance and Vehicle Test Engineering Department No.2In recent years, the competition to ensure greater cruising distances has intensified, and it has become one of the most important areas in the development of electric vehicles. A retractable door handle, which can retract while the vehicle is in motion, is being studied as a measure for improving cruising distance by reducing aerodynamic drag. Retractable door handles are expected to provide not only improved aerodynamic drag but also added emotional value, such as a sleek appearance when retracted and a sense of hospitality as they automatically unfold when boarding a vehicle. Based on the examples of mass-produced vehicles, door handles protrude in different styles (such as parallel and cantilevered types; Fig. 1). Creating an impression of the automatic door handle movement of protruding and retracting can provide emotional value.To develop emotional value, how people feel about using a target function must be evaluated, specifically the impression that people receive from the function. Virtual reality (VR) technology is used to reproduce the experience of using a function and to subjectively evaluate the impressions, in line with the idea of the proof of concept at Nissan Motors.This paper presents the VR evaluation environment developed in-house for evaluating the impression of the experience when using a function. The application of this evaluation method to a feasibility study of a retractable door handle during the development of automobile functions is presented to demonstrate its effectiveness in the providing emotional value.The impression received from using the target function of a vehicle is used to evaluate the emotional value of the function. A method that measures subjective impressions (psychological scale construction) is often used in product development at Nissan Motors, regardless of the corresponding physical quantity, because the method corresponding to the measurement of the psychological aspect of how people feel must be selected for evaluating the impressions. The reproduction accuracy of the experience of using the target function has a significant effect on the evaluation results as it is based on the direct observation of subjective impressions. Until now, reproducing experience in automobile development has frequently involved the use of physical mockups that replicate the body and interior of a vehicle in its actual size. However, evaluating functions that accompany the movement of parts (which have gradually increased in number in recent years) is difficult within the given development timeline because reproducing the movement with a physical mockup takes time. Thus, a VR evaluation environment that provides a short experience of use is developed by reproducing the body and interior of a vehicle with CAD data and the movement of functions with a program in a virtual space.An example of the application of a retractable door handle in a feasibility study is presented in this section. The general functions assumed for retractable door handles are as follows: the door handle automatically protrudes when the door is unlocked with a remote key before the vehicle is boarded; it automatically retracts after the vehicle starts moving; and it automatically 453. Virtual Reality Test Technologies for Evaluating Quality of New Mechanical Parts Without PrototypingOsamu Maruse* Yasunori Nakazono* Noriharu Kubo* Erina Ueno*
元のページ ../index.html#50