Design Analysis of Ergonomic Accelerator Pedal: A Case Study on Proton Persona SV

Abstract

Ergonomic design is essential in producing an excellent human-machine interface. For a vehicle, accelerator pedal is one of the most important human-machine interfaces that is always engaged during driving. Thus, in the design process, the shape and position of the pedal must be in reference to the driver and compared with the existing anthropometric data of the user. This case study chose a Malaysian car, Proton Persona as a reference design to be analyzed. First, product design specification of the pedal is established by measuring the reference accelerator pedal design positioning and dimension. Then, the comfort angles provided by the existing design is measured and calculated. Finally, five new redesign concepts are proposed, and the improved design is analyzed. The mathematical findings show that the configuration of the existing accelerator pedal may cause discomfort during driving compared to the improved design which extends the pedal contact point by 20 mm for a better ergonomic value. Whereas finite element analysis (FEA) shows reduction in stress and displacement of the weakest point of the new pedal to less than 1% of the original. The final finding shows an improved design that will be more ergonomic to 90% of Malaysian population.