You might not know that the most "expensive" passenger in car crash tests isn't a celebrity or a tycoon, but a silent "dummy." These dummies are worth millions, even tens of millions, some even more expensive than the test vehicles! Just who are these dummies? Why are automakers willing to spend so much money on them? Today, we'll talk about the "silent heroes" behind car safety—crash test dummies.
In early vehicle crash tests, stunned pigs and human volunteers were often placed amidst flying glass shards, posing a significant risk to the test subjects. Today, with the advent of vehicle crash test dummies, these high-risk tests have changed. High-tech human models can provide crucial information for modern vehicle safety. Test dummies are equipped with hundreds of sensors to collect information such as acceleration and force generated during a collision.
Until the mid-20th century, it was taken for granted that the human body could not withstand the impact of a vehicle collision. At the time, it was widely believed that traffic accidents would inevitably result in death, an idea that wasn't entirely unreasonable for the era: vehicles were made of hard, sharp metal parts and seatbelts were generally not provided. Driven by this belief, researchers began the initial vehicle crash tests in the early 1950s. They placed human corpses in the driver's cabin to study typical internal and external injuries caused by vehicle collisions. Later, volunteers volunteered to participate in tests such as emergency braking, even placing themselves amidst flying glass shards. However, humans clearly could not withstand the pain caused by vehicle collisions, so engineers placed stunned pigs, bears, or monkeys in the driver's cabin to conduct even more brutal tests in place of volunteers.
Finally, the world's first vehicle crash test dummy was created, allowing both humans and animals to escape the dangers of crash testing. This vehicle crash test dummy was invented by the U.S. Air Force in 1949 and modified for vehicle crash testing a few years later. To mimic real people as closely as possible, this series included male and female dummies of various body types, heights, and ages. However, what truly revolutionized vehicle crash testing was not the use of dummies of varying sizes and heights, but rather the integration of technology into the dummies.
In the early 1970s, General Motors invented a series of crash test dummies, pioneering the installation of sensors to measure force and acceleration in the dummies' heads, torsos, and thighs. As technology advanced, engineers also installed sensors in other potentially fatal body parts, such as the neck and spine. They also used angular velocity sensors to measure the bending of the dummies' limbs during a crash.
Crash test dummies are used for vehicle safety testing. These dummies vary in height and weight to represent different human populations. The most commonly used is the 50th percentile male dummy (simulating the body of an average male). A 5th percentile female crash test dummy (representing the lowest 5% of adult females) was introduced in 1966. but this dummy was simply a scaled-down version of the 50th percentile male body and did not simulate a female body. There is still a lack of a 50th percentile female dummy that simulates typical female injury tolerance, biomechanics, spinal alignment, neck strength, muscle and ligament strength, dynamic response to trauma, and other typical female characteristics. Therefore, women are more likely to suffer severe injuries than men in similar accidents.
For years, the Hybrid III dummy was considered the industry standard—until the THOR dummy replaced it, becoming the primary occupant in vehicle crash tests. Compared to the Hybrid III, the THOR (Human Occupant Restraint Test Device) dummy offers several advantages. For example, it integrates facial sensors, providing a clearer view of the force distribution on the occupant's face when impacted by the airbag. The THOR dummy is modeled after an adult male with an average weight of 77 kg and a height of 1.76 meters.
To deploy this new generation of crash test dummies in real-world applications, Kistler's measurement experts equipped it with a data acquisition system featuring up to 288 measurement channels. Measurement data after a vehicle crash can be quickly exported via a single Ethernet cable inside the dummy's chest cavity. In contrast, THOR's predecessors were entangled in various wires, resembling puppets on strings. Since 2018. Kistler has completed the full production process for the THOR dummy at its Heidelberg plant.
Despite these significant advancements, the development of crash test dummies for vehicles remains a long and arduous journey. Looking ahead, dummies will be further optimized and become more intelligent, for example, able to more realistically replicate the damage to internal organs in a vehicle collision. Long ago, people believed that traffic accidents inevitably resulted in death—thanks tocrash test dummies, that era is long gone.
1. Quantifying Safety, Saving Lives
The core task of dummies is to "injure"—through sensor data, engineers can accurately assess the vehicle's protection of the head, neck, and chest. Statistics show that in the United States alone, dummy experiments have saved over 600.000 lives.
2. Driving Upgrades in Safety Standards
For example, the more lifelike neck design of dummies has forced automakers to improve seat belts and airbag systems. Today, the inclusion of dummies for women, children, and even pregnant women makes safety designs more human-centered.
3. A "New Challenge" in the Era of Autonomous Driving
With the development of autonomous driving technology, dummies need to simulate more complex scenarios (such as changes in passenger posture during emergency braking). Toyota's THUMS can even analyze muscle dynamics, providing more refined data for future vehicle design.
In the future, vehicle crash test dummies will advance significantly towards greater intelligence, precision, and diversity. In terms of intelligence, dummies will possess more powerful data processing and analysis capabilities. They will not only be able to accurately record various data points during the collision process in real time, but also perform preliminary data analysis through built-in algorithms, quickly providing key safety information and offering engineers more intuitive and valuable references. In terms of precision, dummies will more realistically simulate the characteristics of various organs, tissues, and systems in the human body, including the physiological responses of internal organs, the stress on bones, and the dynamic changes in muscles, thereby more comprehensively and accurately assessing the damage caused by a collision. Diversity is reflected in the fact that dummies will cover a wider range of population characteristics. In addition to existing different genders, ages, and body types, customized dummies will be developed for special groups such as those with different health conditions and disabilities, ensuring that vehicle safety design benefits everyone. Furthermore, with the development of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, dummy testing is expected to deeply integrate with virtual simulation technology, creating richer and more diverse test scenarios, further improving testing efficiency and accuracy.
The concluding paragraph discusses how vehicle crash test dummies, evolving from simple human models over decades, have become indispensable "silent heroes" in the automotive safety field. Through their "sacrifice," they have created a safer travel environment and driven continuous upgrades to automotive safety standards. Despite their significant achievements, the development of crash test dummies continues. In the future, with ongoing technological advancements, dummies will become more intelligent, sophisticated, and diverse, continuing to play a crucial role in automotive safety testing, safeguarding our lives, and contributing to a safer and brighter future for the automotive industry.
