Smarter dummies

15th August 2007

Dummies are already used for crash testing vehicles and for evaluating in-car audio, too. Now, they’re also mak­ing sure heating and air-con systems work properly!

This one belongs to Mercedes, and is wearing more than 100 sensors which measure draughts, cabin temperature and sun radiation. It sits in prototypes being tested in Merc­edes’ climate tunnel in Sindel­fingen, Germany.

This mimics everything from arctic winter to tropical heat, and data from the dummy is used to refine climate comfort.