As the automotive industry advances towards greater autonomy, the landscape of car travel is evolving. The integration of reclined seating within vehicles, made possible without major alterations to traditional layouts, presents a promising avenue for enhancing passenger experiences. This shift, however, comes with unique safety challenges due to the changed seating dynamics.
Research, including insights from General Motors, Volvo & Volkswagen emphasizes the need for innovative safety solutions for reclined seating. Simulations comparing three-point and four-point seat belt configurations, in both upright and reclined positions, reveal advantages for the latter at higher speeds. This configuration produces a more balanced force distribution during impacts, away from vital areas.
While the potential of a four-point restraint system is evident, implementation hurdles arise. Addressing both safety and comfort, a study assesses the user experience for both systems. Building on these insights, a convertible restraint system is proposed, seamlessly transitioning from a three-point to a four-point configuration based on passenger position. This adaptable design merges safety and comfort effectively.
The proposed design requires the redesign of certain components of the seat back & headrest. These are provided as recommendations.

As the automotive industry advances towards greater autonomy, the landscape of car travel is evolving. The integration of reclined seating within vehicles, made possible without major alterations to traditional layouts, presents a promising avenue for enhancing passenger experiences. This shift, however, comes with unique safety challenges due to the changed seating dynamics.

Research, including insights from General Motors, Volvo & Volkswagen emphasizes the need for innovative safety solutions for reclined seating. Simulations comparing three-point and four point seat belt configurations, in both upright and reclined positions, reveal advantages for the latter at higher speeds. This configuration produces a more balanced force distribution during
impacts, away from vital areas.

While the potential of a four-point restraint system is evident, implementation hurdles arise. Addressing both safety and comfort, a study assesses the user experience for both systems. Building on these insights, a convertible restraint system is proposed, seamlessly transitioning from a three-point to a four-point
configuration based on passenger position. This adaptable design merges safety and comfort effectively.

The proposed design requires redesign of certain components of the seat back & headrest. These are provided as recommendations

This Master’s graduation thesis is a project elaborated for the automotive manufacturer BMW AG. It explores the possibilities given by soft robotic technology to improve comfort while sitting in self-driving vehicles. The project focuses on a specific scenario: a seat that enhances the relaxation experience on the car for long distance travels. An extensive literature research is done on comfort for seat design, soft robotics and BMW strategy on autonomous driving.
Prototypes and material tests are made to understand the possibilities with pneumatic soft actuators, resulting in design directions and requirements.
Concepts are developed by merging soft robotics capabilities together with design opportunities for improve seat’s adaptability. A Machine Learning model is used to train a textile pneumatic actuator to automatically being able to predict its shape via an optical sensing system. This proves the concept’s feasibility. At the end of the thesis, the final concept design, named LightFit, is proposed. The latter is an automated seat with inflatable soft robotic components embedded in its structure that allow the seat to change shape. The ultimate goal of LightFit is to provide long-term comfort by adapting itself to the user’s body contour and by inducing micro-movements that can decrease perceived discomfort over prolonged sitting.