Secondary Controls in Domestic 1986 Model Year Cars Paul Green Don Ottens Sue Adams
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UMTRI-87-21 Secondary Controls in Domestic 1986 Model Year Cars Paul Green Don Ottens Sue Adams October 1987 The University of Michigan UMTRI Transportation Research Institute Tuhaical Roport Documontation Page 1. R-rt No. 2. Govemmt Accession No. 3. Rocipimt's Cotolog No. UMTRI-87-21 4. Title ad Subtitle 5. Rmport Dote October, 1987 SECONDARY CONTROLS IN DOMESTIC 1986 MODEL 6. Pwforning Orgottirotion Cod. YEAR CARS 389036 8. PwhingOr9onixation Report NO. 7. Auhdal P. Green, D. Ottens, and S. Adams UMTRI-87-21 9. Perkming Orgmimtion Nme md Addreas 10. Work Unit No. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute 11. bntroct O, Grant NO. 2901 Baxter Road DRDA-85-2382-P1 , Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2150 U.S.A. 13. TIP. of Rwand Period Corerod 12. +swing Ag.ncy NN adAddress Interim Chrysler Motors Corporation 9/1/85 - 8/31/87 R&D Programs Administration 12000 Chrysler Drive 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Highland Park, MI 48288-1118 2000512 IS. Svwlmntry NOHI Supported by the Chrysler Challenge Fund 1'6. Abstroct This report describes a survey of 1986 model year domestic and imported cars. A total of 236 cars were examined, representing 90% of the cars domestically produced or imported to the United States for that model year. The data were collected by visiting car dealerships and surveying all models and body styles (i.e., 2-door, 4-door, station wagons, etc.). For each car surveyed, 31 secondary controls (e.g., front wiper, turn signal, dome light, etc.) were examined in order to answer the following questions: - Where were the switches for these controls located? - What kind of switches were used for each control? - What motions were used to operate these controls? - How were the switches labeled? - Were there any patterns in switch location or design by manufacturer? The report contains a large number of tables and figures that answer these questions. 17. Key Words 16. Diskihcion St~mmt Human factors, ergonomics, human engineering, instrument panels, ease-of-use, automobi 1es, cars, engineering psycho1ogy 19. S.curity Clmssil. (of his W) m. kcwity Clmssif. (of this pop) 21- No. of Popes 22 Price Unclassified Unclassified 194 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PREFACE xiii INTRODUCTION Previous Surveys of Control Location Woodson, Conover, Miller, and Selby (1969) Malone, Krumm, Shenk, and Kao (1972) Anacapa Sciences (1974, 1976) Krumm (1974) Mourant, Moussa-Hamouda, and Howard (1977) Green (1979) Friedman and Schmidtz (1981) Summary Scope of This Experiment SURVEY PLAN How the Data Were Collected Survey Materials Coding Guide Survey Form RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Dedication, Combination, Directionality, and Integration Patterns in Switch Design and Location The Role of Production Sizes Organization of the Results on Each Control Audible Horn Climate Control Cruise Control Acceleration Cruise Control Coast Cruise Control On/Off Cruise Control Resume Cruise Control Set Dome Light Fog Lights Front Defrost iii - Table of Contents - Front Washer Front Wiper Hazard Light HeadLights/Parking Lights High Beams Optical Horn Panel Lights Radio Rear Defrost Control Rear Washer Control Rear Wiper Control Steering Adjust Suspension Adjust Turn Signal Power Door Locks Power Seat (Back Tilt) Power Seat (Forward/Backward) Power Seat (Lumbar) Power Seat (Pan Adjustment) Power Seat (Up/Down) Power Windows CLOSING THOUGHTS REFERENCES APPENDIX A. ANACAPA SCIENCES (1974) SCATTER PLOTS OF CONTROL LOCATIONS APPENDIX B. METHOD FOR OBTAINING PRODUCTION TOTALS APPENDIX C. SURVEY FORM LIST TABLES Condensed Results of Secondary Controls Survey x Table 1. Data on Controls, Woodson et al. (1969) 3 Table 2. Control Characteristics, Malone et al. (1972) 6 Table 3. Number of Cars with given Stalk Control Designs, Mourant et al. (1977) 8 Table 4. Percent of Controls Located in each Zone, Malone et al. (1972)/Anacapa Sciences (1976)/Friedman and Schmidtz (1981) 10 Table 5. Method of Operation Table 18 Table 6. Switch Type List 19 Table 7. Combination, Directionality, and Integration 26 Table 8. Number of Zones in which Controls Were Found for each Manufacturer 28 Table 9. Number of Switch Types Used by each Manufacturer - List of Tables - LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Zones Used in Malone et al. (1972) 4 Figure 2. Zone Diagram 16 Figure 3. IS0 Symbol Array 21 Figure 4. Scale Used to Present Location Results 35 - List of Figures - viii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this survey was to provide the Chrysler Corporation with data on the location, type of switch used, and method of operation for 31 secondary controls (wipers, etc.) found in 1986 model year cars sold in the U.S. In addition, information on how controls were labeled was also obtained. Those data were used to decide which switch designs to test in a subsequent experiment on driver preferences for controls. In all, data on 236 make/model combinations was collected by visiting car dealerships in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area. These combinations covered (in excess of) 90% of the cars sold in the U.S. for the 1986 model year. The following table condenses the results of the survey. There are 31 entries, one for each of the secondary controls surveyed. The radio and climate controls were only surveyed for their locations (zone). All 29 other controls were surveyed for the following additional characteristics: type of switch, method of operation required to operate the control, labeling, directionality of the switch used, etc. The table that follows conveniently summarizes three of the most important control characteristics examined: location (zone), type of switch, and method of operation used for that particular control. The first column of the table lists the control; the second column labeled "(%) Zone" gives the percentage of all controls found in the given zone. The next two columns give the percentage of all controls which were a given switch type and the percentage of all controls which were activated by a given method of operation. - Executive Summary - Condensed Results of Secondary Controls Survey ---========----- - ............................................................................... CONTROL I CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS I I-------------_--------------------------------------------------------- I 1 (%)Zone (%)Switch (%)Operation 1 ......................................................................................... Auditory Horn (62)center wheel hub (82)push surface (97)push forward (24)right & left spokes <20* <20* ......................................................................................... Climate (59)center console -not surveyed- -not surveyed- ......................................................................................... Cruise Acceler. (57)absent (51)slide (54)push right (23)lst left stalk, (28)push button (30)push forward ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cruise Coast (76)absent (77)push button (55)push forward (9)right wheel spoke < 20* <20* ......................................................................................... Cruise On/Off (42)absent (56)4-position rocker (43)push right (29)lst left stalk <20* (40)push forward ......................................................................................... Cruise Resume (4l)absent (57)slide (48)push right (35)lst left stalk (25)push button (25)push forward ......................................................................................... Cruise Set (41)absent (80)push button (62)push right (35)lst left stalk <20* (25)push forward ......................................................................................... Dome Light (34)lower left dash (34)turn-pull-push (35)twist left(-Tx) (25)center ceiling knob (28)push up (25)slide ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fog Lights (81)absent (44)2-position rocker (67)push forward (5)lower left dash (22)rotary knob <20* ......................................................................................... Front Defrost (59)lower right dash (6l)slide (56)push right (23)upper right dash (29)push button (30)push forward ......................................................................................... Front Washer (39)lst left stalk (40)large lever (36)pull towards (34)lst right stalk (24)push-paddle (36)push forward <20* (22)push button <20* ......................................................................................... Front Wiper (39)lst left stalk (39)large lever (20)push up (35)lst right stalk (33)rotary knob <20* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hazard Light (49)right side column (25)push-pull knob (42)push left/~~ (2l)left side column (20)push-push button (25)push forward <20* (20' (24)push down ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Headlights/ (38)lower left dash (33)turn-pull-push (36)pull towards Parking lights (21)lst left stalk knob (27)push forward < 20* (28)rotary knob (22)twist left(-Ty) (20)2-position rocker ......................................................................................... - Executive Summary - =E=l====II=I=II===I======~==i=DDDL=EEEEE------------I==II=IILIIIP============================== CONTROL I CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS I I_______-_________------------------------------------------------------ I I (%)Zone (%)Switch (%)Operation I I==3I====3E=C==E==II======~===============================================================