Toyota Expands Digital Dummy Family

EPSOM, UNITED KINGDOM – June 8, 2011: Toyota has added a small female and a large male to its family of digital crash test dummies. Known as THUMS (Total HUman Model for Safety) these virtual humans deliver crash test results in much greater detail than is achievable with conventional crash-test dummies.

The new models of a 153cm tall female and a 189cm tall male will join the existing 179cm tall, average-build adult male in THUMS. All three models come in two types − a vehicle occupant and pedestrian − bringing the total number of models to six. It is now possible to take into account different body sizes when conducting analyses of internal injuries caused by car accidents.

This latest software upgrade is the result of a cooperative development arrangement with Toyota Central R&D Labs, Inc., universities and other external research institutes to make detailed measurements of the human body’s internal structure using a high-precision CT (computed tomography) scanner. By creating precise models of various internal organs, including their positions and how they interconnect, Toyota was able to develop a virtual human model containing approximately 14 times more information than the previous version. This increased detail allows finer understanding of how damage is inflicted to internal organs during a collision.

Beginning this summer, the small female and large male models will be marketed to universities through Toyota Technical Development Corporation and to private companies through consultant, JSOL Corporation.

As part of its vision to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries, Toyota will apply the results of THUMS tests to develop safer vehicles. Toyota has plans to add an elderly person and a child model to make an even more diverse range of testing possible.