Abstract
It is desirable to develop an analytic simulation method of sensuous information like the operational feeling of the steering wheel. The purpose of this study was to evaluate muscle loads in steering wheel operation with respect to the steering wheel design characteristics. A three dimensional upper limb musculoskeletal model was constructed to estimate muscle loads, and the accuracy of this model was verified by comparing the measured EMG with the muscle loads estimated by inverse dynamic analysis. The features of steering wheel design parameters appeared in the muscle load estimation results obtained by applying the proposed method. The result suggested that a common organoleptic evaluation about the design parameters of steering wheels was related to the pattern of muscle loads.
