Those of us who even occasionally drive somewhere to exercise — say, to meet friends for a run on a hot summer day — know the struggle is real: Repeated sweat sessions without benefit of a post-workout shower or dry clothes to drive home in definitely lend your driver's seat a certain funk. And over time, all that sweat adds to wear and tear.
So the engineering wizards at Ford Europe are working on the second half of this problem, at least, using something they've dubbed "Robobutt."
It's based on existing robot simulations used to mimic how human posteriors get in and out of car seats to improve durability. Here, over three days, a Kukla automation robot is fitted with a dummy bottom, heated to approximate human temperature and fed about 450 milliliters of water (about 15 fluid ounces) to get soggy and re-create that condition fondly known as swamp ass. Then the robot, as shown in the video above, smooshes the dummy bottom to and fro, side to side, sitting on the seat 7,500 times over three days to simulate a decade's worth of use. As the old saying goes, it's nice work if you can get it.
Ford says Robobutt helps to ensure its car seats look good no matter what sweaty drivers throw at them. Robobutt-certified seats were introduced last year for the Fiesta in Europe but are now being rolled out for all Ford vehicles on the continent.
That's great, but it still leaves workout junkies or chronic sweathogs yearning for a solution to that funk of their own making. There are, of course, a number of aftermarket car-seat covers or sweat towels to take the brunt of your eau de B.O., and you can always just use a regular bath towel. Others swear by spraying their seats with a 2:1 solution of water and white vinegar to remove sweat stains and odors from cloth seats.
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So the engineering wizards at Ford Europe are working on the second half of this problem, at least, using something they've dubbed "Robobutt."
It's based on existing robot simulations used to mimic how human posteriors get in and out of car seats to improve durability. Here, over three days, a Kukla automation robot is fitted with a dummy bottom, heated to approximate human temperature and fed about 450 milliliters of water (about 15 fluid ounces) to get soggy and re-create that condition fondly known as swamp ass. Then the robot, as shown in the video above, smooshes the dummy bottom to and fro, side to side, sitting on the seat 7,500 times over three days to simulate a decade's worth of use. As the old saying goes, it's nice work if you can get it.
Ford says Robobutt helps to ensure its car seats look good no matter what sweaty drivers throw at them. Robobutt-certified seats were introduced last year for the Fiesta in Europe but are now being rolled out for all Ford vehicles on the continent.
That's great, but it still leaves workout junkies or chronic sweathogs yearning for a solution to that funk of their own making. There are, of course, a number of aftermarket car-seat covers or sweat towels to take the brunt of your eau de B.O., and you can always just use a regular bath towel. Others swear by spraying their seats with a 2:1 solution of water and white vinegar to remove sweat stains and odors from cloth seats.
Related Video:
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