A Review of:“Fundamentals of Psychology”. By FRANK A. GELDARD. ( New York,John Wiley and Sons. ) [Pp.437.] 57s.

Abstract

Industrial Design is a discipline which, despite an early pre-occupation with styling and making technology saleable, is now centrally concerned with user needs. This is reflected in Coventry's unique degree course in the Industrial Design/Transport Department at Lanchester Polytechnic. The course contains a significant commitment to Human Factors and this is evident in the range of design projects which are undertaken either by students or as sponsored research. The emphasis in these projects is on practical designs which meet user requirements.

This paper describes the following typical course projects:

1. The competition winning design for a dinghy which can be used as an emergency life-raft.

2. An adaptation of a standard front-wheel-drive car with a transverse slide seat to allow easy access for a wheel chair user.

3. The design for a bus seat which can be used either as a conventional seat or as a standee ‘lean’ seat.

4. Design of a vehicle for use by spina bifida children.

5. Design for a pedal driven power unit for transport and machine uses in Developing Countries.

6. The design of adult tricycles for the transport of mothers plus children under 5 yr.

It is concluded that greater collaboration between industrial designers and ergonomists would be possible if the latter published their data in a more accessible form, and that designers must place greater emphasis on the product evaluation aspect of their work.     

A review of: “System Identification—Parameter and State Estimation.” By PIETER EYKHOFF. (Bristol : John Wiley & Sons, 1974.) [Pp. 555.] Price £12.50.

This article extends the concept of input–output finite time stability (IO–FTS) to a class of hybrid systems, namely impulsive dynamical linear systems, which are systems that exhibit jumps in the state trajectory. Sufficient conditions are given for the analysis of IO–FTS and for the design of both static output and state feedback controllers, guaranteeing IO–FTS of the closed loop system. In the general case the presented results require to solve feasibility problems involving either linear matrix inequalities or bilinear matrix inequalities, which can be solved numerically in an efficient way by using off-the-shelf optimisation tools, as illustrated by the proposed examples.     

A Review.of: “Man and Motor Cars: An Ergonomic Study.” By S. Black. (Seeker and Warburg, 1966.) [Pp. 373.] 63s

This study was concerned with examining driver patterns for three different sized vehicles (small cars, family cars, trucks and buses) through an intersection controlled by a traffic signal. Observations were made morning, noon and afternoon, when there was precipitation and no precipitation. Records were also kept as to whether the drivers wore alone or with passengers and whether the drivers were males or fomales. Results were found showing that family car drivers were the most cautious and that small ear, truck and bus drivers were approximately similar to each other, being less cautious. Drivers with passengers were more cautious and did not violate the law by passing a red light as frequently as did drivers without passengers. Approximately similar driving patterns were found for males and fomales. Different driving patterns were obtained for the three-sized vehicles during morning, noon and afternoon, when there was precipitation and no precipitation.