Amplitude Analysis of Lower Leg Muscle in Car Pedal Operation in Specific Driving Posture and Duration

Abstract

Driving posture is important to determine the comfortability of the driver. The purpose of this study is to investigate the muscle response in car pedal operation. To evaluate this response, 11 volunteers involved in simulated driving experiment using an electrical impedance myography to detect the muscle contraction of the lower leg, particularly at Gastrocnemius medial (GM). The driver requires to perform different pedal actions. The results depict that GM muscle shows different reaction according to pedal actions. According to these results, different degree of ankle angle lead to different muscle response. These findings help us to understand the effect of physical attribute related to muscle response and joint angle on driver during monotonous driving task.

Analysis of Leg Muscle Activities and Foot Angles while Pressing the Accelerator Pedal by Different Foot Postures

“…When pressing the pedal, the right foot should be extended, and this evokes more activation of the gastrocnemius. The result of this study is also consistent with the findings obtained by existing studies [4,6]. They stated that the gastrocnemius muscle gradually increased its effort as the accelerator pedal was gradually depressed.…”

“…Electromyography (EMG) was measured for five major muscles (Figure 2) of the right leg (rectus femoris (RF), medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral gastrocnemius (LG), tibialis anterior (TA), and peroneus longus (PL) muscles) in relation to operating the accelerator pedal [6,9,16,17]. The RF is involved in hip flexion and knee extension.…”

“…Next, Khamis et al [5] investigated the muscle contraction while operating the accelerator pedal using three different foot actions (pressing, half-pressing, and releasing) and revealed that muscle activations were significantly different for each foot action. Lastly, a study by Khamis and Deros [6] investigated the responses of lower leg muscles in car-pedal operation and found that the medial gastrocnemius muscle has different reactions depending on the pedal action.…”