The design and implementation of a multimedia system for the interactive and time-synchronised analysis of vehicle crash tests

Abstract

This paper describes the requirements for, and the development and implementation of, an interactive multimedia system for the visualisation and analysis of the results from automobile impact tests and impact simulations. However, the technology described can be applied to a much wider range of scientific and engineering test scenarios.

Traditionally, crash test results are presented to the customer on a number of individual media such as high speed film reels, bulky text reports and photographs. The system described replaces these disparate media with an electronic report on a single CD-ROM for presentation on a multimedia PC to enable integrative and interactive analysis.

In developing this solution, two complementary systems are required. The first collates all the data and produces a database on CD for each test. This system needs to be used in a commercial environment to rapidly produce the database in a routine manner. This is achieved by the use of intuitive interfaces and extensive automation capability in the generation and population of the multimedia relational database. The second system interrogates the CD and presents the information contained therein in an intuitive and useful manner. A major feature of the presentation system is the playback of multiple video streams simultaneously with Finite Element models and multiple time dependent data graphs, all of which are time synchronised.

The systems have been developed using Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools within an object-oriented framework, with Human Computer Interaction (HCI) issues being to the fore at all stages. It is now in routine use at a major crash laboratory, with at least half of their test results being presented in this manner.