FAQ V01.08 - History of the Prius
I just added:
"THE PRIUS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD" - this is a 105 page, PDF book written by Hideshiitazaki and translated by Albert Yamada and Masako Ishikawa. This unpublished book is the history of Prius development.
I'm about 1/4th of the way through it and love it. At last we have the names of the brilliant team of engineers and far sighted managers who put the Prius project together. One of my favorite passages:
". . . "Let's first set the position of the driver's buttocks."
Discussions began under the leadership of Vehicle Engineering Division I engineers who specialized in ergonomics. What seat height would facilitate getting in and out of the car? By assuming the passenger's height to be between 148 centimeters and 190 centimeters, the comfortable height for the seat was determined to be between 550 millimeters and 600 millimeters. The position of the buttocks was put at 575 millimeters by taking the average of the two measurements. . . ."
This determined the height of the Prius and explains why my wife and I find it a comfortable car to get in and out of. But the premier engineering principle at work is to start with the end-user and design the vehicle from there. This is so basic and fundamental yet missed by so many design teams who force the user into uncomfortable and tiring contortions.
An engineer who has been on many good and a few not so good projects, I throughly enjoyed reading how serendipity works in Toyota as it has in all engineering projects. The happy accident that brings people of unusual talents together to make product is a refreshing read. That works in Toyota engineering too.
Most of all, I enjoyed learning the names of those who brought us this wonderful vehicle.
Bob Wilson
Last edited by bwilson4web : 07-15-2006 at 06:15 PM.
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