Faurecia will talk about the smart seat at CESA 2012

CESA 2012 abstract

Many comfort functions can be embedded in an automotive seat. These include basic postural comfort (cushion length, height, and tilt), advanced comfort (lumbar support, headrest adjustment, shoulder adjustment), climatic management (heating and ventilation), and wellness features (e.g. customized massage therapies or dynamic adjustments according to occupant status or to driving conditions). All those functions represent a huge amount of possible combinations of configurations and command executions, while they are not at all customizable along the time by the users (generally, just a few have programmable fixed alternatives by default).
In order to reduce the complexity of seat control for the end-user, and enable the possibility of customization, Faurecia has developed a new concept for automated seat adjustment, positioning and comfort features settings that takes out the guesswork to properly adjust the seat, while providing the end-user a powerful tool to personalize its comfort.
Utilizing a smartphone application, the SmartFit™ system automatically adjusts the vehicle’s seat wirelessly via Bluetooth, creating the ideal fit and position for each occupant. The system also allows the seat to be updated and enhanced over its lifetime. In order to control these new functions, the seat E/E system (HW/SW) has to be modular and connected to fit with customers’ expectations, and to be able to integrate future features and functions.

By Dr. Ignacio Alvarez, Seat Electronics Director at Faurecia.