Ford's ‘Robutt’ helps seats survive sweaty workouts

Joining a gym, taking an exercise class or breaking out the running kit are high on many people’s list of New Year’s resolutions.

But not everyone will want to – or be able to – have a shower before jumping in their car to go home afterwards.

Ford are making sure that all this good work isn’t bad news for your car seat with the help of a robotic bottom simulator called “Robutt”.

First used to ensure that the materials used in Ford's car seats could withstand a decade’s regular dry wear and tear, engineers have now developed “Robutt” to simulate what happens when owners get in their Ford cars when a bit on the sweaty side.

Development engineer Florian Rohwer

“Cars are a part of our everyday lives, and at this time of year in particular, so is exercise. The ‘Robutt’ is a great way to check our seats will look good for years to come.”

For the sweat test, “Robutt” simulates a decade’s worth of car use in just three day’s as it sits, bounces and twists in the seat 7,500 times. Based on the dimensions of a large man, the robotic bottom is heated to 36° C, and soaked with 450 millilitres of water.

Introduced in 2018 for Fiesta, the “Robutt” seat test is now being rolled out for all Ford vehicles in Europe

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