Humanetics is a Digital Industrial Technology company, and a leading provider of safety systems, anthropomorphic test devices, crash test equipment, simulation software, CAE models, precision sensors, fiber optics and cutting-edge laser material engineering solutions.
Humanetics is organized into three groups: Humanetics Safety, comprising ATDs, active safety robotic platforms, test equipment, and ATD lab management; Humanetics Digital, encompassing CAE, ergonomic software, anthropometric 3D body model databases and a new Software Center of Excellence; and Humanetics Sensors, which combines the capabilities of HITEC, Fibercore and OpTek into an advanced Sensor Technology group.
Humanetics legacy comes from being the largest manufacturer of anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), commonly known as
crash test dummies, as measured by market share.
Headquartered in
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Troy, with a population of 83,986 at the 20 ...
, the company is a subsidiary of Humanetics, itself owned by
Bridgepoint Capital
Bridgepoint Group plc is a British private investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
Bridgepoint was founded as NatWest Equity Partners, a private equity firm part of NatWest. ...
, a private equity firm.
In recent years, Humanetics' most dramatic developments have come through increasing
digitization
DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a Digital data, digital (i ...
. In addition to expanding the portfolio of safety test equipment and sensor technology solutions, roughly one-third of Humanetics’ offerings are now data and software.
History
One of the companies that would become Humanetics was founded as Humanoid Systems in Beverly Hills, California in 1973 by Sam Alderson, an inventor and engineer.
Alderson had previously founded and sold Alderson Research Laboratories, an early manufacturer of dummies for ejector seat testing for the Air Force.
[ Humanoid Systems won large contracts with General Motors and Ford to sell crash test dummies for $20,000 each.][
In 1990, Alderson Research Laboratories and Humanoid Systems merged to form First Technology Safety Systems (FTSS).
In 1999, FTSS acquired the dummy-development and manufacturing business of the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research.]
In 2001, FTSS acquired HITEC Sensor Solutions, an American manufacturer of specialized strain gage applications.[
In December 2005, FTSS was acquired by Honeywell.
In March 2006, Honeywell announced they were selling FTSSS to a private equity firm.
In 2008, Christopher O’Connor, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former General Electric Co. executive with an engineering background became CEO of FTSS.
In 2009, Humanetics was formed by Chicago private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital Ltd. FTSS with Milan Township Ohio-based ATD company Denton ATD Inc.][ The subsidiaries Humanetics, HITEC Sensor Solutions and Sensor Developments Inc. were placed under a holding company, Safety Technology Holdings Inc (STH), based in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
In December 2013, Wynnchurch Capital Ltd sold STH to San Francisco-based private equity company Golden Gate Capital.]
In 2014, the company began producing heavier dummies with a higher body mass index to more accurately replicate crash results involving heavier humans.
In February 2015, STH acquired FronTone GmbH, an Austrian manufacturer of safety-test equipment.
In February 2017, STH acquired Fibercore Limited, a British manufacturer of specialty optical fibers. Also in February, STH signed an exclusive agreement with AICON 3D Systems to provide vehicle safety testing systems.
In February 2018, London-based investment firm Bridgepoint acquired STH from Golden Gate Capital. In March, STH acquired DSD Testing GmbH, an Austrian manufacturer of safety-test equipment. In May, Humanetics began 3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...
dummies. In October, STH's HITEC Sensors division acquired United Kingdom-based Aero Sense Technologies, a manufacturer of custom sensors for aerospace and industrial customers.
In January 2019, Humanetics and several automakers and suppliers including BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Zoox, Faurecia and Autoliv
Autoliv Inc. is a Swedish-American
automotive safety supplier with sales to all leading car manufacturers worldwide. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has over 68,000 employees in 27 countries, of whom 5700 are involved in research, dev ...
formed the Advanced Driving Systems Consortium, to develop seating standards that the NHTSA can use for autonomous vehicles. In February, Safety Technology Holdings purchased laser processing equipment company OpTek Systems.
In July 2020, STH renamed itself as Humanetics Group.
In March 2021, Humanetics Group acquired design firm Human Solutions GmbH and body scanning firm Avalution GmbH, both based in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
In May 2022, Humanetics organizes its existing structure into three core groups, Humanetics Safety, Humanetics Digital, and Humanetics Sensors.
In June 2022, Humanetics announces that mg-sensor GmbH, specialists in the design and development of high-quality sensors, data acquisition and calibration services, is officially joining Humanetics Group.
In July 2022, Humanetics announces the acquisition of ATD-LabTech GmbH, an independent supplier of testing systems, as well as a service and consulting provider.
Passive Safety Products
Humanetics makes a variety of crash test dummies, ranging from newborn infants and adults to the obese and the elderly. The company works with agencies and industry groups such as NHTSA, Euro NCAP, and the University of Michigan's International Center for Automotive Medicine (ICAM) to design crash test dummies that reflect changing worldwide demographics. The dummy product line-up includes a range of frontal, side and rear impact and child crash test dummies.
The company's most biologically accurate model is THOR (Test device for Human Occupant Restraint). Humanetics developed THOR with funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The dummy has 57 sensors that analyze 140 factors such as chest compression, sternum acceleration, and skull shifting. Humanetics produces a THOR-50M representing a 50th percentile adult male, a THOR-5F representing a 5th percentile female, and a THOR-AV 50M and THOR-AV 5F for autonomous vehicle safety testing.
The company also produces the Hybrid III, the established standard for a front-end crash test.
Humanetics 3D prints some of its dummies, a cheaper and faster process versus traditional steel-based dummies, with more durable parts. The company uses a micro carbon fiber filled nylon filament from 3D printing company Markforged called Onyx.
Humanetics produces a complete portfolio of test fixtures for a crash test laboratory to certify the entire family of existing crash test dummies. This includes tools that enable full body testing as well as all necessary component-level testing of the test dummy body.
The company holds numerous patents for the assembly of ATDs, along with systems to measure their performance in simulated crashes.
Active Safety Products
The company also develops active safety equipment and facilities targeted for advanced driver-assistance systems
An advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) is any of a groups of electronic technologies that assist drivers in driving and parking functions. Through a safe human-machine interface, ADAS increase car and road safety. ADAS uses automated technol ...
(ADAS) and autonomous cars. This includes UFO Nano, an Ultra Flat Overrunnable (UFO) robot platform used to mimic pedestrian behavior, and steering and pedal driving robots.
ADAS testing is centered around evaluating how automated technology in vehicles can help assist motorists with driving and parking functions improving the safety for motorists, pedestrians, and cysclists who use the roadways.
To further ADAS testing, companies such as Humanetics and Foretellix, a provider of Verification & Validation (V&V) platforms for Automated Driving Systems, have joint offerings combining physical and virtual testing of Automated Driving Assisted Systems (ADAS) and Automated Driving Systems (ADS).
The European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) is among the first vehicle safety rating bodies to address active safety crash avoidance technology such as Lane Support systems (LSS), Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and Autonomous Emergency Steering (AES) systems on new cars.
Digital Products
Humanetics has a large suite of highly detailed and validated finite element crash dummy models for crash simulations to compliment physical product testing.Virtual crash testing is becoming more of an interest to new car assessment safety programs such as Euro NCAP who are starting to outline steps to utilize it in more complementary ways with laboratory testing.
Humanetics' Avalution GmbH business unit specializes in 3D body scanning, and owns the largest international database of human body dimensions and shapes.
Humanetics' Human Solutions GmbH business unit develops Ramsis software, considered the industry standard for ergonomic design.[ Using the Avalution database, Ramsis allows users to create virtual vehicle interiors and custom 3D avatars to simulate vehicle occupants, for safety and ergonomic testing and development.][
The Humanetics Software Center of Excellence also offers other digital products including ATD calibration & laboratory management software for the validation and certification of test dummies and load cell instrumentation.]
Sensor Products
The Sensors unit produces custom industrial load cells, torque sensors and strain gauge-based sensors and specialty optical fiber solutions for medical, aerospace and many other industries.
Humanetics Sensors providers laser processing solutions, combining its core expertise in lasers, optics and laser materials interactions with a high degree of automation while also a leading contract supplier of complex optical fiber assemblies and laser processing services including micro-machining and optical fiber stripping, lensing, fusing and cleaving.
The fiber optic unit combines the capabilities of specialized fiber optics, custom sensors and fiber processing, micromanufacturing and precision engineering to offer customers a unique ability to develop custom fiber sensors for critical environments, at micron precision.
Humanetics also produces a range of instrumentation including safety and ATD load cells, accelerometers, potentiometers and IR-TRACCs (Infra-Red Telescoping Rod for the Assessment of Chest Compression).
Humanetics unit companies
Humanetics includes multiple business units:
Safety
* Humanetics
Humanetics is a Digital Industrial Technology company, and a leading provider of safety systems, anthropomorphic test devices, crash test equipment, simulation software, CAE models, precision sensors, fiber optics and cutting-edge laser material ...
, the result of the merger of crash test dummy makers FTSS & Denton ATD Inc.
mg-sensor GmbH
specialists in the design and development of high-quality sensors, data acquisition and calibration services
ATD-LabTech GmbH
an independent supplier of testing systems, as well as a service and consulting provider
Digital
*Avalution GmbH, a 3D human body scanning firm[
*Human Solutions GmbH, a design firm that provides CAD models of humans for prototype testing][
Sensors]
Fibercore
a British manufacturer of specialty optical fibers
HITEC Sensor
, a manufacturer of specialized strain gage applications
OpTek Systems
a manufacturer of laser processing equipment
Operations
Since 2018, Humanetics and its subsidiaries have been owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital. Humanetics has multiple plants in the United States: one at its headquarters in Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Troy, with a population of 83,986 at the 20 ...
, where it focuses on test dummy instrumentation production, design, and active safety products, another in Huron, Ohio
Huron is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States. The population was 7,149 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Sandusky, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Huron Township surrounds the City of Huron.
History and culture
Huron Townshi ...
, focusing on crash test dummy manufacturing, assembly, and lab certification, and additional sensor production facilities in Chelmsford, MA and Bangalore, India.
The company's fiber optic manufacturing facility is located in Southampton, UK
Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
and its laser and micro-machining production operations are based out of Oxford, UK
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...
,
Humanetics also has sales and technical facilities worldwide including The Netherlands; Heidelberg, Germany
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
; Linz, Austria
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
; Shanghai, China; and Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan.
In total, Humanetics has over 850 employees across 24 facilities strategically located around the world
Humanetics' President and Chief Executive Officer is Christopher O’Connor. Chris received his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and Master of Science in mechanical and manufacturing engineering from Syracuse University. He is a graduate of the GE Advance Course, GE Crotonville Course, U.S. Army Command, and General Staff College, and has completed executive management courses at Harvard and the University of Michigan.
Trends in Occupant Safety
A study released in 2019 by researchers at the University of Virginia’s Center for Applied Biomechanics shows that women wearing seat belts are significantly more likely to suffer injury than their male counterparts.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, today's average female is 5.4 inches shorter and 27 pounds lighter than the average male. As a result, females may sit closer to the steering wheel or wear their seatbelts differently from males, increasing the risks to female drivers.
Many industry and social activists have noted that there is a deficit in female crash test dummy representation in safety testing, claiming the current standard frontal female test dummy is just a slightly modified male based on the 50th male Hybrid dummy introduced in the 1970's.
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) in
March 2023 report
to congressional committees on vehicle safety echoed industry concerns and recommended that NHTSA develop a plan to address limitations in the information provided by current crash test dummies and the greater risks certain demographic groups face in vehicle crashes.
One solution to the female crash test equity debate is to incorporate the newest female dummy
NHTSA's THOR-5F
which accurately represents the female body with improvements to the weight and shape of the dummy’s abdomen, arms, legs, sternum, pelvic bone, spine, neck, head and shoulders, and includes more advanced technology to simulate injuries and collect data on how female dummies move during test crashes.
References
External links
* {{Official site, https://humanetics.humaneticsgroup.com/
Automotive safety
Transport safety
Organizations based in Michigan