Abstract: An electronic system for adjusting a load bearing surface such as a chair or bed to provide a desired level of comfort includes an array of pressure sensors located within the load bearing surface. The pressure sensors generate data indicating the actual distribution of pressure exerted by a user on the load bearing surface. An electronic processor processes the data generated by the array of pressure senors. The processor compares the fraction of total load exerted on each of a plurality of regions of the load bearing surface with a desired range for each region. If the fraction of total load for any region is not within the desired range, a servo-mechanism is activated to change the shape of the load bearing surface so that the fraction of total load on each region is within the desired range, so as to provide a desired level of comfort to the user.

Abstract: An electronic system for adjusting a load bearing surface such as a chair or bed to provide a desired level of comfort comprises an array of pressure sensors located within the load bearing surface. The pressure sensors generate data indicating the actual distribution of pressure exerted by a user on the load bearing surface. An electronic processor processes the data generated by the array of pressure sensors. The processor compares the fraction of total load exerted on each of a plurality of regions of the load bearing surface with a desired range for each region. If the fraction of total load for any region is not within the desired range, a servo-mechanism is activated to change the shape of the load bearing surface so that the fraction of total load on each region is within the desired range, so as to provide a desired level of comfort to the user.