Lars Hanson

Swedish anthropometrics for product and workplace design

The present study describes the anthropometrics of the Swedish workforce, aged 18-65, and compares the measurements with data collected four decades earlier. This anthropometric information is based on measurements of a total of 367 subjects, 105 males and 262 females. Of the 367 subjects, 268 responded to advertisements (Study A) and 99 were randomly selected from a community register (Study B). Subjects were scanned in four positions. Manual measuring equipment was used for hands, feet, head and stature. As differences between significant measurements in Studies A and B were negligible, the data were merged. Anthropometric descriptive statistics of women and men are presented for 43 body dimensions. Participants represent the Swedish population fairly well when compared with national statistics of stature and weight. Comparing new anthropometric data with old shows that the breadth, depth, height, and length measurements of Swedes as well as weight have increased and that Swedish anthropometric homogeneity has decreased. The results indicate that there is a need to update ergonomic recommendations and adjust products and workplaces to the new information.

Effect of drivers' age and push button locations on visual time off road, steering wheel deviation and safety perception

The study examined the effects of manual control locations on two groups of randomly selected young and old drivers in relation to visual time off road, steering wheel deviation and safety perception. Measures of visual time off road, steering wheel deviations and safety perception were performed with young and old drivers during real traffic. The results showed an effect of both drivers age and button location on the dependent variables. Older drivers spent longer visual time off road when pushing the buttons and had larger steering wheel deviations. Moreover, the greater the eccentricity between the normal line of sight and the button locations, the longer the visual time off road and the larger the steering wheel deviations. No interaction effect between button location and age was found with regard to visual time off road. Button location had an effect on perceived safety: the further away from the normal line of sight the lower the rating.

A control handling comfort model based on fuzzy logics

Abstract The car interior is a complex man–machine interface. Poor interior design contributes to traffic accidents as well as discomfort and disorders in professional and long distance drivers. When buying a car comfort is for many customers an important factor. Consequently, car interior comfort besides safety is of great importance when designing cars. Comfort is a subjective feeling and hard to model mathematically. The aim of this paper is to show the feasibility with fuzzy logics to model relations between human perception, human characteristics and workplace structure. A model where drivers’ perceived comfort when handling interior controls is in relation to anthropometrics and control positions are used as illustration. A series of control reach studies in simulated car driving was used for the development of a comfort model. Combined with a human simulation program the comfort model may be used by car designers at an early stage of the design process for evaluation of design concepts aiming at reachable and manageable controls in a safe and comfortable interior. The comfort model illustrates that fuzzy logics provides a constructive way of turning qualities into mathematics. Relevance to industry Fuzzy logics provide the opportunity to model physical parameters from the human and the technical system together with human perceptions. Such model can be combined for instance with human simulation tool and reduce ergonomic tests in real physical environments.

Industrial customisation of digital human modelling tools

Computer aided visualisation and simulation enables earlyevaluation of important design parameters of future products and productionsystems. Typically, humans affect the system performance, and in order toachieve the expected system efficiency ergonomics needs to be considered inthe design process in addition to the more technical or logistical matters.Hence, there is a call for ergonomics to be a natural part of the product andproduction development process, also at virtual stages. Three examples of thedevelopment of Digital Human Modelling-(DHM)-based company-specific

ANNIE, a tool for integrating ergonomics in the design of car interiors

In this ANNIE project – Applications of Neural Networks to Integrated Ergonomics – BE96-3433, a tool for integrating ergonomics into the design process is developed. This paper presents some features in the current ANNIE as applied to the design of car interiors. A variant of the ERGOMan mannequin with vision is controlled by a hybrid system for neuro-fuzzy simulation. It is trained by using an Elite system for registration of movements. An example of a trajectory generated by the system is shown. A fuzzy model is used for comfort evaluation. An experiment was performed to test its feasibility and it showed very promising results.

Uniformity in manikin posturing: A comparison between posture prediction and manual joint manipulation

This paper presents the results of a comparison of manikin posturing within and between simulation engineers. Five simulation engineers were asked to simulate four manual assembly cases. They repeated each task six times, three times with a posture prediction tool and three times with manual adjustment of the body angles. The results show that the posture-prediction-tool was not used in an optimal manner. Although the prediction-tool was quick at suggesting a likely posture, the simulation engineers were reluctant to consider a simulation task completed until the manikins posture was realistic in all aspects. The comparison indicates that if a posture-prediction-tool is to be beneficial, results with postures containing some non-cosmetic elements must be accepted. It is not until such an acceptance is achieved that the successful use of a posture-prediction-tool will become a reality.

Description of boundary case methodology for anthropometric diversity consideration

This paper describes and evaluates the boundary case methodology for the simultaneous consideration of variance for a number of selected anthropometric variables. The methodology includes the calculation of key dimension values for extreme but likely anthropometric measurement combinations. This data can be applied when utilising digital human modelling (DHM) tools for proactive design work and entered as input data when representative manikins are defined. The mathematical procedure is clearly described and exemplified to demonstrate how to use the methodology in design work. The outcome of the method is illustrated and compared using several different cases where the number of measurements is varied and where principal component analysis (PCA) is used to reduce the number of dimensions in one case. The paper demonstrates that the proposed boundary case method is advantageous compared to approaches based on the use of univariate percentile data in design.

Digital Human Modeling Simulation Results and Their Outcomes in Reality: A Comparative Study within Manual Assembly of Automobiles

The objective of this study was to examine to what extent ergonomics simulations of manual assembly asks correctly predict the real outcomes in the plants and if recommended measures originating from ergonomics simulations are taken into consideration. 155 ergonomics simulation cases were used in the study and all cases were performed by nine simulation engineers at Volvo Car Corporation in Gothenburg. The evaluations of the ergonomics conditions of the simulated tasks were done by six professional ergonomists working at Volvo Car Corporation in Gothenburg. The results show that digital human modelling tools (DHM-tools) are useful for the purpose of providing designs for standing and unconstrained working postures. Furthermore, the design of various auxiliary devices and their needed space for movements is a prevalent use of DHM-tools. However, the study also identifies areas that require additional development in order to further improve the digital human modelling tools’ possibility to correctly predict a work task’s real outcome, i.e. hand access, push pressure and pull forces, leaning and balance behaviour and field of vision. Moreover, a better feedback of product and process changes and a more careful order description of simulation cases to the simulation engineers would lead to improved simulation results in current and future projects.

Creating and shaping the DHM tool IMMA for ergonomic product and production design

The history, status and outlook of the research and development actions associated with the creation of the digital human modelling tool intelligently moving manikins (IMMA) are described. The underlying fundamental concepts are described and research and development results so far are illustrated or referred to. Two case studies illustrating use of IMMA on industry-based problems are described. The paper also covers reflections on conceptions for prospective DHM tool developments from a general perspective, relating to areas of ergonomics and design methodology, as well as describing some of the plans for further developments and applications of the IMMA tool. These may be of assistance when identifying challenges for future research and development of DHM tools that are used in product and production design processes in industry.

Human Industrial Robot Collaboration – development and application of simulation software

Human industrial robot collaboration (HIRC) aims to combine the benefits of industrial robots with humans in production environments. This is a growing research field where most work focuses on the ...