17,595 research outputs found
Digital manufacturing in fiat group automobiles: virtual simulations for preliminary ergonomics optimization of workcells in the design phase of a new car model
New standards on work organization in the automotive industry, require a new concept of design methods: the human centred process. In Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) the âDigital Manufacturingâ (DM) project has started with the goal to create simulation tools and methods to improve the design of new carsâmanufacturing processes giving a special attention to manual operations. The DM approach is based on a detailed âvirtual plantâ where virtual mannequins interact with digital models of carâs components, equipment, containers, etc. in order to simulate and improve working conditions with many benefits on ergonomics, safety, final product quality, work organization and general production costs. The key factor for this approach is that with DM methodologies, designers and engineers have, already in the design phase of a new carâs manufacturing process, a preliminary estimation of the numerical indices used in the plants to check if workcells are compliant to international standards and regional safety laws. In this way the most important ergonomic indices (like Niosh, Snook & Ciriello, EAWS, etc.) become a âdesign toolâ that allow to change/improve project solutions (designing easy and comfortable work tasks, equipment, tools, etc.) and to distribute the work load in an optimal way between workers
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An evaluation methodology for ergonomic design of electronic consumer products based on fuzzy axiomatic design
This article is posted with permission of OCP Science imprint. Copyright @ 2008 Old City Publishing Group.The development life cycle of software and electronic products has been shortened by the growth of rapid prototyping techniques. The evaluation of electronic consumer products should consider hardware and software as well as the ergonomic usability, emotional appeal and aesthetic integrity of the design. This research follows a systematic approach to develop an evaluation methodology for electronic mobile products on ergonomic design. The proposed methodology is based on fuzzy multi attribute decision making and fuzzy axiomatic design realized in three steps; determination of ergonomic attributes for electronic consumer products, determination of a representative set of alternatives, and selection of the best alternative in terms of ergonomic design by utilizing fuzzy axiomatic design. A case study is also provided to support the proposed methodology
Applications and benefits of digital human models to improve the design of workcells in carâs manufacturing plants according to international standards
During last years, the carâs manufacturing process has deeply changed because of several factors affected the automotive global scenario. As a consequence, design methodologies of the plantâs workcells have changed. In particular, ergonomics for manufacturing system has become a key factor to improve productâs quality, safety and work organization. In this paper, the authors show the approach used in Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) based on simulation tools to analyse ergonomic aspects of work-cells already in design phase. Simulation tools allow a deep postural analysis that is one of the main criticism in the design phase. The principles of Digital Human Modeling have been used to develop an easy internal virtual manikin, the Human Model. The tool, based on ISO standards and on a worldwide anthropometric database, allows designers to simulate the most probable postures engaged by operator during work tasks as well as to validate improvements and corrective actions
Framework for Dynamic Evaluation of Muscle Fatigue in Manual Handling Work
Muscle fatigue is defined as the point at which the muscle is no longer able
to sustain the required force or work output level. The overexertion of muscle
force and muscle fatigue can induce acute pain and chronic pain in human body.
When muscle fatigue is accumulated, the functional disability can be resulted
as musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). There are several posture exposure analysis
methods useful for rating the MSD risks, but they are mainly based on static
postures. Even in some fatigue evaluation methods, muscle fatigue evaluation is
only available for static postures, but not suitable for dynamic working
process. Meanwhile, some existing muscle fatigue models based on physiological
models cannot be easily used in industrial ergonomic evaluations. The external
dynamic load is definitely the most important factor resulting muscle fatigue,
thus we propose a new fatigue model under a framework for evaluating fatigue in
dynamic working processes. Under this framework, virtual reality system is
taken to generate virtual working environment, which can be interacted with the
work with haptic interfaces and optical motion capture system. The motion
information and load information are collected and further processed to
evaluate the overall work load of the worker based on dynamic muscle fatigue
models and other work evaluation criterions and to give new information to
characterize the penibility of the task in design process.Comment: International Conference On Industrial Technology, Chengdu : Chine
(2008
Ergonomic Chair Design by Fusing Qualitative and Quantitative Criteria using Interactive Genetic Algorithms
This paper emphasizes the necessity of formally bringing qualitative and
quantitative criteria of ergonomic design together, and provides a novel
complementary design framework with this aim. Within this framework, different
design criteria are viewed as optimization objectives; and design solutions are
iteratively improved through the cooperative efforts of computer and user. The
framework is rooted in multi-objective optimization, genetic algorithms and
interactive user evaluation. Three different algorithms based on the framework
are developed, and tested with an ergonomic chair design problem. The parallel
and multi-objective approaches show promising results in fitness convergence,
design diversity and user satisfaction metrics
Combining economic and social goals in the design of production systems by using ergonomics standards
In designing of production systems, economic and social goals can be combined, if ergonomics is integrated into the design process. More than 50 years of ergonomics research and practice have resulted in a large number of ergonomics standards for designing physical and organizational work environments. This paper gives an overview of the 174 international ISO and European CEN standards in this field, and discusses their applicability in design processes. The available standards include general recommendations for integrating ergonomics into the design process, as well as specific requirements for manual handling, mental load, task design, human-computer-interaction, noise, heat, body measurements, and other topics. The standards can be used in different phases of the design process: allocation of system functions between humans and machines, design of the work organization, work tasks and jobs, design of work environment, design of work equipment, hardware and software, and design of workspace and workstation. The paper is meant to inform engineers and managers involved in the design of production systems about the existence of a large number of ISO and CEN standards on ergonomics, which can be used to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.review;standard;standardization;ergonomics;CEN;ISO;human factors;production engineering;production planning
Working Posture Evaluation of Clinical Student in Faculty of Dentistry University of Indonesia for the Scaling Task in Sitting Position in a Virtual Environment
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are global issues in the dental profession. This research evaluated the MSDs risk caused by the sitting working posture of clinical students performing the task of scaling. The evaluation using the virtual environment approach shows risk of MSDs in the students’ upper extremities such as neck, shoulder, and trunk. Further simulation based on the ideal sitting working posture shows that ergonomic scaling could be achieved when the patient sits at a 15° angle. When scaling the 1st and 4th quadrant of the teeth, the 9 o’clock position is used. Hence, the 11 o’clock position is used when scaling the 2nd and 3rd quadrant
Human centred manufacturing: methodology for ergonomic previsional evaluation of manual assembly operations
The challenge of flexibility and productivity for manufacturing operations needs a new concept based on âhuman-centered manufacturing processâ. This concept must consider basically the ergonomics of workplaces and workload balancing. The application of this concept is achievable through the detailed knowledge of the interaction between human and workplace, in particular as far as the mechanical load (or work load) arising from product design and from manufacturing process definition (included tools and equipment). The measurement of workload then is a fundamental for new (and existing) workplaces. In this paper is described the methodology that considers the procedure and instruments for measuring ergonomic parameters and the use of EAWS method to assess the ergonomic risk level of the workplace summarized by a score. EAWS considers postural aspects and dynamics of work activity. Design or modification of the workplace can be defined on base of the results obtained by the methodology application
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