Integrating digital human modeling into virtual environment for ergonomic oriented design

International audienceVirtual human simulation integrated into virtual reality applications is mainly used for virtual representation of the user in virtual environment or for interactions between the user and the virtual avatar for cognitive tasks. In this paper, in order to prevent musculoskeletal disorders, the integration of virtual human simulation and VR application is presented to facilitate physical ergonomic evaluation, especially for physical fatigue evaluation of a given population. Immersive working environments are created to avoid expensive physical mock-up in conventional evaluation methods. Peripheral motion capture systems are used to capture natural movements and then to simulate the physical operations in virtual human simulation. Physical aspects of human's movement are then analyzed to determine the effort level of each key joint using inverse kinematics. The physical fatigue level of each joint is further analyzed by integrating a fatigue and recovery model on the basis of physical task parameters. All the process has been realized based on VRHIT platform and a case study is presented to demonstrate the function of the physical fatigue for a given population and its usefulness for worker selection

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

Assessment of VR Technology and its Applications to Engineering Problems

Virtual reality applications are making valuable contributions to the field of product realization. This paper presents an assessment of the hardware and software capabilities of VR technology needed to support a meaningful integration of VR applications in the product life cycle analysis. Several examples of VR applications for the various stages of the product life cycle engineering are presented as case studies. These case studies describe research results, fielded systems, technical issues, and implementation issues in the areas of virtual design, virtual manufacturing, virtual assembly, engineering analysis, visualization of analysis results, and collaborative virtual environments. Current issues and problems related to the creation, use, and implementation of virtual environments for engineering design, analysis, and manufacturing are also discussed

IISE Trans Occup Ergon Hum Factors

Digital human modeling (DHM) and simulation software has been identified as an effective tool for evaluating work tasks and design alternatives without requiring the expense of physical mock-ups and production trials. Despite recent commercial advancements and a broader availability of DHM platforms, the peer-reviewed scientific literature lacks sufficient demonstration of the application of DHM software within an occupational safety and health process for mitigating exposures to physical risk factors in a real work environment. We describe the implementation of a commercially-available DHM platform as a component of an occupational safety and health process in a manufacturing environment over the course of one year. Success stories, challenges, and practical recommendations are discussed.T42 OH008436/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United StatesT42OH008436/ACL HHS/United StatesU19 OH008868/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United StatesU19OH008868/ACL HHS/United States2019-10-16T00:00:00Z30984907PMC64559526766vault:3192

Automated Analysis of Human Factors Requirements

Computational ergonomic analyses are often laboriously tested one task at a time. As digital human models improve, we can partially automate the entire analysis process of checking human factors requirements or regulations against a given design. We are extending our Parameterized Action Representation (PAR) to store requirements and its execution system to drive human models through required tasks. Databases of actions, objects, regulations, and digital humans are instantiated into PARs and executed by analyzers that simulate the actions on digital humans and monitor the actions to report successes and failures. These extensions will allow quantitative but localized design assessment relative to specific human factors requirements

Visualization in Human-Centered Virtual Factories

In a manufacturing system (MS), a wide range of human activities are applied in production processes. The human factor plays a core role and should be incorporated into the design, planning and decision making processes. In this work we describe different definitions, developments and existing concepts of a Virtual Factory (VF) and discuss VFs from the human oriented point of view. Furthermore, we analyze the potential need and use of visualization methods in VF study and propose a human-centered VF concept. Following this concept we introduce an example implementation and describe how our model facilitates the decision making and design process in MS. In addition, we show an example of a noise analysis of working environment, which is based on our virtual factory model

Using virtual reality and 3D industrial numerical models for immersive interactive checklists

At the different stages of the PLM, companies develop numerous checklist-based procedures involving prototype inspection and testing. Besides, techniques from CAD, 3D imaging, animation and virtual reality now form a mature set of tools for industrial applications. The work presented in this article develops a unique framework for immersive checklist-based project reviews that applies to all steps of the PLM. It combines immersive navigation in the checklist, virtual experiments when needed and multimedia update of the checklist. It provides a generic tool, independent of the considered checklist, relies on the integration of various VR tools and concepts, in a modular way, and uses an original gesture recognition. Feasibility experiments are presented, validating the benefits of the approach