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Efficient methods for simulating operators performing part handling tasks in manufacturing plants are needed. The simulation of part handling motions is an important step towards the implementation of virtual manufacturing for the purpose of improving worker productivity and reducing injuries in the workplace. However, industrial assembly tasks are often complex and involve multiple interactions between workers and their environment. The purpose of this paper is to present a series of industrial simulations using the Human Motion Simulation Framework developed at the University of Michigan. Three automotive assembly operations spanning scenarios, such as small and large parts, tool use, walking, re-grasping, reaching inside a vehicle, etc. were selected.

Contact between the knees and knee bolster commonly occurs in frontal collisions. The contact region on the bolster and the knee anatomy involved are related to the pre-crash positioning of the knees. The location of the distal (or infra-) patella was recorded on volunteers of widely varying stature after they had selected a comfortable driving position in mockups of three vehicles representing a large variation in size and shape: sedan, crossover SUV, and full-size pickup. On average, the right knees were grouped more tightly and were located more forward and lower than the left knees. On average, the knees were positioned 200 mm from the knee bolster for all subjects. The range of distance separating the distal patellae (within subject knee-to-knee distance) varied from 184–559 mm for all subjects for the three vehicles.

Development and validation of crash test dummies and computational models that are capable of predicting the risk of injury to all parts of the knee-thigh-hip (KTH) complex in frontal impact requires knowledge of the force transmitted from the knee to the hip under knee impact loading. To provide this information, the knee impact responses of whole and segmented cadavers were measured over a wide range of knee loading conditions. These data were used to develop and help validate a computational model, which was used to estimate force transmitted to the cadaver hip. Approximately 250 tests were conducted using five unembalmed midsize male cadavers. In these tests, the knees were symmetrically impacted with a 255-kg padded impactor using three combinations of knee-impactor padding and velocity that spanned the range of knee loading conditions produced in FMVSS 208 and NCAP tests. Each subject was tested in four conditions.

The ease of getting into and out of passenger cars and light trucks is a critical component of customer acceptance and product differentiation. In commercial vehicles, the health and safety of drivers is affected by the design of the steps and handholds they use to get into and out of the cab. Ingress/egress assessment appears to represent a substantial application opportunity for digital human models. The complexity of the design space and the range of possible biomechanical and subjective measures of interest mean that developing useful empirical models is difficult, requiring large-scale subject testing with physical mockups. Yet, ingress and egress motions are complex and strongly affected by the geometric constraints and driver attributes, posing substantial challenges in creating meaningful simulations using figure models.

Posture and external loads such as hand forces have a dominant effect on ergonomic analysis outcomes. Yet, current digital human modeling tools used for proactive ergonomics analysis lack validated models for predicting postures for standing hand-force exertions. To address this need, the effects of hand magnitude and direction on whole-body posture for standing static hand-force exertion tasks were quantified in a motion-capture study of 19 men and women with widely varying body size. The objective of this work was to identify postural behaviors that might be incorporated into a posture-prediction algorithm for standing hand-force tasks. Analysis of one-handed exertions indicates that, when possible, people tend to align their bodies with the direction of force application, converting potential cross-body exertions into sagittal plane exertions. With respect to the hand-force plane, pelvis position is consistent with a postural objective of reducing rotational trunk torques.

Most current applications of digital human figure models for ergonomic assessments of manual tasks focus on the analysis of a static posture. Tools available for static analysis include joint-specific strength, calculation of joint moments, balance maintenance capability, and low-back compression or shear force estimates. Yet, for many tasks, the inertial loads due to acceleration of body segments or external objects may contribute significantly to internal body forces and tissue stresses. Due to the complexity of incorporating the dynamics of motion into analysis, most commercial software packages used for ergonomic assessment do not have the capacity to include dynamic effects. Thus, commercial human modeling packages rarely provide an opportunity for the user to determine if a static analysis is sufficient.

Standing reach envelopes are important tools for the design of industrial and vehicle environments. Previous work in this area has focussed on manikin-based (where a few manikins are used to simulate individuals reaching within the region of interest) and population-based (where data are gathered on many individuals reaching in a constrained environment) approaches. Each of these methods has merits and shortfalls. The current work bridges the manikin- and population-based approaches to assessing reach by creating population models using kinematic simulation techniques driven by anthropometric data. The approach takes into account body dimensions, balance, and postural cost to create continuous models that can be used to assess designs with respect to both maximal and submaximal reaches. Cost is quantified as the degree to which the torso is involved in the reach, since the inclination of the torso is a good measure of lower-back load and may be related to subjective reach difficulty.

Industrial tasks performed by standing workers are among those most commonly simulated using digital human models. Workers often walk, turn, and take acyclic steps as they perform these tasks. Current h uman modeling tools lack the capability to simulate these whole body motions accurately. Most models simulate walking by replaying joint angle trajectories corresponding to a general gait pattern. Turning is simulated poorly if at all, and violations of kinematic constraints between the feet and ground are common. Moreover, current models do not accurately predict foot placement with respect to loads and other hand targets, diminishing the utility of the associated ergonomic analyses. A new approach to simulating stepping and walking in task-oriented activities is proposed. Foot placements and motions are predicted from operator and task characteristics using empirical models derived from laboratory data and validated using field data from an auto assembly plant.

Accurate representation of working postures is critical for ergonomic assessments with digital human models because posture has a dominant effect on analysis outcomes. Most current digital human modeling tools require manual manipulation of the digital human to simulate force-exertion postures or rely on optimization procedures that have not been validated. Automated posture prediction based on human data would improve the accuracy and repeatability of analyses. The effects of hand force location, magnitude, and direction on whole-body posture for standing tasks were quantified in a motion-capture study of 20 men and women with widely varying body size. A statistical analysis demonstrated that postural variables critical for the assessment of body loads can be predicted from the characteristics of the worker and task.

Digital human modeling has traditionally focused on the physical aspects of humans and the environments in which they operate. As the field moves towards modeling dynamic and more complex tasks, cognitive and perceptual aspects of the human's performance need to be considered. Cognitive modeling of complex tasks such as driving has commonly avoided the complexity of physical simulation of the human, distilling motor performance to motion execution times. To create a more powerful and flexible approach to the modeling of human/machine interaction, we have integrated a physical architecture of human motion (the Human Motion Simulation Ergonomics Framework—HUMOSIM) with a computational cognitive architecture (the Queueing network model human processor—QN–MHP). The new system combines the features of the two separate architectures and provides new capabilities that emerge from their integration.

The outcomes of crash tests can be influenced by the initial posture and position of the anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) used to represent human occupants. In previous work, positioning procedures for ATDs representing adult drivers and rear-seat passengers have been developed through analysis of posture data from human volunteers. The present study applied the same methodology to the development of positioning procedures for ATDs representing six-year-old and ten-year-old children sitting on vehicle seats and belt-positioning boosters. Data from a recent study of 62 children with body mass from 18 to 45 kg were analyzed to quantify hip and head locations and pelvis and head angles for both sitter-selected and standardized postures. In the present study, the 6YO and 10YO Hybrid-III ATDs were installed using FMVSS 213 procedures in six test conditions used previously with children.

A person's ability to perform a task is often limited by their ability to maintain balance. This is particularly true in lateral work performed in seated environments. For a truck driver operating the shift lever of a manual transmission, excessive shift forces can necessitate pulling on the steering wheel with the other hand to maintain balance, creating a potentially unsafe condition. An analysis of posture and balance in truck shifter operation was conducted using balance limits to define the acceptable range of shifter locations. The results are dependent on initial driver position, reach postures, and shoulder strength. The effects of shifter force direction and magnitude were explored to demonstrate the application of the analysis method. This methodology can readily be applied to other problems involving hand-force exertions in seated environments.

The potential of digital human modeling to improve the design of products and workspaces has been limited by the time-consuming manual manipulation of figures that is required to perform simulations. Moreover, the inaccuracies in posture and motion that result from manual procedures compromise the fidelity of the resulting analyses. This paper presents a new approach to the control of human figure models and the analysis of simulated tasks. The new methods are embodied in an algorithmic framework developed in the Human Motion Simulation (HUMOSIM) laboratory at the University of Michigan. The framework consists of an interconnected, hierarchical set of posture and motion modules that control aspects of human behavior, such as gaze or upper-extremity motion. Analysis modules, addressing issues such as shoulder stress and balance, are integrated into the framework.

Cyclical stepping (gait) has been studied extensively. Some of these results are reflected in the straight and curved path step-following algorithms in commercial digital human modeling (DHM) implementations. With the aid of these algorithms, DHM users define start, intermediate, and end path points and the software generates a walking-like motion along the path. Most of these algorithms have substantial limitations, among them that the figures exhibit “foot skate,” meaning that the kinematic constraint of foot contact with the ground is not respected. Turning is accomplished by pivoting the entire figure, rather than through realistic lower-extremity motions. The simulation of the non-cyclical stepping motions accompanying manual material handling pickup and delivery tasks requires manual manikin manipulation. This paper proposes a paradigm for the simulation of stepping behavior in digital human models based on a model of foot placements and motions.

A major limitation of ergonomic analyses with current digital human models (DHM) is the speed and accuracy with which they can simulate worker postures and motions. Ergonomic analysis capabilities of DHM would be significantly improved with the addition of a fast, deterministic, accurate movement simulation model for the upper extremities. This paper describes the development of an important component of such a model. Motion data from twelve men and women performing one-handed, push-button reaches in a heavy truck seat were analyzed to determine patterns of motion of the clavicle relative to the thorax. Target direction and reach distance were good predictors clavicle segment motion, particularly for fore-aft clavlcle motion.

Occupant packaging practice relies on statistical models codified in SAE practices, such as the SAE J941 eyellipse, and virtual human figure models representing individual occupants. The current packaging approach provides good solutions when the problem is relatively unconstrained, but achieving good results when many constraints are active, such as restricted headroom and sightlines, requires a more rigorous approach. Modeling driver needs using continuous models that retain the residual variance associated with performance and preference allows use of optimization methodologies developed for robust design. Together, these models and methods facilitate the consideration of multiple factors simultaneously and tradeoff studies can be performed. A case study involving the layout of the interior of a passenger car is presented, focusing on simultaneous placement of the seat and steering wheel adjustment ranges.

Children who are too large for harness restraints but too small to obtain good restraint from a vehicle seatbelt alone should be seated in a belt-positioning booster. Boosters have been shown to significantly reduce abdominal injuries caused by seatbelts. This effectiveness may be due in part to the fact that boosters reduce the effective seat cushion length, allowing children to sit more comfortably without slouching. NHTSA recommends that children who do not use harness restraints use boosters until they are at least 145 cm tall. In this paper, data from several sources were combined to assess how well children fit on rear seat cushions. Data from NASS-GES were analyzed to determine the age distribution of rear-seat occupants. Anthropometric data from several sources were analyzed to determine the distribution of buttock-popliteal length, a measure of thigh length that is a key determinant of seat fit, as a function of age and gender.

The initial positioning of anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) can influence the outcomes of crash tests. Current procedures for positioning ATDs in rear seats are not based on systematic studies of passenger postures. This paper compares the postures of three side-impact ATDs to the postures of 24 men and women in three vehicle rear seats and 16 laboratory conditions. When positioned using current procedures, the locations of the ES-2 and SID-HIII ATD heads are generally rearward of those observed with similar-size passengers. The SID-IIs head locations matched the expected locations of heads of passengers of similar size more closely. As the seat back angle was increased, people reclined less than the ATDs. Based on these findings, a new ATD positioning procedure for rear seats was developed. The primary objective of the new procedure is to place the ATD head in the location that is most likely for people of similar size.

For many industrial tasks (push, pull, lift, carry, etc.), restrictions on grip locations and visibility constrain the hand and head positions and help to define feasible postures. In contrast, foot locations are often minimally constrained and an ergonomics analyst can choose several different stances in selecting a posture to analyze. Also, because stance can be a critical determinant of a biomechanical assessment of the work posture, the lack of a valid method for placing the feet of a manikin with respect to the task compromises the accuracy of the analysis. To address this issue, foot locations and orientations were captured in a laboratory study of sagittal plane and asymmetric manual load transfers. A pilot study with four volunteers of varying anthropometry approached a load located on one of three shelves and transferred the load to one of six shelves.

The development of a new carrier route vehicle for the U.S. Postal Service began with the design of the vehicle interior from an operator-centered perspective. A task analysis of the postal worker while driving and while performing mail-handling operations guided the layout of the vehicle interior. The Jack™ human modeling software was used, along with SAE Recommended Practices and other tools, to create a vehicle environment that will accommodate a large percentage of the operator population. The challenges of designing for this unique work environment provided a good opportunity to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of the available human factors tools, including the Jack™ digital human figure model. This paper describes the development of the vehicle interior, discusses some lessons learned, and concludes with recommendations for increased functionality and improved integration of vehicle interior design tools.