Issue:
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders continue to be prevalent causing negative health consequences for Ontario workers. Currently, ergonomists may have access to commercially available human simulation ergonomic tools to aid in the assessment of human demands and capabilities required to safely manufacture products. Computer-aided simulation tools allow ergonomists to replicate worker-product interactions. A digitally created human model can interact with digital renderings of workstations and products by manually manipulating, or posturing, the human model. However, manual posturing of digital human models is a very time consuming task, which may limit the effectiveness of the simulation ergonomics. To contend with such a constraint, the Siemens Human Simulation Tool (Jack), an ergonomic human simulation software tool, contains a Human Posturing Tool (HPT). The HPT is able to predict whole body posturing necessary for human-product interactions. Although considered accurate, the developers of the HPT aspire to authenticate the HPT’s ability to predict whole-body postures during one-handed force exertions.
Objectives:
The purpose of this project is to improve ergonomic analysis completed through human simulation by authenticating the results of the automated HPT within Jack, to real-world human whole-body posturing behavior while performing one-handed force exertions.
Anticipated Results:
The tool improved through this research project will assist in assessing better the ergonomic properties of workstations
Investigators:
Joel A. Cort (University of Windsor)
