ABSTRACT. The vehicle industry is common users of Digital Human Modeling (DHM) software, both for product and production development. The software is typically installed on desktops and operated with mouse and keyboard (manually using a DHM software).To achieve a working posture that is likely to happen in reality when manually using a DHM software is crucial. This since the inaccuracies in posture and motion that result from manual procedures compromise the fidelity of the resulting analyses. Realistic posturing is required to obtain accurate quantitative assessments of human performance, as it has been shown that the performance models are sensitive to the postural condition. The need for faster and more consistent human simulation tools has motivated most commercial human modeling tool suppliers to implement various posture/motion wizards. However, these wizards are designed for certain types of tasks (e.g. ingress, egress or driving postures), and can not be utilized as a general solution for obtaining correct assembly postures or motions. This paper shows examples of where work postures, achieved through manual use of a DHM tool, considerable differ from “real” postures compiled during HoloLens sessions (a technology where VR and AR are combined). This way of working is used to achieve more realistic (likely to happen) work postures and a further development of the DHM tools and work procedures should lead to faster and more consistent human simulation tools.

ABSTRACT. Discomfort when using lower limb prostheses is still a major problem, leading to limited use of the prostheses and reduced mobility of the patient. The production of the socket is still more or less handcrafted, and modern Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) technologies are rarely used due to the time-consuming and complex process. However, several researchers have already shown that the transfer of Computer-Aided Design and Finite Element Modelling to the practical work of socket and liner design, a better fit socket can be obtained for improved comfort and safety. In Finite Element Modelling, static analysis has been predominant until now, although many previous researchers have suggested that dynamic computer simulations should be used to simulate the socket-limb interaction. This paper aims to present past efforts in Computer Aided Design and simulations of prosthesis socket fit, and to present state-of-the-art technologies. Also presented are the capacity and limits of transient computer simulations. Furthermore, based on the paper review, we want to investigate to what extent this technology is used in everyday prosthetic work. As we can see, the technology for the data-driven design of lower limb prostheses is already available, and provides improved results in comparison to traditional methods. However, CAE and numerical simulations still present too high an effort to benefit ratio.

ABSTRACT. This study concerns the implementation of a gamified API in a digital human modelling simulation software, Industrial Path Solutions – Intelligently Moving Manikin (IPS-IMMA). The IPS-IMMA software has been identified as complex to learn and to use. The software requires a high level of expertise and involvement in order to interpret the interface and finding the correct tool for each task. Moreover, there is a steep learning curve to the program, and this complexity causes disengagement from the users, especially among those who do not use it daily. The concept of gamification is to increase user activity by the use of elements and techniques from game design and apply them in a non-game context. Research on gamification in learning and training indicate increase engagement from the user, quicker on-boarding to a system as well as potential increases in learning outcome. The gamified API implementation in this project has the purpose of improving the learning curve as well as provide a paced tutorial for novel users of the IPS-IMMA software.

The gamification is designed to increase user engagement when utilizing the tool, increase the retention rate of users, as well as levelling the learning curve for the user. The gamification in the system produces an optimal learning trajectory that will make the novice user become a skilled user within a shorter period than the present. In order to achieve this, an API package has been integrated into IPS-IMMA to create one of the first gamified interfaces for a digital human modelling software.

In order to measure the impact of the implementation of the project uses three datasets: 1) observations of the software licenses which indicates the frequency of usage 2) interviews with a focus-group of novel and skilled users to explore the user-acceptance of the gamified API 3) Surveys with the users to evaluate the gamified API.

Finally, a conclusion is drawn from these results to evaluate the feasibility of implementing gamified concepts in other software tools within the manufacturing industry, by providing more skilled designers while being cost-effective for the company.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this paper is to highlight some benefits of incorporating usability/user experience (UX) approaches in research projects involving software development. Research projects that contain large software development components may receive funding only to complete the core tasks, and including additional persons in a project may seem like a waste of resources. This paper introduces user research that relied on a UX approach called contextual inquiry to ascertain user goals and how those might be translated into features for digital human modeling software (DHM) named IMMA which has been developed as a part of numerous research projects in the last decade. The goal of the study is to support DHM development in general through highlighting methods and approaches that can be used, with specific results aimed to support the continued development of IMMA. Results show that existing functions only partly support the goals of the user group examined and highlights the need of understanding user goals and creating functions to support achieving those goals, rather than assuming what functionalities might be needed. By understanding user goals, interpreting those into activities and functionalities time and resources can be used more effectively, which is important for small to medium research projects, where both time and budget may be limited.

ABSTRACT. In manufacturing, traditional line balancing is conducted with focus on reducing balancing losses or achieving a certain volume capacity, with one parameter being optimized, time. As time is considered, ergonomics is seldom prioritized in the first step. When the investments are made and the assembly line is deployed and fully operational, the room for working with ergonomic improvements is limited. Putting optimization activities in sequence is not optimal. This paper proposes a concept to avoid non-optimal line balancing activities that is during the developed in an ongoing research project. The objective of the concept is to enable line balancing that considers two parameters in parallel, assembly time and ergonomic load. A demonstrator which consists of common manufacturing engineering software, simulation of human motions (IPS IMMA) and line balancing software (AVIX), provides the following workflow: 1. Defining the process sequence and process detail in AVIX 2. Performing initial ergonomic assessment in IPS IMMA – both for single process steps and full work cycle 3. Visualizing ergonomic load in AVIX balancing chart 4. Balancing in AVIX with takt time and ergonomic loads as optimization parameters 5. If needed, redo simulation of the new line setup The coming demonstrator will demonstrate the possibility to manually optimize the workstation in respect to ergonomics and time in parallel. However, several challenges remain; the different methodologies for ergonomics assessment. The final software solution aims to be agnostic to the assessment methodology. One key component is to provide a way to norm the ergonomics scores to evaluate what is considered as good or as risk to health and safety of the operators.

ABSTRACT. The fields of human factors and ergonomics are systemic by nature, focusing on studying complex interaction between human and technology. However, the levels of explanation have resulted in physical or cognitive ergonomics. Modern understandings of human cognition and technology-mediated interaction, such as embodied cognition, activity theory and user experience (UX) is used as a frame of reference to analyze and illustrate the usage of a digital human modeling (DHM) tool in practice. We try to narrow the gap between physical and cognitive ergonomics through embodied tool use. An identified core problem is to understand how 2D devices should properly interact within 3D objects and manikins in DHM. Some future work is presented, which could be beneficial for DHM, and, in the long run, promote a positive UX at work for various end-users of DHM tools in general.

ABSTRACT. Automated driving is currently one of the most important research areas in the automotive industry. If automation reaches its system limits, the driver is obliged to take over the driving of the vehicle again. In that scenario, the driver first has to put his hands on the steering wheel again if he was occupied with a non-driving task. This work shows a method to precisely model these hand movements from a specific task back to the steering wheel. These movements are analyzed depending on the individual parameters of each person, such as age, gender, body height. For this purpose, a test stand was developed and assembled, on which a study with 52 participants was carried out. It can be observed that the hand trajectories are lying in a plane in the three-dimensional space, with orthogonal deviation from the plane smaller than 10 mm. This finding allows to model the trajectory as a combination of a polynomial and the orientation of the individual plane. The results show that the trajectory of the hand movement only averaged about 2 mm from their main movement plane. The trajectories from this study were fitted using polynomials. Trajectories were parametrized and fitted to a linear mixed effects model using the “lmer” and “afex” R-packages.

ABSTRACT. A corner stone in digital ergonomics is the positioning of digital human models into occupant configurations. Since seats play a major role for interiors, the human-seat interaction has to be considered for simulating postures. In most applications the classical H-Point model has been used. Since this approach is limited, the prediction has been refined by considering seat parameters like kinematics, upholstery surfaces and stiffness. But the necessity of stiffness parameters often hinders applying this method, since it requires extensive measurements based on a special indenter. To reduce this bottleneck, two improvements have been introduced. First, the measurement has been enhanced to be more generic and easier to perform. The process has been standardized in line with SAE J2896 and supports user-defined indenters. Second, an upholstery database has been implemented as alternative to measure the stiffness. The database is based on a sample of German vehicle seats and a statistical analysis of their measured force-deflection curves. A GUI supports the definition of characteristic curves. This can be done by selecting a referential curve, by setting individual parameters or by predicting a curve from the cushion stiffness. The final curves are suited for predicting the manikin or seat positions in interior designs.

ABSTRACT. Throughout Europe, work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) are still a major problem as they are most often associated with lower back pain or other physical complaints. In order to improve workplace safety and avoid WRMSD, it is therefore essential to analyse physical risk factors. Digital Human Models (DHM) can help to estimate ergonomic risks in working conditions. Traffic light schemes are commonly used to quantify the physical strain, while biomechanical loads are often neglected. The limitation of biomechanical models is, however, that they require motion data for their predictions. These data are time-consuming to capture and require camera-based or sensor-based methods. Therefore, a coupling between the “AnyBody Modeling System” and the “Editor for manual work activities” (ema) was developed to expand ergonomic evaluation with biomechanical parameters, without using motion-capturing data. The results indicate that computer-generated motions rarely match real motions. Without real movement data, the estimation of biomechanical loads is currently difficult. For this reason, another approach is proposed taking kinematic and kinetic real-time data of workers into account to improve physical risk assessment in future.

ABSTRACT. The paper talks about the known concept of Multivariative anthropometry, a term explained in several other studies. The method consists of creating a family of manikins with a combination of more than one anthropometric variable to broaden, or to accommodate more users in a physical ergonomic analysis scenario. The paper explains how this method was adopted at a truck OEM  and how it affects the design aspect of ergonomics. The paper also describes how the usage of such a method would be difficult to achieve before the advent of DHMs, CAD environments. Communicating this working method that is within reach of several industries is a history that is worth being aware of and sharing.Another section of the paper describes how different DHMs deal with this Multivariative method, and what possibilities are open for the users when they create their families in different software´s (Human Solutions RAMSIS, Fraunhofer Chalmers IPS-IMMA)The statistical concept of percentile, is addressed in the paper, and presents it not as being a surpassed method, but rather as being one important variable of the Multivariate approach.

ABSTRACT. Over time, police officer body dimensions have increased as have the body dimensions of many Americans. But the external dimensions of a law enforcement officer completely outfitted in all of his or her gear has increased dramatically, with the near-constant use of body armor and the addition of body cameras, radios and a host of other work-related items. At the same time, the available space in the squad car or police cruiser has decreased. To create a database for use in that modeling, we recruited approximately 1000 officers from 12 locations around the US and obtained whole body, head, hand and foot scans from each. In addition, we measured them for a series of traditional anthropometric dimensions both semi-nude and fully equipped in their uniform and gear. This paper presents the results of that study. The significant challenge going forward will be to create models that take into account the wide diversity in how officers wear their equipment on the body.

ABSTRACT. Digital Human Modeling Systems (DHM´s) benefit from detailed up to date anthropometric data. Whereas the clothing industry focuses on anthropometric measures according to ISO-18825-2, ergonomic- and safety- related measures are defined in ISO 7250-1. For the current research project, body scan data was collected as part of an epidemiological study (Study of Health in Pomerania, SHIP). ISO 20685-1 recommends a validation study for the comparison of manual vs. 3D body scan data from at least 40 persons, if the data should be considered in anthropometric databases. The current study evaluated data of 44 participants. The scans and the manual measurements for each participant were taken successively at the same day. The definition of anatomical landmarks differed for some parameters between the ISO 7250-1 standard and the standard operating procedures (SOP´s) of the SHIP study. As it was not possible to change the methods of the SHIP study, the authors performed a relative offset calculation. With few exceptions, the validation measures exceeded the maximum error allowances from ISO 20685-1:2018. The paper discusses possible root causes of the evaluated differences.

ABSTRACT. An accurate and personalized full 3D body shape in a position of interest is needed for many applications such as textile industry for specifying product size. Though a full body surface can be easily scanned using a body scanner, raw scans are generally noisy, incomplete, and require a more or less time consuming post processing to obtain a workable surface model. In recent years, thanks to the development of statistical body shape models (SBSM), researchers used these models to remove noise, complete holes making it possible to create high quality surface models even from low cost depth cameras. Similarly, the use of SBSM also offers the possibility to generate a realistic full body shape with a limited number of measures/predictors such as traditional anthropometric dimensions, surface landmarks etc… The purpose of the present work is to explore the possibility to create a personalized surface model with a small set of easily measurable parameters, and to compare the quality of SBSM-based prediction in function of predictors. A sample of 164 full body scans in a standing posture from European and Chinese males were selected based on stature and BMI. After cleaning the raw scans, a non-rigid mesh deformation method was used to registrer a customized template onto scans. Then, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to build SBSM with different set of predictors, including anthropometric dimensions, landmarks’ position, postural parameters. The partial least square regression was used to take into account correlated predictors. As statistical models cannot match the target values of predictors, an optimization was further proposed for better matching targets while not deviating too much from the initial prediction by statistical regression. A leave-one-out (LOO) procedure was used to evaluate the quality of SBSM with different set of predictors.

ABSTRACT. Some anthropometric measurements, such as body weight often show a positively skewed distribution. Different types of transformations can be applied when handling skewed data in order to make the data more normally distributed. This paper presents and visualises how square root, log normal and, multiplicative inverse transformations can affect the data when creating boundary confidence ellipses. The paper also shows the difference of created manikin families, i.e. groups of manikin cases, when using transformed distributions or not, for three populations with different skewness. The results from the study show that transforming skewed distributions when generating confidence ellipses and boundary cases is appropriate to more accurately consider this type of diversity and correctly describe the shape of the actual skewed distribution. Transforming the data to create accurate boundary confidence regions is thought to be advantageous, as this would create digital manikins with enhanced accuracy that would produce more realistic and accurate simulations and evaluations when using DHM tools for the design of products and workplaces.

ABSTRACT. We present a method to convert motion capture data and anthropometric statistics into parametric biomechanical models of cyclic motions, such as walking, cycling and running. The motivation is ease of modelling and the desire to make models prospective. We have developed a data processing pipeline, which pre-compiles a large amount of motion capture trials into a parametric model relying on the correlations between the input variables. The compilation converts optical motion capture data into anatomical joint angle variations and anatomical body dimensions. Finally, a quadratic programming method with a closed-form solution is developed to predict motion patterns meeting subject-specific requirements. The method is demonstrated on running models, and we conclude that the method can facilitate new uses of biomechanical models.

ABSTRACT. Digital Human Modelling by Women (DHMW) is an international group of women and supporters with the main purpose of eliminating the gender gap, empowering women to exchange ideas, results, visions, and promote the women's participation in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and DHM fields. This study presents a demographic investigation of human factors and behaviors affecting women in the DHM field. A questionnaire composed of several items was set up to analyze the situation: demographic map of women in DHM (age, country, and level of education), the field of application, factors related to career progression, and correct instruments to change the current situation of underrepresentation. Our results show a gap of women working in DHM field in the industry or research institutes (21% and 8% respectively). While, the 56% are involved in the Academic world, with a 30% PhD and 26% PostDoc level. Work-life-balance (WLB), career progress (CP), family-balance vs career (FB VS C), and work schedule flexibility (WSF) resulted lower in women of 30-34 and 35-39 years old. As a result, it is necessary to adopt strategies focus on support mentoring programs, career progress, childcare support, and flexible work schedule aiming to eliminate women inequality and stigmatization. This will open up borders in Academics, Industry and Research education closing the gap in the DHM field.

ABSTRACT. Virtual reality (VR) technologies can support the planning and implementation of new workstations in various industry sectors, including in automotive assembly. Starting in the early planning stages, VR can help in identifying potential problems of new design ideas, e.g. through ergonomics analyses. Designers can then quickly change the virtual representations of new workstations to test solutions for the emerging difficulties. For this purpose, the actions and motions of prospective workers can be captured while they perform the work tasks in VR. The infor-mation can also be used as input for digital human modelling (DHM) tools, to in-struct biomechanical human models. The DHM tools can then construct families of manikins that differ on anthropometric characteristics, like height, to simulate work processes. This paper addresses both existing technologies for gathering data on human actions and motions during VR usage and ways in which these data can be used to assist in designing new workstations. Here, a novel approach to translate a VR user’s actions into instructions for DHM tools through an event-based instruction sampling method is presented. Further, the challenges for utiliz-ing VR are discussed through an industrial use case of the manual assembly of flexible cables in an automotive context.

ABSTRACT. Safeguarding the health of dockworkers in maritime transportation represents a high priority with employer’s organizations within the port facilities and maritime organizations. Riggers responsible for container lashing secure a high amount of containers on the ship while working with heavy equipment on a tight schedule and therefore risking musculoskeletal disorders. In addition there is a gap discovered between the learned practices at the training facility and the behavior applied on the work floor. As a result it is necessary to provide a risk assessment tool for maritime workers. Firstly, non-intrusive motion capture method can be used to map their posture and movements with the possibility to emphasize on causing factors of repetitive strain injuries. Secondly, a DHM representing the rigger in maritime environment is created in Blender. Finally, an inertial mocap system is used to monitor kinematic lashing movements and to create a musculoskeletal model. The output can be used to create a framework for future observations with focus on developing a product-service-system (PSS) and smart personal protective equipment (PPE) tools.

ABSTRACT. Simulations of future production systems enable engineers to find effective and efficient design solutions with fewer physical prototypes and fewer reconstructions. This can save development time and money and be more sustainable. Better design solutions can be found by linking simulations to multi-objective optimization methods to optimize multiple objectives. When production systems involve manual work, humans and human activity should be included in the simulation. This can be done using digital human modeling (DHM) software which simulates humans and human activities and can be used to evaluate ergonomic conditions. This paper addresses challenges related to including existing ergonomics evaluation methods in the optimization framework. This challenge arises because ergonomics evaluation methods are typically developed to enable people to investigate ergonomic conditions by observing real work situations. The methods are rarely developed to be used by computer algorithms to draw conclusions about ergonomic conditions. This paper investigates how to adapt ergonomics evaluation methods to implement the results as objectives in the optimization framework. This paper presents a use case of optimizing a workstation using two different approaches: one an observational ergonomics evaluation method and one a direct measurement method. Both approaches optimized two objectives: the average ergonomics and the 90th percentile ergonomics.