As the core process of aircraft manufacturing, fuselage assembly directly affects the performance and quality of the aircraft. However, unreasonable assembly processes, collisions and interferences ...usually occur in the case of actual assembly. This paper develops the fuselage assembly process design and simulation in a virtual environment established by DELMIA platform. The digital environment consists of products, equipment, workers and other assembly elements. Finally, interference detection and ergonomic analysis are completed through the assembly process simulation. The case indicates that digital assembly process design and simulation technology could reduce the error rate and improve assembly quality.
Ergonomics deals with the study of internal and external stresses acting on the human body. Use of ergonomic principles reduces fatigue experienced by the human body in various tasks. This study is ...related to various tasks on building construction. Most of the injuries, stresses and strains occur due to over-exertion and repetitive work actions. The aim of this study is to assess and understand the level of ergonomics in various tasks in the construction industry. Another aim of the study is to find the level of musculoskeletal disorders and suggest corrective measures for every task having high risk factor. The study is conducted by using the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment and Rapid Entire Body Assessment techniques to assess the posture of the workers in various construction tasks.
Without any doubt, we are living in a very modern, sophisticated, and computerized world, in which a great part of the activities done in the past by workers, are now carried out by machines or ...intelligent devices, capable to communicate with the environment and to make decisions according to the information received from there. The ergonomics science adapted during the time, introducing in its area of study the effects of the human-computer interaction, the new forms of stress, and the new factors which are affecting the work at the workstations. However, there are still workplaces where physical work is prevalent and where it is necessary to analyze the work conditions to improve them and to avoid injuries during the work. This study is based on the research which has used ergonomic analysis, namely the LEST method for the optimization of the work of handler workers at a Romanian company with several working points in different regions of the country. The working points are equipped with different endowments depending on the period when they operate. The study reveals that the handlers are facing different problems at their workstations depending on the technical level of the equipment they use and the organization of the work. The same tasks lead to different perceptions and different levels of fatigue for the workers. The ergonomic analysis offers the possibility to identify the stress factors for each workstation and optimize them to provide optimum work conditions in which the worker can perform in the best way.
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of ergonomics, with a specific focus on the application of virtual simulation in the context of manual assembly stations assisted by ...collaborative robots. The theoretical part of this paper presents a concise introduction to the origins and key figures in the field of ergonomics, highlighting the importance and relevance of this discipline. It also discusses the current methods of ergonomic evaluation and the necessary steps involved in conducting such assessments. Furthermore, it delves into the existing standards, associations, and organizations related to ergonomics, as well as the software solutions available for ergonomic analysis. A case study is presented which demonstrates how to perform an ergonomic analysis using the Ergonomics Evaluation module within the 3D Experience platform. The methodology follows a systematic approach, starting with a physical environment simulation to identify key positions for virtual evaluation. These positions are then simulated using a representative 3D model of the assembly station and selected manikins. The chosen ergonomic analysis method is tailored to the specific movements involved in the assembly activity.
This work proposes a novel virtual reality system which makes use of wearable sensors for testing and validation of cooperative workplaces from the ergonomic point of view. The main objective is to ...show, in real time, the ergonomic evaluation based on a muscular activity analysis within the immersive virtual environment. The system comprises the following key elements: a robotic simulator for modeling the robot and the working environment; virtual reality devices for human immersion and interaction within the simulated environment; five surface electromyographic sensors; and one uniaxial accelerometer for measuring the human ergonomic status. The methodology comprises the following steps: firstly, the virtual environment is constructed with an associated immersive tutorial for the worker; secondly, an ergonomic toolbox is developed for muscular analysis. This analysis involves multiple ergonomic outputs: root mean square for each muscle, a global electromyographic score, and a synthetic index. They are all visualized in the immersive environment during the execution of the task. To test this methodology, experimental trials are conducted on a real use case in a human-robot cooperative workplace typical of the automotive industry. The results showed that the methodology can effectively be applied in the analysis of human-robot interaction, to endow the workers with self-awareness with respect to their physical conditions.
The industrial societies face difficulty applying traditional work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) risk assessment methods in practical applications due to in-situ task dynamics, complex data ...processing, and the need of ergonomics professionals. This study aims to develop and validate a wearable inertial sensors-based automated system for assessing WMSD risks in the workspace conveniently, in order to enhance workspace safety and improve workers' health. Both postural ergonomic analysis (RULA/REBA) and two-dimensional static biomechanical analysis were automatized as two toolboxes in the proposed system to provide comprehensive WMSD risk assessment based on the kinematic data acquired from wearable inertial sensors. The effectiveness of the developed system was validated through a follow-up experiment among 20 young subjects when performing representative tasks in the heavy industry. The RULA/REBA scores derived from our system achieved high consistency with experts' ratings (intraclass correlation coefficient ≥0.83, classification accuracy >88%), and good agreement was also found between low-back compression force from the developed system and the reference system (mean intersystem coefficient of multiple correlation >0.89 and relative error <9.5%). These findings suggested that the wearable inertial sensors-based automated system could be effectively used for WMSD risk assessment of workers when performing tasks in the workspace.
In the context of large-scale rural construction in China, scientific and effective cognition and evaluation of the visual quality of public space in traditional villages is very important for ...improving the spatial quality of traditional villages. This study builds a cognitive and evaluation mechanism about the visual quality of public space in traditional villages by focusing on eye tracking techniques in ergonomic analysis, combining the results of subjective questionnaires and empirical judgments about the spatial perception of traditional villages. Lixiang Village in Nanjing is selected as a case to explore a scientific analysis of the visual quality of public spaces in traditional villages by using eye tracking technology to collect the subjects' observation of different types of public spaces in the village and combining the results of the subjective questionnaire. The results of the study showed that the correlations between subjects' subjective ratings and eye movement data are not as strong, but only moderate for some of these indicators. Moreover, buildings and structures are the most important factors in shaping the richness of public space. Finally, relevant design suggestions and strategies are proposed: in traditional village public spaces, the visual quality of structures and surrounding enclosing buildings should be focused on enhancing, while the focus should be on optimizing the orientation of paths, and also on shaping the unique visual impression of each public space.
Work activity ergonomics (sometimes called francophone ergonomics) draws heavily on observation in order to support transformation of work to arrive at better health without interfering with ...productivity. Recently, ergonomists have attempted to integrate gender into their interventions. At the same time, ergonomists have been observing and documenting the importance of considering collective dimensions of work, thus including the construction of social relations among workers. Gender as well as biological sex can affect work activity through (1) Gendered job and task assignments; (2) Biological differences between women and men influencing the interface between work activity and the physical environment; (3) Gendered human relations at work, including sexual stereotyping, sexism, sexual harrassment, and sexual relations among workers and between workers and management or clients; (4) Manifestations of work-family articulation. But actually observing these phenomena poses various difficulties for the ergonomist. How can/should gender be observed by ergonomists? We describe a set of twenty studies, undertaken by ergonomists in collaboration with trade union women’s committees and health and safety committees, where observations were central. We describe in particular detail a study of work-family articulation. Participant and ergonomic observations of workers with highly invasive schedules assigned to cleaning transportation equipment, and relational analysis tools were mobilized to reveal determinants of work activity and some sources of social inequalities. Integrating observations of gender and other dimensions of social relations into ergonomic analysis and intervention is revealed as necessary, but not simple, and fraught with obstacles.
This paper describes a new approach specifically developed for ergonomic assessments and redesign of common areas with free circulation of people: Ergonomic Tridimensional Analysis, ETdA. In these ...environments, the total quality management philosophy is focused not only in workforce satisfaction, but also in clients’ wellbeing. As a consequence of this interaction, clients and professionals can equally be exposed to the same ergonomic risk factors. From the management point of view, the ongoing concern with the clients requires a continuous improvement in several organizational keys-areas such as quality, occupational safety and health, environment protection, and cost of products and services. Results show that ETdA model will increase the population awareness for ergonomics and creates a co-production responsibility in the changes to be implemented.
Existing reapers for farming purposes are out of reach for small-scale farmers due to their high cost, and they are also unavailable in most rural locations due to transportation or financial ...constraints. There has recently been a demand for a compact, cost-efficient, more accessible, and effective crop reaper that can be operated by small-scale farmers. As a result, a cost-effective, farmer-friendly, and efficient crop reaper was developed in the present work, and its cutting efficiency was found to be improved as compared to the existing self-propelled reaper. Moreover, earlier works were either based on development of farm-based machinery and their performance or ergonomic aspects’ evaluation without any emphasis on its sustainability in agriculture. Thus, in this study, apart from performance, an ergonomic evaluation and “strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats (SWOT)” analysis were performed on the existing and modified reapers. Furthermore, for the framework design and assessment of the sustainability of the modified reaper in the agricultural sectors, both “fuzzy logic” and metaheuristics-based optimization algorithms such as “Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)” were utilized. Given the prevalence of small-scale farmers with limited farm sizes, the findings of this study may be relevant for more sustainable developments in the existing tools and equipment used in agriculture that can be easily affordable and utilized by all the farming community around the world.
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