Linking ergonomics simulation to production process development

Paper in proceeding, 2008

Production development can conflict with production ergonomics and management of environmental impacts. In this paper, we describe how ergonomics can be assessed in production system design by means of a joint simulation tool. The tool enables ergonomics and environmental impacts assessment in conjunction with production process development. The ergonomics sub-tool is based on a digital human model, which has been improved by introducing an updated data measurement system and neural network processing and inference functionality. The results will extend the new simulation modelling capabilities of the existing digital human model by increasing the motion prediction accuracy and providing freedom to model a multitude of task-related motions in a realistic way.