Development and Improvement of a Washer - Dryer with Kansei Ergonomics

Recently, washer-dryer machines with slanted drums have become popular in Japan. We measured and analyzed posture while using such machines with three-dimensional motion capture measuring devices. Subjective Kansei and usability questionnaires were also used. After the measurements, working postures were analyzed with a human kinematic model (3D SSPP). Three types of machines were used for the experiment (European washer. conventional Japanese washer has vertical drum and a new washer-dryer: slanted drum with higher profile). The sum of the estimated %MVC (elbow, hip, knee and ankle) for the new washer-dryer was 116; it was 133 (knee tension was high) for the European washer, and 284 (ankle tension was 110, which exceeds the limit) for the conventional Japanese washer. From subjective evaluations, the new washer-dryer was significantly highly rated (one-way ANOVA) over the European and conventional Japanese washers in terms of subjective fatigue evaluation and general evaluation. Usability of the control panel of newly developed model of washing machine was also improved. The authors conducted the usability experiments at both planning and preproduction phase of SANYO AWDAQ3000 prototype, the new model, comparing with the conventional model.