A Framework for Interactive Work Design based on Digital Work Analysis and Simulation

Due to the flexibility and adaptability of human, manual handling work is still very important in industry, especially for assembly and maintenance work. Well-designed work operation can improve work efficiency and quality; enhance safety, and lower cost. Most traditional methods for work system analysis need physical mock-up and are time consuming. Digital mockup (DMU) and digital human modeling (DHM) techniques have been developed to assist ergonomic design and evaluation for a specific worker population (e.g. 95 percentile); however, the operation adaptability and adjustability for a specific individual are not considered enough. In this study, a new framework based on motion tracking technique and digital human simulation technique is proposed for motion-time analysis of manual operations. A motion tracking system is used to track a worker’s operation while he/she is conducting a manual handling work. The motion data is transferred to a simulation computer for real time digital human simulation. The data is also used for motion type recognition and analysis either online or offline for objective work efficiency evaluation and subjective work task evaluation. Methods for automatic motion recognition and analysis are presented. Constraints and limitations of the proposed method are discussed.