Advancing the practice of proactive ergonomics by innovating tools and applications using digital human modeling

通过使用数字人体建模创新工具和应用程序来推进主动人体工程学实践

• 批准号: 435587-2013
• 负责人: Fischer, Steven
• 金额: $ 0.92万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=574110
• 关键词: Advancing; practice; proactive; ergonomics; innovating

The purpose of this research program is to develop innovative tools and applications to advance the practice of proactive ergonomics. Equipped with these tools and applications, ergonomists and health and safety professionals will be able to recognize and eliminate workplace hazards that are known to cause injury, before a worker becomes injured. Improved tools to apply proactive ergonomics will help these professionals mend the working environment for working Canadian's, dramatically reducing the number of costly, debilitating work-related injuries. A reduction in work-related injuries is important to ensure the Canadian workforce remains vibrant and sustainable, but also to reduce the financial burden of injury related costs, improving the bottom line for Canadian companies. Generating and evolving tools to advance proactive ergonomics requires the ability to predict or simulate how a worker might perform in their workplace. These predictions or simulations can be achieved using digital human modeling (DHM). Video gaming is a popular example of DHM in action, where virtual humans are programmed to simulate the movements and actions of famous athletes or prominent individuals. Applied to ergonomics, DHM allows health and safety professionals to proactively detect harmful or hazardous ergonomic risks, by assessing the performance of a simulated worker, before actual employees are unduly exposed. However, the ability to use digital human models for this purpose depends on how well they simulate how workers will move and how they will apply forces to complete a job task, particularly with respect to their capacity (strength or balance for example). This research program will improve our ability to predict a workers capacity, and in the context of that capacity, we will generate distinct methods to estimate how workers apply forces (both how much and in what direction) to complete task objectives. Knowledgeable, well trained ergonomists, industrial engineers and health and safety professionals, equipped with effective proactive ergonomics tools will have a direct impact on reducing the number of workplace injuries in Canada.

这项研究计划的目的是开发创新的工具和应用程序，以推进主动人体工程学的实践。配备了这些工具和应用程序，人体工程学专家和健康与安全专业人员将能够在工人受伤之前识别和消除已知会造成伤害的工作场所危险。应用主动人体工程学的改进工具将帮助这些专业人士改善加拿大人的工作环境，大大减少昂贵的、使人虚弱的工伤数量。减少工伤对于确保加拿大劳动力保持活力和可持续发展非常重要，同时也有助于减轻工伤相关成本的经济负担，提高加拿大公司的底线。