Computer-automated ergonomic analysis based on motion capture and assembly simulation

This paper describes a method of simulating an assembly operation in a fully immersive virtual environment in order to analyze the postures of workers as they perform assembly operations in aerospace manufacturing. The challenges involved in capturing the movements of humans performing an assembly operation in a real work environment were overcome by developing a marker-based motion capture system and using it in a cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). The development of the system focuses on real-time human motion capture and automated simulation for ergonomic analysis. Human movements were tracked in a CAVE, with infrared (IR) LEDs mounted on a human body. The captured motion data were used to generate a simulation in real-time and perform an ergonomic analysis in Jack software. The simulation also included the use of Microsoft Kinect as a marker-less human body capture system for the purpose of scaling the digital human model in Jack. The developed system has been demonstrated for human motion capture and ergonomic analysis for the fastening operation of an aircraft fuselage.