Designing a User-Centered Inspection Device’s Handle for the Aircraft Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

In aircraft manufacturing settings, workers are frequently exposed to biomechanical risk factors, mainly in the later stages of the production processes, including inspection tasks. To support the development of a novel inspection device appropriate for the end-users and their tasks, this study presents a user-centered approach for the device’s handle. Three different handles were proposed, and the current study aims to find out which handle can offer (1) the best ergonomic conditions and (2) the best stability in holding the device in hand during an inspection task. To this end, 23 volunteers participated in the experimental assessment, which comprised qualitative and quantitative data. A questionnaire was used for subjective comfort assessment. Partial times to execute the task studied, stability metrics of the device during its handling, and kinematic and electromyographic data of the upper limb recruited were measured and analyzed to compare the three handles. Outstanding results include the higher comfort perceived by the participants working with the selected handle for the final design, as well as the reduction in muscle effort. Globally, the results obtained demonstrated that the handle user-centered design potentiates good efficiency and usability of the novel device.