Virtual Human Body Model Research Articles

Virtual hybrid human body model for PTW safety assessment

Road traffic accidents cause one of the highest numbers of severe injuries. The numbers of deaths and seriously injured citizens prove that traffic accidents and their consequences are still a serious problem to be solved. Virtual human body models play an important role to assess injuries during impact loading especially for scenarios, where complex dynamical loading is taken into account. The most suffering group is so called vulnerable road users (VRU) like powered two-wheelers (PTW) riders. The presented work contributes to increasing safety of PTW riders by implementing virtual human body model for injury risk analysis. The scalable hybrid virtual human body model Virthuman, which was formerly developed, validated and demonstrated in impact scenarios, is improved by updated neck and shoulder models in order to describe the realistic kinematics during complex long duration impact loading and presented in the oblique impact scenario compared to the THUMS results.

Analysis and research on the man-machine dynamics behaviour coupling mechanism of the super miniature electric vehicle

Safety, energy saving and environmental protection are the three mainstream directions of current automobile industry research. The super miniature electric vehicles (SMEVs) with their lightweight, miniaturisation, electrification, energy saving and environmental protection characteristics will be developed rapidly and popularly in the city road traffic in future. But the mass and size are reduced in the super miniature electric vehicles, to a certain extent, which may affect the cars' performance handling, such as stability, security and comfort. In this paper, the SMEVs market prospect is analysed firstly, next the necessity of research on the vehicle man-machine dynamics behaviour coupling mechanism is discussed. Finally the paper puts forward that the driver-vehicle closed-loop system, driver's seat posture change dynamic system and virtual human body model research are important for the man-machine dynamics coupling research to improve the performances of the SMEVs.

Analysis and research on the man-machine dynamics behaviour coupling mechanism of the super miniature electric vehicle

Safety, energy saving and environmental protection are the three mainstream directions of current automobile industry research. The super miniature electric vehicles (SMEVs) with their lightweight, miniaturisation, electrification, energy saving and environmental protection characteristics will be developed rapidly and popularly in the city road traffic in future. But the mass and size are reduced in the super miniature electric vehicles, to a certain extent, which may affect the cars' performance handling, such as stability, security and comfort. In this paper, the SMEVs market prospect is analysed firstly, next the necessity of research on the vehicle man-machine dynamics behaviour coupling mechanism is discussed. Finally the paper puts forward that the driver-vehicle closed-loop system, driver's seat posture change dynamic system and virtual human body model research are important for the man-machine dynamics coupling research to improve the performances of the SMEVs.

Explicit Finite Element Methods for Equestrian Applications

A virtual human body model (HBM), developed for vehicle crash simulations, was used to conduct a pilot study of dangerous accidents that occur in equestrian sports. It was performed to illustrate the potential that the explicit finite element (FE) HBMs have to improve rider safety and to assess the protective capacity of the safety vest. Four different questions were addressed:1When a rider is trampled by a horse, how does the risk of injury vary with chest impact location?2Does a safety-vest provide protection if the rider is kicked by a horse and does the protection vary with the violence of the hoof impact?3Can a safety-vest provide any benefit when the rider is hit by the horse after a rotational fall?4How does the risk for thoracic injuries vary when the rider falls off the back of a horse at different angles?The HBM was the Total Human Model for Safety AM50 version 3.0 (Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan), improved for thorax injury predictability in a previous automotive project. The FE code was LS-DYNA (Livermore Software Technology Corporation, USA). Models of a generic safety vest, a horse impactor and a hoof were developed as part of this project. The risk of thorax injury was evaluated with stresses and strains measured for each rib, and the chest deformation criteria Dmax and DcTHOR.The following results were obtained for each question:1The risk of injury was higher for hoof impacts close to the sternum compared to more lateral locations that had up to 25% less risk. Hence, this knowledge could be used to optimize novel safety-vest designs with HBM simulations.2Yes, the safety-vest provided protection against horse kicks, and it varied with the violence of the kick. Therefore, if the range of impact energy that occurs in real-world accidents is known, HBM simulations can be used to optimize the vest material properties.3No, the safety-vest did not provide any benefit when the horse lands on top of the rider. This conclusion suggests that safety measures should focus on preventing this type of accident, rather than designing personal protection for the rider.4When the rider falls with the head first, the number of predicted rib fractures increases compared to flat falls. However, the model predicts rib fractures for all of the falls simulated from a height of 1.5 meters for a rider without a safety vest.To conclude, FE HBMs have the potential to improve equestrian safety and further studies on equestrian safety-vests designs are warranted.

Operating Comfort Prediction Model of Human-Machine Interface Layout for Cabin Based on GEP

In view of the evaluation and decision-making problem of human-machine interface layout design for cabin, the operating comfort prediction model is proposed based on GEP (Gene Expression Programming), using operating comfort to evaluate layout scheme. Through joint angles to describe operating posture of upper limb, the joint angles are taken as independent variables to establish the comfort model of operating posture. Factor analysis is adopted to decrease the variable dimension; the model's input variables are reduced from 16 joint angles to 4 comfort impact factors, and the output variable is operating comfort score. The Chinese virtual human body model is built by CATIA software, which will be used to simulate and evaluate the operators' operating comfort. With 22 groups of evaluation data as training sample and validation sample, GEP algorithm is used to obtain the best fitting function between the joint angles and the operating comfort; then, operating comfort can be predicted quantitatively. The operating comfort prediction result of human-machine interface layout of driller control room shows that operating comfort prediction model based on GEP is fast and efficient, it has good prediction effect, and it can improve the design efficiency.

The Application Research on Ergonomics Based on the CATIA Software Platform

Through the ergonomic analysis module that is based on the CATIA software platform, the virtual human body model is introduced into the rescue cabin digital module of ambulance and thus the virtual man-machine relationship is established; meanwhile, the theories of ergonomics are employed as guidance for the optimization design of rescue cabin so as to probe into how the CATIA-based ergonomic analysis module is applied in product development and design.

ANTROPOMETRYCZNE ZRÓŻNICOWANIE ODDZIAŁYWANIA NA PRACOWNIKA RADIOFALOWYCH PÓL ELEKTROMAGNETYCZNYCH O CZĘSTOTLIWOŚCIACH 100 MHz

Thermal effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (REMF) exposure of humans may be assessed by calculations of the parameter recognized as SAR (specific energy absorption rate) in virtual human body models, which actually do not represent anthropometric properties of the entire population. Therefore, it is important to determine the relations between SAR values and anthropometric parameters that enable individualization of SAR estimation independently of body properties of a given person. The analysis concerned 48 exposure scenarios of 4 virtual body models (male and female) to vertically or horizontally polarized REMF of 27 MHz or 100 MHz frequency of various directions of propagation. In the subgroup of results 100 MHz/vertical polarization statistically significant (strong; p < 0.05) correlations were identified between SAR averaged in the whole body and height, mass, BMI, circumference of chest, waist, neck and frontal cross-section area, and between local SAR in head and neck and the height, mass, circumference of chest waist or neck and frontal cross-section area. Identified relations and SAR in the Gustav model were used to estimate the variety of SAR in Polish population of adults (5-95. percentile of female and male): +/- 30% for SAR averaged in the whole body, +/- 50% for localized SAR. It was demonstrated that in the preliminary classified type of assessed REMF exposure (e.g., in terms of field polarization and frequency) it is possible to identify statistical relations between various SAR parameters and anthropometric properties of the exposed body. Related quantities can be used for individualized assessment of worker's electromagnetic hazards.

Emotional Postures for the Humanoid-Robot Nao

This paper presents the development of emotional postures for the humanoid robot Nao. The approach is based on adaptation of the postures that are developed for a virtual human body model to the case of the physical robot Nao. In the paper the association between the joints of the human body model and the joints of the Nao robot are described and the transformation of postures is explained. The non-correspondence between the joints of the actual physical robot and the joints of the human body model was a major challenge in this work. Moreover, the implementation of the postures into the robot was constrained by the physical structure and the artificial mass distribution. Postures for the three emotions of anger, sadness, and happiness are studied. Thirty two postures are generated for each emotion. Among them the best five postures for each emotion are selected based on the votes of twenty five external observers. The distribution of the votes indicates that many of the implemented postures do not convey the intended emotions. The emotional content of the selected best five postures are tested by the votes of forty observers. The intended emotions received the highest recognition rate for each group of these selected postures. This study can be considered to be the last step of a general process for developing emotional postures for robots. This process starts with qualitative descriptions of human postures, continues with encoding those descriptions in quantitative terms, and ends with adaptation of the quantitative values to a specific robot. The present study demonstrates the last step of this process.

Ergonomics Analysis Thinking of the Operation Domain Design of Workover Machines

Nowadays there is little ergonomics consideration in the oil engineering machines and the improvement of comfort levels in the high intensity work of oil workers should be noted. Taking the case of the interface design of operation domain of the workover machines, this paper studied the design method of man-machine interface of oil workover machines basing on its development trend, from the view point of improving operation efficiency and operating reliability. In the paper two kinds of software, SolidWorks and CATIA, were used to build 3D virtual human body models and conduct the man-machine interface design of the workspace. Ultimately, a new thinking of man-machine interface optimization design of oil machinery was obtained by making a comparison of the two design processes.

Towards Improved Protection of Vulnerable Road Users

The paper aims at reducing injury risk and an overall increase in pedestrian passive safety by proposing pedestrian friendly vehicle design. Statistical data are used to identify the most vulnerable population group also regarding the economic losses caused by deaths or medical treatment. An age dependent anthropometric approach enables the development of specific virtual pedestrian biomechanical human body models. The developed virtual pedestrian models are explored to analyse the influence of vehicles in pedestrian impact on injury risk caused by a vehicle industrial demonstrator using numerical simulation. The analysed injury criteria serve for a comparison of vehicle frontal part design variants.

Study of electronic made-to-measure for clothing based on body parts assembly technology

The human body parts template series were formed through gathering the sample data of human body. The personal 3-dimensional virtual human body model was generated by extracting the feature data of the corresponding human body from different types of body shape data files provided by the customer,and then personal prototype garment chips were achieved. According to the technical route above,the architecture of the prototype system was designed,the function structure was provided,and then the prototype system was realized finally. The operation results of the prototype system show that the technical route is right,and the system scheme is reasonable,can help to popularize the application of electronic Made to Measure (eMTM).

Human body finite element model as an instrument for the improvement of passive safety

Recently the virtual finite element human body models have become important when used to improve the passive safety of vehicle occupants. The human body models have a significant advantage over dummies, since they are able not only to predict injuries, but also to model the whole injury mechanism. This enables the detailed analysis of injuries, and hence a more precise optimization of safety systems. To be able to use the models for this purpose, an objective model of the human body needs to be created. Such a human body model, ROBBY, is being developed at the University of West Bohemia (UWB) in cooperation with the ESI Group. This model is still being updated to be a more realistic model. The aim of this study was to improve the thoracic part of the human body model by the implementation of a created thoracic model to the existing ROBBY model and use the updated model as a tool for safety evaluation. Two types of sled tests were performed to compare the behavior of the updated model ROBBY and cadavers. The first sled test was performed at 30 km/h without airbag, and the second at 50 km/h with airbag. A comparison of the response of the thorax-abdomen complex for the model and cadavers was performed.