Case Study of Ergonomical Design of Maintenance Operations through Virtual Assessment

This work deals with the definition of a virtual approach to the ergonomic analysis of the installation of a bulky technical product. Both the weight and the size could create difficulties to the users managing it during the transport, unpacking, and installation phases. This study is developed over two steps: the first step regards the execution of laboratory tests to carry out a physical description of the movement required to manage the product. Based on the results of the first step, in the second phase a virtual simulation of the movement required for the product installation is realized. Once terminated both the physical and the virtual tests, the results from the two models are compared to verify the correspondence of the virtual model with the real one through the comparison of a typical ergonomic parameter for lifting task that is the measure of the forces on the L4 and L5 inter-vertebral disk of the subject executing the test. The objectives of the work are the validation of the results of the physical test and the virtual analysis, to demonstrate the feasibility of pre-prototype tests by using a simulacrum (made of polystyrene) of an industrial product instead of a real prototype, and, finally, the use of human manikin software for the study of ergonomics of the mounting and maintenance operations.