Development and Validation of a Digital Human Model for Space Hardware Design and Evaluation

Three-dimensional whole body scan data from a single static pose of a subject was processed to create a three-dimensional whole body surface model for anthropometric and biomechanical evaluation of space hardware. While this static surface model had benefits over traditional anthropometric measurements, the single scanned posture was not an ideal pose for evaluating the biomechanical requirements of specific tasks. Therefore, the ability to reposition the whole body surface data into various postures without sacrificing the integrity of kinematic parameters (such as segment lengths, widths, depths, etc) was required.

The surface data for the upper extremities has been successfully repositioned using a technique that combines thin-plate spline theory and a kinematic model. The accuracy of this technique is being validated by creating representative models of cross-sections near each joint and performing an analysis of the shape and position of each section.